• This product does not run on Windows NT
• and Windows 2000
• Windows XP requires SP3 as a minimum.
• You cannot use Windows XP Home in a multi-user environment.
• Microsoft Office integration and email functionality requires you to have Microsoft Office version 2000 or above installed on your workstation

Brochures for Pastel Xpress Advantage

Brochures for Pastel Partner Advantage

A user in Pastel Xpress or Partner refers to a computer on a network.

Therefore 2 users is 2 computers linked via a network.  If a computer is not linked to a network, it's not a user and you cannot purchase a user licence for that computer

A computer network can also consist of, and is usually made for, more than two computers:

Workgroup Networking

In a peer-to-peer network, each computer holds its files and resources. Other computers can access these resources but a computer that has a particular resource must be turned on for other computers to access the resource it has. For example, if a printer is connected to computer A and computer B wants to printer to that printer, computer A must be turned On.

2 user Workgroup network

3 user Workgroup network

Client/Server Networking

A computer network is referred to as client/server if (at least) one of the computers is used to "serve" other computers referred to as "clients". Besides the computers, other types of devices can be part of the network:

4 user Client network: 1 server + 3 workstations

In a client/server environment, each computer still holds (or can still hold) its (or some) resources and files. Other computers can also access the resources stored in a computer, as in a peer-to-peer scenario. One of the particularities of a client/server network is that the files and resources are centralized. This means that a computer, the server, can hold them and other computers can access them. Since the server is always On, the client machines can access the files and resources without caring whether a certain computer is On.

Another big advantage of a client/server network is that security is created, managed, and can highly get enforced. To access the network, a person, called a user must provide some credentials, including a username and a password. If the credentials are not valid, the user can be prevented from accessing the network.

The client/server type of network also provides many other advantages such as centralized backup, Intranet capability and more.

Should I  use Workgroup or Client network?

If you have less than 5 users or if you have more than 10 uers the answer is easy:

• less than 5 users:  Workgroup network should work perfect
• if you have more than 9 users, you should only use a Client server

The more difficult part is when you have 5 to 9 users.

Although using a Workgroup network for  up to 9 users can be done - it depends on the load on the computers.

If  your accounting system is very busy, it's preferred and advised to use a Client server.

It's more secure, and safe.

It could happen on a busy Workgroup systems that information are lost or corrupted.

Pervasive

Pastel uses the Pervasive database.  So if your system is networked and you install Pastel, you get an optin to install Pervasive.  This will install the database and your Pastel users will work!