MI New version, new hardware?

[andre boessenkool]

Good day, all,   Here's a fairly general question I have concerning Mapinfo releases, hardware etc.   At present I am running MapInfo V 4.5 under Windows 95 (the '4.00.950a' version!!) on an - almost antique at todays standards - Pentium 133MHz machine. The most advanced bit of hardware in this machine is a Matrox Millennium II graphics board, which drives my 19" MAG Innovision screen.   In the framework of my mapping work I am typically adressing files of between 1 and 10 Mb, while building up map images which consist in most cases of between 70 and 90 layers. The wait time has been increasing over the last few years for the image to build up, even if I have switched off a number of data-dense layers. Presently I have come to a point, where many of the data files will have to be merged for a wider map coverage and the files will therefore grow proportionally in size, the thought of which is holding me back from this drastic step.   The big issue looms now, that I must upgrade. Hardware definitely, operating system most certainly and possibly also a newer MapInfo release. I am looking for some additional functionality in MapInfo, such as an easier way of creating map legend boxes plus the appropriate contents, so I guess I should be looking at V. 5.00 minimum.   Does anyone have a suggestion in which direction I should look at this juncture? The hardware part should not be too difficult, I'll just have to go for a faster box, but the main dilemma would be Win95 v. Win98 v. Win2000 v. Win NT in combination with MI 4.5 v. MI 5.00 v. MI ??   Any comment is highly appreciated.   andr�     from: andr� boessenkool CABEX Consult AEC, po box 101 - vlottenburg 7604 south africa tel (+27 21) 881 3188 fax (+27 21) 881 3189 [EMAIL PROTECTED]