Windows NT 4.0: Corporate Desktop Standard

Windows NT Workstation is on its way to be the business desktop operatingsystem of choice. That's the feeling I got after attending the Denver kickoffof the Windows NT 4.0 (NT4) preview tour in February. About 900 ISprofessionals attended this special user group event to see Frank Artale, theguy who decides what makes it into NT4, demonstrate the operating system's newand improved features. Artale highlighted the new Ul features while NT4 wasmultitasking with several disk-intensive tasks, showing NT has both beauty andmuscle. The next day, Artale wrote, "It reminded me of when we kicked offWm3.1. The excitement of the crowd was extreme." Microsoft didn't buy thisexcitement: It grew from champions of Windows NT.

As our cover story explains, the bulk of NT4-the Win95 interface, TAPI,Unimodem, the Internet Explorer, Exchange client and more-affects Windows NTWorkstation. However, Windows NT Server 4.0 includes Internet InformationServer, a built-in WWW, FTP, and gopher server in one package. Microsoft'sInternet strategy is simple: Increase market share by giving away everythingthat Netscape will charge you for.

Face it, Windows 3.x and DOS's days are numbered. Most software vendorshave stopped all development on these operating systems and have turned theirfocus to Wm95 and NT. Corporations face a certain upgrade decision in 1996. Microsoft recommends that all new hardware purchases be capable of runningWindows NT Workstation and be included on the NT Hardware Compatibility list(HCL) (http://www.microsoft.com/NTWorkstation/NTWN9503.htm).Regardless of your operating system choice, your minimum new purchaseconfiguration should include a fast computer with at least 16MB of RAM.

What about your future software purchases? We've found less than 500/o ofthe Windows 95 logo applications are compatible with NT. Around the launch ofWindows 95, Microsoft relaxed the NT-compatibility standard, allowing for "architecturaldifferences' An increasing number of you have written me and complained aboutthis problem, saying that you can't trust the Win95 logo. Neither can we. Thedamage has been done, and I don't think Microsoft can fix it. As NT users, wewant to buy software that has a "Windows NT: Ready to Run" logo on it.Knowing that Windows 95 will eventually be positioned as a home operatingsystem, it bothers me to run anything that has a 95 at the end of it. To addinsult to injury, Office for NT ran on RISC platforms, while Office 95 does notI'm not saying Windows 95 is bad-I use it at home, which is where it belongs.

What about OS/2? Edwin Black, editor-in-chief of OS/2 Professionalsays, "The days of IBM using Warp as its exciting vanguard are over. Big Blue and Big Lou are moving on to other things. This probably means a lotto your company as managers may soon have to make some turning point decisionsabout whether to stick with Warp or transition to NT (as many are)."

Microsoft has clearly won the battle for the desktop: Windows NT Workstationfor business, Win95 for home.