Desktop Computing ~ Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) Calculator

Userful's unique line of multi-station software products can provide a fast and easy way for as many as 10
users to work using the same personal computer system. This unique 10-to-1 desktop advantage delivers
significant savings related to hardware and software acquisition, and substantially reduces ongoing system
maintenance costs, as demonstrated below.

Note: Click the [Cost Breakdown] tab below to modify the variables for your specific environment.
Desktop TCO comparison based on 50 users over a 3 year period (includes 50 Desktop Server licenses)

Desktop O/S Platform Windows Linux Desktop Server

{See Note 1

{
Hardware costs Save on initial system acquisition costs by purchasing and deploying 
50 desktop workstations $17,450 $17,450 $6,000 fewer computer workstations while increasing overall performance 
levels with all users sharing a faster computer system.
50 monitors, keyboards and mice $12,250 $12,250 $12,250
Optional server platform *

{
$1,200 $1,200 $1,200
What are these extra costs? With Userful's multi­station system, 
Additional video cards $- $- $1,250
you connect up to 10 USB keyboards, mice and VGA monitors to 
Additional USB / VGA cables $- $- $1,500 one shared computer system. Inexpensive off­the­shelf hardware 
Powered USB or optical hubs $- $- $500 components can be used to multi­station enable virtually any type 
of computer system.    
Software costs

{
Operating system licenses (plus updates) $7,500 $9,950 $- OpenOffice is fully compatible with Microsoft Office and is included 
Office productivity software $16,500 $- $- for free with many Linux distributions (including Userful's Desktop 
Server O/S). This package represents extra upfront savings of $250 
Antivirus and security software costs $19,500 $18,000 $18,000
or more per user.

{
Windows Server and TS-Client License costs $14,500 $- $-
50 Desktop Server Licenses (plus updates) $- $- $8,850 Userful software is licensed on a per station basis

{
Maintenance costs Maintain 1 machine instead of 10, 10 instead of 100, 
System maintenance costs over 3 year(s) $750,000 $750,000 $75,000 year after year over the entire life of the system… This is the 
core value of Userful's 10­to­1 desktop advantage.

{
Other costs
Estimated energy costs are based on environments that do not require 
Direct energy costs over 3 year(s) $6,521 $6,521 $652 air conditioning. Environments that require air conditioning will likely 

{{
realize substantially more energy cost savings.
Total costs $845,421 $815,371 $125,202
Costs and savings are measured over the expected life of the system.  
Total savings compared to Windows $30,050 $720,218 Eliminating other “hidden costs” may further increase your total 
savings. 
Savings as % of Windows system cost 4% 85%
Current Scenario: 50 PCs vs 50 users sharing 5 Userful multi-station system(s) over a 3-year period. Call Userful toll­free at 877­USERFUL (or 403­289­
2177) or you can visit us online at Userful.com for 
*Note: A separate server system is not required for shared Userful systems to deliver up to 10 Users per PC. details. 
 Desktop Deployment Scenario Using Desktop Server << Select Product to compare

Comparison based on 50 Users over a 3-year period. This scenario requires 50 Desktop Server licenses 50
Traditional PCs or Thin-Client Desktops vs Userful's shared 1-Box system
Number of Userful PC systems needed : 5
Variables to which you can assign appropriate values Your Value { Once you have entered appropriate values, open the “Userful TCO Calculator” tab to see 
your results.

{
Number of desktop PCs or thin-client systems needed 50
Note: The "Number of Userful  systems" x "Number of users per Userful system (max. 10)" 
Number of users per Userful system (max 10 using regular PCs) 10
should  equal the "Number of desktop PCs needed". 
Duration of system deployment (in years) 3 (e.g., 1,000 PCs = 100 Userful systems x 10 users per system).

