On the other hand, computer systems for real-time applications have become more affordable, are equipped with user friendly interfaces, and can be applied to a wide variety of applications. Naturally, a classical trade-off between flexibility and complexity (which is closely related to costs) exists: One extreme are measuring devices built for a dedicated purpose, simple but rugged, operating in hard real-time, typically low-cost in pure hardware but affording a large amount of time for design and development. The other extreme is a standard PC equipped only with a minimum of input/output hardware and using a standard operating system thus only enabling soft real-time operation.