Raptor Introduces Enterprise Firewall Security Solution For Windows NT Jan. 15, 1996 - Raptor Systems today unveiled Eagle NT, the industry's first enterprise network security firewall for the Microsoft® Windows NT™ operating system. Raptor's Eagle suite of security products offer advanced features such as access control, strong authentication, industry-standard encryption, real-time Suspicious Activity Monitor (SAM) and extensive detection, alarm and reporting capabilities. California Pizza Kitchen: Business is Cooking Thanks To BackOffice January 16, 1996 - Service and technology make a difference at California Pizza Kitchen, a company known for its eclectic selection of wood-fired pizzas, as well as pastas and salads. CPK is using Microsoft Windows NT Server, Windows NT Workstation and SQL Server to provide back office support for labor scheduling and management, food costing and recipe development, daily sales receipts and payroll information. In approximately 75 restaurants across the country, store managers now spend 15 percent more time with customers -- and less time doing administrative work -- thanks to the new system that was rolled out in six months. As a result, CPK's margins have improved in the highly-competitive casual dining segment. META Group Predicts Microsoft Windows NT and Unix will dominate Web Server market January 16, 1996 - A recent article by the META Group ("Weaving the NetWare Web" 12/26/95) predicts that Microsoft Windows NT will win 30% of the web application server market, and UNIX 50%, by the end of 1997. Novell 's NetWare Web Server (NWWS) will capture only 10%. Novell's NWWS, which began shipping in December, is expected to be competitive in the low-end Intraweb server market. NWWS supports only NetWare 4.1, which accounts for a mere 20% of the NetWare universe and has little ISV support. Although it is expected to appeal to smaller NetWare user groups, Novell's lack of a comprehensive web strategy will hinder NWWS's acceptance. PC Week Picks SQL Server and Windows NT As Products of 1995 In the December 25th issue of PC Week lab staff writers wrote SQL Server "sets standards for backend databases," complimenting the tight integration with Windows NT and its easy-to-use graphical tools. They also loved Windows NT Workstation and Server's stability, portability and security "things that more businesses are beginning to need, both on the server and on the desktop." Review all the Microsoft products that showed up on the The Labs' 1995 Pick List . Hot in '96: Information Week Picks Windows NT and SQL Server The January 1st issue of Information Week contains a preview of the coming year's "sizzling technologies," including two articles on Windows NT and Microsoft SQL Server. Writer Joseph Panettieri quotes satisfied SQL Server customers like Nordstrom, Pennzoil, and Alliant Food Service, while writer Brian Gillooly focuses on the advantage of symmetric multiprocessing in the enterprise. Windows NT Server Cluster Strategy Microsoft's vision for enhancing Windows NT Server and BackOffice through clustering to provide greater availability and scalability. Clustering technology, combined with Windows NT Server, will bring data center capabilities and performance to a wider range of customer installations.