REDMOND, Wash., July 31, 1996 — Microsoft Corp. today announced the release of Windows NT® Server 4.0, the latest version of the world’s best-selling server operating system. This release brings customers unmatched ease of use and management, higher network throughput, and a complete set of tools for developing and managing intranets. Manufacturing of Microsoft® Windows NT Server 4.0 began today, with general availability anticipated within the next month.
According to International Data Corp. (IDC) Windows NT Server led in server operating system shipments in 1995 and again in first-quarter 1996, outselling other server operating systems including NetWare 3® , NetWare 4 and all versions of UNIX combined. Windows NT Server growth is most evident in its year-over-year sales increase of 154 percent from first-quarter 1995 to first-quarter 1996.
Integrated Intranet Solution
Windows NT Server 4.0 is the only server operating system to include built-in Web services that provide a complete, integrated intranet solution. Windows NT Server 4.0 includes Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS) version 2.0, currently in use by more than 200,000 users. Other intranet features include the Microsoft FrontPage
™
1.1 Web authoring and management tool, the latest version of the tool for creating and managing Web sites, and Microsoft Index Server, a content indexing and querying search engine (available from the Web).
Analysts believe Windows NT Server 4.0 is positioned to capture a significant percentage of intranet server sales, which will fuel its strong growth. According to a recent study conducted by MSI International Inc., an independent marketing research firm, adoption of intranets will grow by 150 percent by year end.
“The concept of the intranet is dominating the thoughts of IT managers trying to improve both employee productivity and the competitive performance of their companies,”
said
Rob Enderle, senior industry analyst at the Giga Information Group.
“With this release, Microsoft has effectively targeted these intranet needs with a highly integrated, low-cost platform. As a result, we expect Windows NT Server 4.0 will be the preferred choice for most IT organizations.”
Enhancements in Windows NT Server 4.0
“Windows NT Server 4.0 is a major milestone in our development. It is substantially faster, much easier to use and incorporates significantly new intranet functionality,”
said Jim Allchin, senior vice president, desktop and business systems division at Microsoft.
“With over 200,000 beta users, this is the most widely tested version of Windows NT. Because of rigorous testing and substantial customer feedback, Windows NT 4.0 is the most robust version of Windows NT we have ever shipped.”
Windows NT Server 4.0 offers scalability improvements of up to 33 percent, yielding more linear scalability on machines with eight or more processors. The additional fine tuning for the Pentium® Pro platforms to ensure high performance makes Windows NT Server 4.0 optimized for this type of hardware.
“The combination of Pentium Pro processors and Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0 delivers superb value and price/performance,”
said John McNulty, director of enterprise server programs at Intel Corp.
“The scalability and performance of Windows NT Server 4.0 on Pentium Pro processors will continue to fuel the strong industrywide adoption of Windows NT Server and will help further drive the growth rates for Pentium Pro processors and standard high-volume servers.”
Windows NT Server 4.0 provides features to reduce the number of steps required for a system administrator to install, use and manage a server. It offers a set of Internet and intranet tools and improved performance as an applications, file, print and communications server. Enhancements include the following:
-
The Windows
® 95 user interface and new management wizards. These enhancements make Windows NT Server 4.0 one of the easiest server operating systems to use and manage. -
Performance and scalability improvements. Windows NT Server 4.0 offers significant scalability improvements over Windows NT Server 3.51, achieving considerably higher performance on four-processor machines and offering much more linear scalability on machines with eight or more processors. File server performance in Windows NT Server 4.0 also shows dramatic gains, achieving more than twice the throughput of Windows NT Server 3.51 (tests were performed using Netbench
™
4.0). -
Improved Internet and intranet communications. Microsoft Internet Information Server 2.0, the fastest Web server for Windows NT Server, offers up to 40 percent greater performance than its predecessor, version 1.0. Also added are Web browser-based remote server administration and Index Server, a searching technology that offers automatic content indexing of HTML pages and other documents stored on corporate intranet servers, such as those created in Microsoft Office. Windows NT Server 4.0 also includes Microsoft FrontPage 1.1, allowing nonprogrammers as well as experienced developers to create and manage professional-quality Web sites. The Distributed Component Object Model is one other key addition to Windows NT Server 4.0. The Component Object Model (COM) allows software developers to create component-based applications. Distributed COM in Windows NT Server 4.0extends COM to allow components to securely communicate across the Internet. Distributed COM is a growing Internet standard, and it has been published in conformance with the format specified in RFC 1543. A completely new version of DNS includes a graphical administration utility and integration with WINS services for dynamic updates of host names and addresses. To enable the creation of virtual private networks across the Internet, Windows NT Server 4.0 offers point-to-point tunneling protocol (PPTP), a technology that extends the capacity of RAS to enable secure, low-cost private networks without the need to change the client software.
Pricing and Availability
Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0 is scheduled to be available within the next month for approximately $1,129 for the new 10-user version. Customers with previous versions of Windows NT Server can upgrade to version 4.0 for approximately $539 for the 10-user version. Additional information on pricing for Windows NT Server 4.0 is available at http://microsoft.com/ntserver/40price.htm
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (NASDAQ
“MSFT”
) is the worldwide leader in software for personal computers. The company offers a wide range of products and services for business and personal use, each designed with the mission of making it easier and more enjoyable for people to take advantage of the full power of personal computing every day.
Microsoft, Windows NT, FrontPage and Windows are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries.
Pentium is a registered trademark of Intel Corp.
Netbench is a trademark of Ziff-Davis Publishing Company L.P.
