Want to run NT 4.0 on a 486 with 20mb ram. Computer is only going to do following: Run Netscape Communicator 4.7 Offline (to read HTML) Adobe Acrobat 3.0 Saab Electronic Parts Catalogue Windows NT Explorer windows... All of the multitasking that will take place will be netscape and adobe. So, I think the machine should run it well. M$'s WinNT page says it only runs on a Pentium however, everyone else says 486 is a bare minumum. Who is correct? As well, is NT 4.0 in any way as good or nearly as NT 5.0 (Windows 2000)?

NT4 will be OK, though you do not get the Plug'n'Play environment or user friendly GUI. NT4 is more crash resistant but could you not use W98SE??

NT4 arrived in the time of the 486 - before the Pentium... so it should work just fine. However... a 'little' more RAM wouldn't hurt... take it to 32Meg - even 64Meg if possible.

Actually, 20096ko is the abs max on the board. It is paqué! I've recently found that IE 4.0 came with NT 4.0, how bad is IE 4? No internet on the machine, only to view html.

Why don't try Windows NT 3.51 with SP5? You can use IE 5.01 with it, whith the 128 bit encryption pack (the version intended for Windows 3.1x, which actually is a 32 bits apps that runs on top of Win32s) Netscape 4.51 also run on it. (I tried it). Acrobat 3.01 for 32 bits will also run (but not 4.0x or above) See this page for more info: http://stephan.win31.de/w32slist.htm#nt351 Windows NT 4.0 teorically will run too (but very slow, you really need more memory), at least the original version which is nothing more than the 3.51 with a Windows 95 Explorer-like shell, but this cannot be true if you install some SP5 or SP6. Hope this helps.

From M$'s website: Intel and compatible systems* * 486/33 megahertz (MHz) or higher, or Pentium, or Pentium PRO processor. * 125 megabyte (MB) of available hard disk space minimum.

I've just installed NT4 Workstation on a Packard Bell 486DX2 66 w/ 20MB ram, 512 MB HDD. It didn't have a CD-ROM so I copied all files from CD to HDD using another PC. Whole install took about three hours. Runs at a good speed; 45 seconds to start up, plays 3D Pinball with sound and music in full screen fine :)