Windows NT upgrade hits town
The lights go down. Large screen televisions pump out images as music booms. But this is not a rock concert, it is the launch of Windows NT 4.0.
The launch had to be anticlimactic after all the hype - even more so in Hong Kong, where both the workstation and server were introduced a month later than in the United States.
But Windows NT 4.0 is making waves in the industry. Controversy surrounds the product, with many experts saying the workstation can operate as an Internet server - except that Microsoft has placed a licensing restriction of 10 simultaneous connections.
Steve Ballmer, executive vice-president of Microsoft, has effectively admitted Microsoft is using licensing to prevent companies using the workstation as a server and undermining potential profits.
Windows NT server costs about US$800 and the workstation $319.
The products are, however, gaining momentum as corporations adopt what has proved to be some of Microsoft's better technology.
The server and workstation both use a Windows 95-based GUI (graphical user interface) and provide better security and reliability than previous versions.
Several companies are using the workstation as economical, technologically comparable substitutes for Sun Microsystems' and Silicon Graphics' competing softwares, which have held the market for years.
Laurie Kan, managing director of Microsoft Hong Kong, said the Internet boom, combined with client/server computing, was driving the intranet, which was becoming increasingly important to the territory's corporations.
Peter Davidson, product manager of the business systems division, highlighted the server's new capabilities, including the Internet Information Server, administration wizards, the incorporation of Internet technology for systems management and better protocol handling.
Windows NT 4.0 is also ready for 64-bit operating systems to run on higher speed processors.
