ATLANTA, Oct. 21, 1998 — Today at Networld+Interop, Microsoft Corp. announced the availability of Service Pack 4.0 for the Microsoft® Windows NT® Workstation 4.0 and Windows NT Server 4.0 operating systems. Service Pack 4.0 strengthens the reliability of the Windows NT operating system and prepares customers for the future by providing a single source for all updates and feature enhancements to Windows NT including year 2000 compliance, improved manageability, and font support for the euro currency. In addition, Microsoft announced that a number of leading organizations, including NATO, the San Diego Chamber of Commerce and others, have selected Windows NT as their platform of choice. Independent software vendors (ISVs) and Microsoft Certified Solution Providers (MCSPs) are reaping tremendous levels of revenue growth as a result of an increasing demand from customers to migrate to Windows NT-based solutions.
“Because of the ability to meet the needs of a broad range of customers, Windows NT Workstation and Windows NT Server continue to be the operating systems of choice for businesses today,”
said Jim Allchin, senior vice president of the personal and business systems group at Microsoft.
“The No. 1 request from customers was to deliver a single source of all bug fixes and focus on improving the overall quality of the platform with Service Pack 4.0. We are pleased to deliver these core updates and provide customers with the most reliable version of Windows NT to date.”
Service Pack 4.0 Delivers Updated Functionality and System Enhancements
Service Pack 4.0 for Windows NT Workstation and Windows NT Server provides a single source for updates as well as a number of improvements to overall system reliability. Enhancements include the following:
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Improved reliability. Service Pack 4.0 improves the reliability of the Windows NT platform by providing all the current updates for Windows NT 4.0. Service Pack 4.0 also includes Windows NT Support Tools, such as Kernel Debugger Extensions, Pool Enhancements and the Kernel Memory Space Analyzer, which enhance supportability of Windows NT by providing advanced tools for crash dump analysis. With these tools, Windows support professionals can easily diagnose system problems and resolve issues quickly.
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Year 2000 readiness. Service Pack 4.0 prepares the Windows NT 4.0 platform for year 2000 compliance by providing critical year 2000 system updates in a single source.
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Advanced management and security features. Service Pack 4.0 includes functionality to help reduce the complexity of network administration, including improved NetWare interoperability, new distributed management enhancements such as Web-Based Enterprise Management (WBEM) and advanced security utilities such as Security Configuration Editor.
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Updated functionality. Service Pack 4.0 contains enhancements to the Windows NT operating system including font support for the euro, Microsoft Windows Media Technologies and Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.01 with Service Pack 1, which enables customers to build on their platform investments and service more of their customers’ needs.
Customer Migrations to Windows NT Server 4.0 Accelerates
Customers are choosing to migrate to Windows NT Server 4.0 because of the support for file and print, application, and communication services, which enables organizations to easily evolve their platform to meet the ever-changing needs of their customers. According to Taylor Nelson Sofres Intersearch, an international market research firm, NetWare customers are migrating in significant numbers to Windows NT Server 4.0 to realize a reduction in total cost of ownership and benefit from the maximum variety of services available from a single platform. In fact, over 33 percent of NetWare customers choose to migrate to Windows NT Server 4.0 when upgrading their hardware.
“IDC’s quarterly operating environments research indicates that Microsoft has shipped more new Windows NT Server-based software licenses in the first half of 1998 than any other single supplier of server operating environments,”
said Jean Bozman, research manager of International Data Corp.’s server operating environments program.
“Furthermore, Microsoft has shipped more than twice the number of new server operating environment software licenses than the next competitor, which is Novell NetWare.”
Customers migrating from NetWare and selecting Windows NT Server 4.0 as their strategic platform include Central National Bank; Commercial Financial Services Inc.; Dell Computer Corp.; Hughes, Hubbard and Reed LLP; Intertech Management Group Inc.; NATO; PAVCO Corp.; The Prudential Insurance Company of America; and the San Diego Chamber of Commerce.
“As our company grows, we continually face the challenge of adding new services and functionality to our platform,”
said Mike Fischer, vice president and principal at PAVCO Corp, a commercial contracting company.
“Of all the platforms we evaluated, only a Windows NT Server-based solution ultimately gave us the multipurpose capabilities we needed to react more quickly to our customer requests. We rely on Windows NT Server to provide greater efficiency and to allow us to stay within our budget.”
ISVs Build Strong Business on Windows NT Server
Windows NT Server continues to enjoy rapid adoption within the ISV community, including companies such as ACCPAC International Inc., Best Software Inc., Goldmine Software Corp., Great Plains Software Inc., Macola Software Inc., Navision Software Inc., PC DOCS Inc./Fulcrum Technologies Inc., Sage Software Inc., SBT Accounting Systems, Solomon Software Inc., STI and Timberline Software Corp.
Windows NT Server is a multipurpose platform that allows customers to run line-of-business applications more efficiently and cost-effectively and enables ISVs to offer their customers better performance with more available choices.
“A year ago, 80 percent of Best Software’s new unit sales were based on Novell Netware,”
said Bob Skinner, senior vice president of sales and professional services at Best Software.
“Today, we sell more than 85 percent of our software licensing on Windows NT Server 4.0 because it gives our customers the performance and reliability they need at a lower price point.”
Windows NT Workstation 4.0 Becoming Mainstream Business Desktop
With more than 20 million licenses sold, Windows NT Workstation 4.0 is becoming the mainstream business desktop operating system for most users. It offers the lowest TCO of any desktop platform while delivering unmatched performance and reliability. In addition, Windows NT Workstation 4.0 will provide the smoothest upgrade path to Windows NT Workstation 5.0 when it becomes available. Currently, one out of every four PCs that PC manufacturers ship to businesses of any size is preinstalled with Windows NT Workstation 4.0, according to Microsoft.
Availability
The Windows NT 4.0 Service Pack 4.0 is available for free download at http://www.microsoft.com/ntserver/nts/downloads/recommended/
NT4SvcPk4/default.asp (connect-time charges may apply). In addition, Service Pack 4.0 is available directly from Microsoft for $19.95 (including shipping and handling). For more information on the updates
included in Service Pack 4.0, please see the
“What’s New in Service Pack 4.0”
document available at http://www.microsoft.com/ntserver/nts/exec/overview/
NT4SP4whatnew.asp .
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.
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