How Can I Determine Which Product is most Appropriate to Use in Different Parts of my Organization Today?

To determine which product to use, examine the usage scenario and the business problem you're trying to solve. Whether you're filling out expense reports on a plane or calculating the results of massive scientific models in a high-security laboratory, Microsoft has a Windows operating system that meets your needs. Consider the following examples:

Mobile Users

Many companies have employees who spend a significant fraction of their working hours away from their office, whether they're at a customer site, in a hotel, or in remote locations, and rely on mobile form-factor computers to help them perform their jobs. These mobile computer users need integrated features, such as electronic mail, fax, and remote networking, which ease information access from whatever location. They need a high level of compatibility with their current devices and applications, and an operating system which places moderate demands on the system (RAM, disk space, battery power) and provides Plug and Play device configuration capabilities. For these users, Windows 95 is the best choice today.

Developers and Technical Users

Developers, engineers, scientific researchers, statisticians, and other technical users often run processing-intensive applications, while also using business productivity applications. Today, many of these users must have both a UNIX-based workstation and a PC on their desk to get their job done. Windows NT Workstation can save costs by meeting their demands for greater processing power while also running Windows-based personal and business productivity applications on the same system. Windows NT Workstation provides the performance of a leading-edge workstation or mini-computer at a fraction of the cost, with its support for symmetric multiprocessing (SMP) and its portability to different high-performance platforms like those based on Alpha AXP, PowerPC, or MIPS-based CPUs.

Business Desktop

For the business desktop, you need to examine the business problem you're trying to solve. It is very likely that you'll want to deploy both products in your organization today. For instance, your human resources department may require the high level of security and protection of Windows NT Workstation, while many others parts of your organization will deploy Windows 95. To determine the right combination of Windows 95 and Windows NT Workstation that is best for your business, you need to address the following:

Is Windows NT Workstation compatible with your existing hardware and software?

To answer this question, you need to determine:

If the answer to the above questions is yes - in the areas that the applications and hardware you have in place are compatible with Windows NT Workstation - then you should deploy Windows NT Workstation today. In the areas you require the higher level of compatibility afforded by Windows 95, then you should deploy Windows 95 today.

Do you need the additional application and system protection features offered by Windows NT Workstation?

In some situations, the business cost from a disruption in service caused by an application bringing down another application or the system can be very high. This may occur in a transaction-processing environment where the data that may be lost due to an application error is extremely valuable, or a customer service environment where the cost of keeping the customer waiting while restarting the system is high. Windows NT Workstation can help minimize these costs by running Win16 applications in separate address space (often referred to as separate virtual machines) so that if one Win16 applications fails, all of the other applications will continue to run. Win32-based applications running on both platforms provide greater reliability through use of separate memory address areas, multiple asynchronous message queues, and structured exception handling.

Windows NT provides an additional level of protection for the system by completely separating operating system and application code. Windows NT Workstation can also be configured to automatically restart if the system goes down. If the value of these additional protection features offered by Windows NT Workstation is greater than the value of the higher level of compatibility offered by Windows 95, then you should move to Windows NT Workstation now.

Do you require the data security features offered by Windows NT Workstation?

For example, within industries or functions that need to protect sensitive data or application files, such as banking, defense, or human resources, the value of having a secure desktop is very high. (Data on a server would, of course, be protected by the server system's security capabilities). Both Windows 95 and Windows NT Workstation can help prevent naive users from damaging their system configuration. Beyond this, the Windows NT File System (NTFS) can be configured to completely restrict access to systems and data. This prevents malicious users from deleting system files or damaging line-of-business applications.

With these features, a Windows NT desktop system can even be shared by multiple users and still maintain security for all files on the system. In addition, Windows NT Workstation is currently in the evaluation phase for the government C2 level security specification. If the value of these additional security features offered by Windows NT Workstation is greater than the value of the higher level of compatibility offered by Windows 95, then you should move to Windows NT Workstation now.

Overall, Windows 95 is the best choice where you need to leverage your investment in your existing infrastructure by using your existing applications and devices as you make a steady transition to Win32-based applications and more capable hardware. In other cases where the highest levels of protection for applications, system and data are required to meet your business needs, Windows NT Workstation is the best choice. 

















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