Minimum Requirements

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What are the minimum requirements for ShoWorks?

The minimum requirements for ShoWorks are:

• Microsoft Windows® Vista (Business/Ultimate/Enterprise) or newer (including Windows 7 Professional, Ultimate, Enterprise, and Windows 8) both 32-bit and 64-bit versions are supported.
  
  Home Editions of any version of Windows is not supported.
  
  Windows XP is supported on ShoWorks 2009 only.
  
  Click here for an explanation of why Windows XP and Home Editions are not supported.
  
  Click here for a detailed list of compatible Windows versions.
  
  
• 4GB RAM or higher (6GB or higher recommended).
• 150MB of free hard disk.
• (optional) any version or type of iPad (iPad 2 or newer is recommended).

The minimum network requirements for ShoWorks are:

• Wireless networking (except when syncing the iPad) is not recommended due to performance issues unless running Remote Desktop.
• 100Mbps Ethernet (NIC) card on each computer (1000Mbps / 1Gbps recommended).
• 100Mbps Switch or Router (1000Mbps / 1Gbps recommended).

Compatibility conflicts with ShoWorks are:

• Microsoft Office and/or Access is not required on a machine running ShoWorks, but if installed (regardless if used), must be Office 2010 (32-bit) for ShoWorks 2012 users, and Office 2007 or Office 2010 (32-bit) for ShoWorks 2009 users (Office 64-bit is incompatible with ShoWorks, despite Windows 64-bit being compatible with ShoWorks).
• Older versions of ShoWorks should not be installed on a machine with newer versions of ShoWorks installed.
• Older versions of ShoWorks should not be installed on a machine with newer versions of ShoWorks installed.
• Home Editions of any version of Windows are not supported.

Will ShoWorks run under future versions of Windows (Windows 8) and will it network on different computers running different versions of Windows?

Yes, Because ShoWorks is a native Microsoft Office application (though Office is not required). It is recommended when networked, to keep all computers on the same version of Windows (and Office if applicable).

Do I need Microsoft Access™ to use ShoWorks?

No, but if you have MS Access version 2010, you can use the included ShoWorks Companion for Microsoft Access to further tweak all reports in any format that you desire.  However, the built-in ShoWorks Report Wizard is sufficient for most fairs reporting needs. Prior versions of Access is not supported.

ShoWorks comes in different editions based on the number of entries a fair has.  What does this mean?

The number of entries is the number of items that are going to be judged in the fair.  Since an exhibitor may show more than one entry, the fair will typically have 2 to 3 times as many entries as compared to the number of exhibitors.

What options do I have to use ShoWorks on more than one computer?

For fairs that have more than one computer networked together, simply place your ShoWorks data file in a shared location on one computer and double-click on this file from any other computer/location.  ShoWorks is the only commercial fair management software that can also run on a peer-to-peer network.  You should ensure that all of your network components are fast enough (see above).  If the fair does not have a network but still needs to be able to share information, the new import and merge wizard will merge data from two or more files, taking the latest changes of each, making sharing your data from different locations at the same time, quick and easy.

What are the main advantages of ShoWorks over other fair management systems?

Many of our customers who have converted to ShoWorks from other systems have expressed reasons such as lack of user friendliness, "buggy" software (program errors), poor technical support, and slow performance as compared to ShoWorks.  ShoWorks is well known for having few update "bug" patches. As a matter of fact, our previous release (ShoWorks 2006) had had its last patch in February of 2007 (almost two years of this writing.

Another major difference is that ShoWorks is a native Microsoft Office application, which guarantees stability, flexibility and open access for just about any user.  We are also very proud to have had our ShoWorks Custom Report Writer that was developed exclusively for ShoWorks, picked up and marketed by Microsoft and sold around the world. More information about this honor is found here.

Our software also has features that are exclusive to ShoWorks such as interfacing with Microsoft products directly and online entry capabilities that were pioneered by us over 10 years ago, making us the largest and oldest provider of online entries.

ShoWorks is the only fair software vendor to offer toll-free support as well as urgent care 24x7 phone support (speaking live with a technician to answer your questions at anytime of day or night).  Please refer to our customer quotes page for comments about our technical support.

We will be glad to provide you with a list of popular fairs who have switched to ShoWorks based on these reasons and are proud to be considered their provider of software.