Windows NT Workstation 4.0


Windows NT 4.0 is about to be launched. Microsoft Advantage sneaks a preview


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The next major upgrade to Microsoft® Windows NT™, version 4.0, will be released later this year. It will extend and enhance the current version, Windows NT 3.51,

used in businesses worldwide. As has happened in the past, there will be a simultaneous release

of software for both Server and Workstation. Here weíll look mainly at the operating system, Windows NT Workstation 4.0, though many of the features will be

common to both Workstation and Server.

The most obvious enhancement to Windows NT Workstation in version 4.0 is the introduction of the new graphical user interface (GUI). Initially, Windows 3.1, Windows NT Workstation and Windows NT Server 3.51 had the same GUI. This made it particularly easy for users to migrate from Windows 3.1 to Windows NT.

However, since Microsoft® Windows® 95 introduced a new GUI, the Windows NT and Windows 95 operating systems have been out of phase. Windows NT version 4.0 brings the Windows operating system family back together again. But there are many additional enhancements, including some that in the long run will prove to be as significant as the GUI upgrade.

Desktop and security enhancements

But first the desktop. In a nutshell, Windows NT is

getting the same desktop as Window 95. This means

that in most areas, youíll be able to use Windows NT Workstation 4.0 in exactly the same way as you would currently use Windows 95. The traditional Program Manager/File Manager double-act disappears, to be replaced by the Windows Explorer and the new style desktop with the ëStartupí toolbar. Similarly, using the right mouse button, you will be able to get context

sensitive menus as you can in Windows 95. Also, many of the Microsoft® Plus! features are included with the base Windows NT Workstation 4.0, including visual enhancements like

full-drag, animated full colour icons, enhanced MS-DOS/console fonts and font smoothing.

There are also a couple of enhanced security features built into Windows NT Workstation 4.0. First, the traditional way of telling your computer that youíre somewhat annoyed with it ñ pressing Control-Alt-Delete ñ takes you to the NT style logon/logoff/shutdown screen, instead of allowing you to directly shutdown your computer by pressing Control-Alt-Delete for a second time. Second, thereís an extra Control Panel for controlling

services and the device control.

Architectural developments

Windows NTís windowing system doesnít work in the same way as Windows 3.1 did. Windows NT 3.51 and Windows 3.1 may have looked the same, but inside NT was completely different. The NT windows code had to be written specifically to provide a robust and secure foundation for handling mission-critical applications.

Technically, the windowing sub-system in NT 3.51 was a separate process running in a non-privileged mode of the processor. In plain language, this meant that for a Microsoft® Excel spreadsheet to draw a simple line, it had to request the NT core (or kernel) to draw the line. The NT kernel then transferred the request to the windowing sub-system. In effect, there were two steps to perform any screen writing ñ the program asked NT to draw something, and then NT told the windowing sub-system to draw it.

This was done originally to ensure that NT provided an absolutely rock solid and stable operating system. Now, the evolution of Windows NT in version 4.0 has allowed the NT designers to take the windowing sub-

system into the NT kernel ñ without compromising NTís integrity. This means that, in our example of an Excel

program drawing a line, thereís only the one call to NT. For graphics intensive applications, this results in

significant performance gains and time savings over the old method. And as a bonus, it reduces the amount of memory that NT actually requires.

Hanging on the telephone

Windows NT is built from the ground up for heavy communications work. However, thereís been a problem with telephony applications in the past because thereís been no common standard. Each application used to grab a communications port and do whatever it wanted. Because of the NT security model, which is designed to stop this sort of anarchy, some communications applications would not run under NT.

Microsoft has solved this problem with the Telephony Application Programming Interface, or TAPI. This sorts out control of the communications port so that you can have, say, your fax application running while you explore the Internet. Of course, you can still only fax or explore the Internet at any one time because thereís still only one physical communication line. But with TAPI you donít have to close an application down just because another application wants to use the same port. Windows NT Workstation 4.0 also supports the Microsoft Unimodem standard. Unimodem is part of a technology that lets you treat your phone more or less as a PC peripheral, whether for voice or for data. Currently, itís easy to use your modem for data transfers, but then you have to bypass it to use the phone for normal voice communications. Often youíll have a separate answerphone as well. But now there are ëvoiceí modems which can function, in conjunction with your PC, as

an answering machine or voice mail system. With Unimodem and a voice modem youíll be able to use your NT Workstation to record voice messages and control your phone line simultaneously.

Gently does it

There are two key developments over recent years which have affected the nature of Windows NT Workstation 4.0. First, networking has become centred around the Internet. Secondly, Windows NT has become the platform of choice for thousands of organisations who use it in a mission-critical capacity.

