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Introduction - The future of WindowsWith Windows NT 4.0, Microsoft's 'industrial strength' operating system is spreading well beyond its previous boundaries. NT was originally sold as a secure and robust alternative to Novell as an enterprise server, with the workstation version only intended for the best-equipped power users. Now though, NT 4.0 is appearing on the future planning lists of end-users as well as corporate IT directors. That's in part because of the increasing power and capacity of today's standard PCs, which has caught up with and often surpassed Windows NT's previously excessive requirements. It's also partly due to the perception that NT's full 32-bit architecture is superior to the hybrid mixture of 32-bit and 16-bit code in Windows 95, as well as being more reliable and secure. But the most important factor is that NT looks like the best route to the future, while Windows 95 tied to its 16-bit ancestry, is now looking like an evolutionary dead end. So what does NT 4.0 offer that previous versions of NT and current versions of Windows 95 can't give us? Microsoft's original aim was to add the Windows 95 interface, but mid-way through the project it struggled to integrate the Internet into its OS strategy. So the upgrade had to include Internet technologies too. True, the shell update is still there. NT 4.0 has the Windows 95 interface, changed only so far as was necessary to fit in with NT's security, administration and networking requirements, and with some extra repairs for bugs uncovered during 95's first year on the market. There are also changes round the edges, with the integration of features like desktop schemes, animated icons and anti-aliased text from Microsoft's Plus! pack for Windows 95. But underneath the shell there are major architectural and API changes that have more long-term significance. |
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