{
Hardware costs Tip: An average desktop computer might be have a  2.5­3.0GHz processor, 256 MB of 
Average cost of desktop computer or thin-client system1 $349 RAM, 40 GB hard drive, CD drive, etc.
Cost of Userful computer system (with 2 GB RAM) $1,200

{
Cost of each video head (per Userful user) $25 Tip: For your shared Userful system you can choose any 32­ or 64­bit computer system as 
$30 needed to provide a superior computing experience to all users on the shared system.  Hi­
Cost of USB/VGA cables (per Userful user)
speed remote PCI connections over Fiber cabling or individual KVM connections over Cat5 
Cost of powered USB or other hubs (per Userful user) $10 cabling allow Users to be located virtually anywhere within a building. 

{
Cost of monitor2 $200 What are these extra costs? With Userful's multi­station system, you connect up to 10 USB 
$45 .
Cost of keyboard and mouse keyboards, mice and standard VGA monitors to one shared system. This requires a powered 
Cost of server platform (optional for non thin-client environments) $1,200 USB hub, five dual­head video cards and a computer with sufficient RAM  (we suggest 200­
300 MB of RAM per user).
Software costs
Cost of Microsoft Windows XP Pro (OEM version) $150

{
Cost of MS Office XP Small Business (OEM version) $330 Note: Userful software does not run on Windows. You must install a standard 
Cost of Windows Server Licenses per user $40 Linux desktop O/S plus the Userful software, or download Userful's multi­station 
Cost of Windows Client (and/or Citrix & other) Licenses per user $250 Desktop Server operating system (free trial, $99 per seat).
Cost of Windows antivirus & client security software – per year 3 $130
Cost of Linux antivirus and client security software – per year 3
$120
Cost of regular Linux O/S license (including OpenOffice) 8
$199

{
Cost of regular Linux O/S software upgrade subscription – per year $-
Cost of 1-Box compatible O/S license (including OpenOffice) $- Note: Check our website for a full list of 1­Box compatible Linux O/S products
Cost of 1-Box compatible O/S upgrade subscription – per year $-

{
Maintenance & energy costs Tip: A typical  multi­media PC (without including  the monitor) consumes about 
Average annual cost of electricity (per computer) $43 621 kWh/yr * $0.07/kWh = $43 per year per PC. See note 9.

{
Average annual cost of management/maintenance (per computer) $ 5,000 Tip: Estimates range from as low as $3,000 per year to over $15,000 per year to maintain a 
typical desktop computer system in a business environment.  While a Thin­Client system has 
Desktop Server licenses
a lower maintenance cost per year, these systems rely on complex server systems and 
Cost of Userful License (per seat / monitor)7 $99 expensive client licenses to function. See notes 4 & 5.
Cost of Userful system upgrade subscription (per seat – per year) $39
Note: Savings are even greater when you include UPS systems, backups, protective enclosures to secure computers,
computer disposal and air conditioning costs, networking costs, etc. Please visit www.userful.com for more information.
 Notes

Notes:
TCO is calculated as follows:
The cost of computer hardware is based on the number of users multiplied by the number of hardware items required by each user. Windows
and Linux stations will require one PC per user. Up to ten users can share one Userful computer system with additional video cards, USB hubs
and extension cables. Software licenses are calculated on a per station basis in all cases. Maintenance costs are calculated on a per computer
basis in all cases, and assume a Windows PC, a Linux PC and a Userful PC system all require the same level of resources to support (see note
6).

Retail prices quoted for competitors' products are current as of June 20, 2005. See Footnotes below for details.
Total costs and savings are determined by multiplying figures per year by the expected duration of the deployment.
Footnotes:
1 Dell Dimension 3000 priced at $349 from www.dell.ca on June 20, 2005. System configuration: Intel® Celeron® D Processor 320,
Microsoft® Windows® XP Home Edition, 256MB DDR, 40GB hard drive, Integrated Intel® Extreme Graphics 2, Integrated Audio

2 17” CRT monitor priced from dell.ca on June 20, 2005

3 Norton Internet Security 2005 ($70) and Centurion Technologies' Drive Shield+ ($60)
4 The University of Washington estimates that its TCO falls “within the range of $2,000 to $3,500 per workstation per year depending
on staffing and salary levels.” A small department with 40 desktop computers and 2 servers probably has one full and one half time
IT staff position, with IT salary costs of $90,000 per year. See http://www.washington.edu/nebula/tco.html.

