Hardware Compatibility List
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A Hardware Compatibility List (HCL) is a list of computer hardware (typically including many types of peripheral) that is compatible with a particular operating system. In today's world, there is a vast amount of computer hardware in circulation, and many operating systems too. A hardware compatibility list is a database of hardware models and their compatibility with a certain operating system.
HCLs can be centrally controlled (one person or team keeps the list of hardware maintained) or user-driven (users submit reviews on hardware they have used).
There are many HCLs; usually, each operating system will have an official HCL on their website. In the case of Microsoft Windows and its market dominance, HCLs are typically only consulted by the average computer user when a new OS release has come out, since it is otherwise assumed that any x86 system or peripheral is designed to be compatible with Windows out of the box. On the other hand, HCLs can be very useful when working with less mainstream operating systems such as Linux or BSD.
