NT 4.0 Strikes Home
With the release of version 4.0 this month, Windows NT reaches maturity as the strategic operating system for enterprise computing. Both NT 4.0 Server and Work-
station include a host of new features aimed at usability and user friendliness, functionality, performance (NT 4.0 seems to be at least as fast as 3.51; scaleability performance is up to 33% better), and integrated services.
The new Explorer GUI comes to NT from Windows 95 with NT-specific enhancements, such as NT Diagnostics, the Task Manager, and Performance Monitor (User Manager is unchanged). The interface functions like the Win95 Explorer, with which it shares a paradigm for viewing network resources, local system objects, files, properties and settings, and the Internet.
The following list summarizes the architectural and organizational changes for NT 4.0.
* Distributed Component Object Modeling (DCOM, formerly Network Object Linking and Embedding--OLE)
* The User (I/O services, etc.) and Graphical Display Interface (GDI) components, which are now kernel-mode functions, are smaller, and are in the NT Executive for enhanced system performance
* Telephony API (TAPI), which provides enhanced communications with voice, data, fax modems
* The DirectX APIs (DirectDraw, DirectSound, DirectPlay, DirectInput, with ActiveMovie), which allow faster 2D graphics (support for hardware acceleration is through DirectDraw), .avi file playback, gameplay, and better sound and support for improved OpenGL performance
* Cryptography API (CAPI)
* Improved driver support, such as Unimodem (universal modem types) and display drivers, and more drivers for proprietary hardware (MPEG decoders, sound cards, etc.)
* Improved Pentium Pro support
* Enhanced Remote Access Service (RAS): autodial (automatically initiates a connection if you request a network resource that you aren't connected to), multilink (supports multiple simultaneous connections with multiple modems), dial-up networking service (dial-up authorization at login for remote con-
nections), and routing (a RAS server as an Internet gateway with Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol--PPTP)
* Enhanced NetWare services, including a NetWare Directory Service (NDS) client and NetWare 4 login scripts
* Hardware profiles for using multiple configurations (at home, in the office, on the road)
* Enhanced metafile spooling: print rasterization is now offloaded to the print server, instead of being processed on the workstation
* Full 486 enhanced-mode emulation for RISC-based systems
* Improved multitasking and separate memory spaces for 16-bit DOS and Windows 3.x applications
* New services: Universal Exchange Inbox, multimedia viewers (with the QuickView utility for MS Office file types), My Briefcase for remote file synchronization, CD Autoplay (automatic load and play for audio and data CDs), and Autorun (type in any file, command, universal resource locatorURLor executable from the Run dialog to launch the appropriate application, including launching RAS for access to Internet or LAN resources)
* Improved reliability and performance, with enhanced support for symmetrical multiprocessing (SMP)
* Internet Information Server (IIS) 2.0 and integrated Domain Name System (DNS) server (with Windows Internet Name Service--WINS) as part of server; Peer Web Services for Internet and intranet deployment with workstation; Internet Explorer 2.0 (soon to be IE 3.0) is free as part of both Server and Workstation
* Multi-Protocol Routing (MPR) with Server
* Updated control panel items for multimedia, display, etc. (You can now change display settings without rebooting.)
* Win95 Plus! Pack
--Joel Sloss
Windows NT Tsunami
A tsunami is one of the most unpredictable and powerful forces on earth. The success of Windows NT has not come as a huge surprise, but the magnitude of its widespread adoption as an enterprise desktop system attests to its tsunami-like power. On a recent customer swing around the US, I visited several Wall Street financial concerns, state government agencies, utilities, petrochemical companies, and a pharmaceutical company. Most organizations I visited are buying and upgrading hardware, preparing strategic plans to implement an NT desktop environment.
What I observed represents a significant shift in enterprise computing trends:
* A major move from Windows and OS/2 to Windows NT desktops
* Windows NT servers replacing OS/2 and Novell file and print servers
* Widespread adoption of Microsoft Exchange as an enterprise standard for electronic mail
* Windows NT servers with multiuser capability (Citrix) distributing Windows and NT applications to Macintosh, Unix workstations, and X terminals
Expectations and Surprises
Some of this information did not come as a surprise. However, the speed at which the NT tsunami is traveling is well beyond my expectations.
I expected to see enterprises transitioning from Windows to NT on the desktop but was surprised that many had already done so. Several organizations recently had completed pilot studies and were about to implement NT Server as a replacement for IBM OS/2 LAN server and Novell file, print, and application servers.