In order to use WAVE, you may log onto a WAVE host directly, or you may do so remotely using virtually any local system (computer or X terminal) connected by TCP/IP-based Ethernet to a WAVE host. (PPP, SLIP, or TERM serial-line connections also work, and may be acceptable for viewing data, but even 28.8 Kbaud connections are likely to be intolerably slow for extensive annotation editing.) Thus it is possible for several users to access WAVE simultaneously using a single WAVE host, provided only that each user's computer or terminal runs an X server. X servers are available for virtually any computer in current use, including those running any version of UNIX, as well as for MS-DOS and MS-Windows PCs, Macintoshes, Amigas, and DEC VAXen running VMS.
For many users seeking to add an additional point of access to WAVE, a networked PC may be attractive. With current CPUs and graphics adapters, rendering speed is much faster than was available on far more expensive workstations only a few years ago. X server software for MS Windows 3.1/95/NT is available from many vendors, and may be a good choice if you are heavily invested in Windows-based software. (For less than the cost of a Windows X server, however, you can buy a 1 Gb disk drive and install Linux, XFree86, and WAVE on it. Consider this before choosing a commercial X server for Windows.) If costs of maintenance and system administration are a concern, an X terminal is probably a better choice than a networked PC.