Now if youíre running a mission-critical business operation, the last thing you need is a revolutionary change to your operating system. Evolution, yes; revolution, no. Therefore the technology that constitutes Windows NT will be released in stages so as not to compromise its well-founded reputation for reliability and

stability. In addition, future releases of NT will enable increased integration with emerging Internet standards of computer interoperability.

The first fruits of Windows NT 4.0 will arrive in the shape of the Distributed Common Object Model or DCOM. The Common Object Model (COM) has been around for some time, though unless you happen to be a skilled Windows programmer, you may not have noticed it directly. But you will have noticed things built using COM ñ theyíre the OLE objects and controls that are now common in the Microsoft® Office suite of applications. Every time you embed a chart in a spreadsheet or a spreadsheet in a Microsoft® Word document, youíre using technology built on COM.

From COM to DCOM

DCOM extends COM across networks using standard communication protocols. So instead of embedding a chart from an Excel spreadsheet running on your workstation into your Word document, youíll be able to do it from another workstation on your local network or even an NT server connected via the Internet.

For this simple case, using DCOM is something of an overkill and not a particularly useful thing to do. However, if you want to build and run distributed applications, itís a different matter.

Client-server techniques are already well established in building distributed applications. Typically, in a client-server system, the client, or ëfront endí application runs on a workstation and obtains data from a ëback endí database application running on a server.

The disadvantage with this technique is that the workstation front end has to do nearly all the work before the data can be put into the database or, on the other hand, the database has to do a lot of checking. Either way, itís easy to end up with a bottleneck in the system. To solve these problems, Microsoft has adopted a better approach to building distributed applications. This is called the ëthree tierí model (as opposed to the client-server ëtwo tierí approach).

Balancing objects

Adding a third component or tier, the application server, to the client-server model helps balance the system. The application server runs ëbusinessí components that do specific things related to how the business itself runs. For example, you might have an invoice component or object that knows how to deal with VAT. This is where DCOM comes in ñ you can now build your ëinvoice objectí, say, running on an application server separate from both the database server and the workstation client.

DCOM is NTís first real step down the route of distributed processing for the enterprise. With its new faster GUI and DCOM linking the workstation and the server, Windows NT Workstation 4.0 looks set for a great future in the enterprise.

But for now youíll just have to restrain your impatience and wait until itís ready ñ later this summer. M



Two of the many new features in Windows NT Workstation 4.0 ñ the Telephony Interface with Unimodem support and some features from the Microsoft Plus! pack.


The graphical user interface in Windows NT Workstation 4.0 takes on many of the advances that arrived with Windows 95.


486 emulator for RISC platforms: This allows 16-bit applications written for Intel processors (386 and above) to run on a RISC Workstation.

CD file system enhancements: Windows NT Workstation 4.0 supports CD-XA formats and Autoplay CDs. When you first insert the CD, Windows will start the software on the Autoplay CD without you having to do anything.

Cryptography API: Windows NT Workstation 4.0 includes cryptography APIs that will enable developers to build their own secure applications which will work over less secure networks such as the Internet.

Direct draw and direct sound

support: Windows NT Workstation 4.0 includes the DirectX games API ñ so that you can play Microsoft® Fury3 between analysing your cash flow forecasts. Direct sound runs in emulation mode, which means it uses existing NT sound drivers.

DNS integration: With Internet standard Domain Name Services (DNS), a Windows NT Workstation can communicate with an NT Server over the Internet.

Enhanced Metafile (EMF) Spooling: Printing from your Windows NT 4.0 Workstation is improved by a technique called ëenhanced metafile spoolingí. This sends high level printing instructions ñ not low level printer commands ñ to an NT Server where they are converted into more basic printer commands. This will help solve problems where youíre trying to print graphics over a network. Because of the amount of information thatís involved, these can take a long time and substantially load your network.

Microsoft Exchange universal inbox: Microsoft Exchange is the central point for managing email and fax. Windows 95 and the Exchange Server use a common Windows Messaging System (WMS). WMS for Windows NT Workstation 4.0 will include the Exchange client, the Windows messaging API (MAPI), an Internet Mail service and migration tools to assist with the transition from Microsoft® Mail.

Hardware profile support: Windows NT Workstation 4.0 has the ability to support different hardware configurations. This is particularly useful for laptop support where your laptop might spend most of its day plugged into a docking station connected to a network and then be used as a portable elsewhere.

Netware 4 client and login script

support: Windows NT Workstation 4.0 offers a full Netware 4.1 client support package for easy integration into existing Netware local area networks.

Network OLE: This is a new technology integrated with Windows NT Workstation 4.0 that enables software components to work with each other across a network.