End users with intense performance requirements that extend beyond simple word processing, e-mail, and Internet browsing are increasingly turning to high-powered x86-based workstations. Identify who will benefit from workstation architecture and begin building the business case.

Workstations Are Not PCs

End users with higher-than-average needs for computing power haven't always had it easy. Either IT took a basic PC and souped it up with a faster processor, additional memory, or a fancy graphics card, or they broke the budget and bought a high-end workstation.

Workstations have always offered significantly higher performance in a client machine, but this performance has come at a cost that was much higher that the average PC. Processor architecture has typically been based on RISC and other non-mainstream technologies, and operating system availability has been mostly limited to UNIX and other specialized environments. As a result, workstations have been seen as rare, specialized tools that are not available to a wide audience...