5 Since 1998, Gartner Measurement has estimated the total direct and indirect costs of computer ownership in the private sector at
$8,000-$10,000 per year in North America. Salary and other costs outside North America will differ. See
http://www.gartner.com/4_decision_tools/measurement/measure_it_articles/2002_10/gov_tco.jsp.

6 This figure assumes equal maintenance for Windows, Linux and shared Userful computer systems. Our library customers report
that each PC with Userful's 10-to-1 software installed in fact requires 50%-90% less maintenance than a regular PC.
7 Number of Userful licenses required for Desktop Multiplier = number of stations on a computer MINUS 1 – DiscoverStation &
Desktop Server require a license for each station (or monitor) deployed
8 Red Hat Enterprise Linux WS is priced at $299 per station per year. See http://www.redhat.com/software/rhel/compare/client/.
9 Values calculated on June 20, 2005 using Energy Star's “Energy Calculator PC Equipment” at http://www.eu-
energystar.org/en/en_008.htm.

Page 4
 Peripherals

Notes About Peripheral Devices and Cable Lengths

Monitor Cables Using high quality VGA cables, stations can be located up to 43ft (13m) from the computer

Using a single appropriate length cable is recommended. Using adapters to extend cable length introduces
impedance

Low impedance connections are critical to display quality, so high quality shielded monitor cables are recommended.

USB Cables Using powered USB hubs, the maximum distance between USB devices and the shared computer is 75ft (22m)

Without powered USB hubs, the maximum distance with a native connection is up to 30ft (9m)
Based on USB 2.0

As a result, the maximum distance from a shared 1-Box system to a workstation is:
* When using powered USB hubs: 43ft (13m)
* Without using powered USB hubs (native connection): About 20-30ft (6-9m)
(depending largely on the stability of the electrical current)

Note: Many active devices (available separately) can extend the cable length limit to 1,000 feet or more.

The graphic card we use and recommend is the Radeon 7000 (32 MB) by Power Color, an economical dual-head
Graphics Card model. Other Radeon cards are also well supported.

The performance from this card is sufficient for typical office use, providing resolutions of up to 2048x1536 in 32-bit
color.

USB Card We recommend USB 2.0 PCI cards with 4 external ports

Memory The amount of RAM needed on a 1-Box system totally depends on the type of applications the users are running,

Generally, up to 4 users can be supported with 512 MB of RAM, 8 users can be supported with 1 GB, 10 users can
be supported with 2.0 GB.

We recommend using motherboards with at least three memory slots and the use of 512 MB or larger DIMMs.

Although Userful's Linux products support hardware peripheral devices that the Linux Kernel supports, for ease of
Recommendations system management we recommend using the same brand and model of device for the entire system deployment.

Page 5
 Retail Pricing

1-Box™ Station License – Pricing (US$) www.userful.com

Software License Desktop Multiplier™ Desktop Server™ DiscoverStation®

Retail Price $99.00 $99.00 $199.00
(per station)

Additional Years of Support Per Year (optional)

Software Upgrade Desktop Multiplier™ Desktop Server™ DiscoverStation®

Retail Price $29.00 $39.00 $199.00
(per station)

All prices subject to change. Userful will provide a minimum of fourteen (14) days advance notice of any price changes.

DiscoverStation® licenses include a 1-year subscription to Userful's web-based configuration, update and monitoring tool, Network Personalizer.

Clients may renew support at the above prices within a three month period after support expires. Renewal of support after the three month period
requires the purchase of new licenses. Clients who do not renew support will not have access to updates or the Network Personalizer after their
support period ends.

All pricing contained herein is confidential and for the intended recipient only.

Page 6