One of the most common questions asked when getting ready to buy a computer is how much memory you'll need. Some folks confuse memory with harddrive space. They're not the same, although they do complement each other.

Recently a software vendor I work with recommended to one of their clients that they add 32 gigs of RAM to their server to better run their database software. That's alot of memory or RAM and for those in the know it raised some red flags. Afterall, Microsoft says Windows XP can only use a MAXIMUM of 4 gigs of RAM. Ah, but wait. Then came Windows VISTA, the operating system that almost everyone in the tech publishing business loves to hate, and the memory roof was suppose to be off. Suddenly, that computer of yours could use as much memory as you could throw at it. In the early versions, the Vista operating system, would only display 3 or 4 gigs according to early user reports. That bug was fixed, but the question becomes, just how much memory can the average computer user actually use? and that leads to a second question, what's the memory used for anyway?

Knowing the answers to these two questions can either save you money or cost you time. So to get to the heart of the matter you should know that RAM is the place where programs go when they are running on your computer. Otherwise they just sit on the harddrive waiting for your beckon call. Since your operating system is a program that reads through an ever growing database that tells it how and where to direct traffic on your computer, it too must use some of that RAM when your system boots up. With these two bits of information in hand we have the first pieces to our puzzle that will eventually help us decide just how much memory is enough or too much.

The remaining pieces are in that pile over there called software. Knowing what software & operating system you intend to use can help you decide whether you need 1gig or 4 for your computer. Keep in mind, that programs that are memory hogs, obviously will gobble up all the RAM they're written to use and poorly written programs could even gobble up memory and NOT free it for other programs to use when you exit those programs. Some call this memory leaks or the failure to FLUSH, if you'll excuse the expression, RAM after you're finished using it. It's called good housekeeping by the better computer programmers.

So let's finally put the puzzle together. The Windows XP operating system on a new computer not yet trashed up with a bunch of installed programs & data, will do just fine with 2 gigs of RAM. That will give it plenty of room to operate along side of most of the day-to-day programs that average humans use on computers. Vista & MAC users should take it up a notch to 4gigs. If you're planning to run many programs at the same time and many of those programs love to use up memory then you should step it up to the Microsoft max of 4 gigs. AND if you're a really serious user, you may want to consider one of the 64bit versions of Windows and/or, dare I say it, VISTA....soon to be replaced by Windows 7.(So why not wait) While some of these operating systems allow you to use 8 gigs and even more RAM, for the average user, you'll never need that much memory but if your computer is an extension of your ego then, by all means, fill it to the max even if it is NOT necessary and will most likely not be used.

Oh, and about how that harddrive complements your memory; if a program doesn't have enough RAM to run it will do a SWAP, moving functions it does not need at that moment to the harddrive so that it has enough RAM to perform the task at hand. If you have enough RAM this will rarely happen AND because programs run extremely fast in RAM and are slowed by the SWAP procedure, that's a signal to you to consider added more RAM to your computer.