At PC Expo this week, Microsoft will address corporate America’s need to simplify information technology management while providing a wide range of technology options. PC Expo runs June 16-18 at the Javitz Center in New York City. Microsoft is extending the functionality of Windows beyond the traditional PC workstation with announcements of several new products, including Windows CE product-line advances and the release to manufacturing of Windows NT server 4.0, Terminal Server Edition.
“As the needs of the enterprise continue to evolve, Microsoft and our partners must create new technologies to help corporations address these changes,” said Paul Maritz, vice president of the platforms and applications group for Microsoft. “Our goal is to stay in lock-step with these customers, innovating the Windows platform to address the spectrum of needs from the mobile worker to the terminal user and those using traditional PCs.”
Anchored by innovations in Microsoft’s Windows NT and Office product lines, PC Expo previews several products that meet a range of needs for enterprise customers, from enhanced functionality at terminal-based jobs to extended Zero Administration for Windows, and database support for devices using the Windows CE operating system.
Windows NT Server 4.0, Terminal Server Edition, released to manufacturing on Tuesday, extends the Windows NT Server line to computers that cannot run Windows or Windows applications today. It empowers terminal users with a new generation of Windows-based applications.
For Windows CE, Microsoft unveiled plans to provide a lightweight, optimized client-side database for Windows CE-based devices. Based on Access technology, this database would work with a customer’s enterprise database, keeping data consistent between mobile devices and enterprise servers. Microsoft also demonstrated how it plans to enhance manageability of Windows CE-based devices in the enterprise by extending the Zero Administration for Windows initiative to include support for Windows CE.
Microsoft is currently developing a new version of its best-selling Office productivity suite, and will be previewing a pre-beta version at PC Expo. The next version of Office is being designed to make Office easier to deploy, manage, and support in large organizations.
A new utility for Windows NT Workstation 4.0 provides an easy and efficient way for OEMs and corporate customers to preinstall Windows NT Workstation. Image Preparation Utility enables deployment in a networked environment through disk duplication or cloning.
Microsoft Windows NT Server with Internet Information Server (IIS) is experiencing broad acceptance as a powerful platform for building web applications. This is demonstrated by the more than 240 Web applications available for Windows NT Server 4.0 and more than 250,000 developers worldwide using Active Server Pages to build Web applications.
