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Windows NT

Windows NT, shown in Figure 7.4, has been in development since the late 1980s, when Microsoft decided that the then-recent release of OS/2 wouldn't cut it as the operating system of the 1990s because of its lack of portability: OS/2 was written specifically for the Intel architecture. Microsoft hired a former DEC engineer and started on the road to an object-oriented, portable operating system.

Figure 7.4: Windows NT 4.0 brings Windows 95's easy-to-use interface to NT.

In its early releases, Windows NT didn't live up to Microsoft's marketing hype as the be-all, end-all operating system, but its latest release has been regarded as stable and robust. It also has begun to receive media and market attention. In the past, Windows NT was available only for servers based on the Intel architecture, but with the latest release, Windows NT has been ported to different server architectures, such as the Alpha, which was developed by DEC. This gives the user who wants to use Windows NT as the operating system more hardware choices. This recent attention has moved Windows NT toward the top of the operating system ladder. As its market share has grown, most system manufacturers now provide Windows NT drivers for their products, and a large base of application developers are porting their products to Windows NT.

Like the UNIX operating system, Windows NT breaks its modules down into two modes: kernel and user. This separation allows the operating system to be more stable, as a module or program running in the user mode is not likely to crash the whole system.

Looking toward the future, Microsoft has released Windows NT 4.0, which includes additional tools that specifically benefit its use as an intranet server operating system, such as IIS 2.0 with NT Server. Time will tell if those tools are based on Microsoft's marketing or if they will actually be useful tools.

Windows NT is likely a good fit in medium to large organizations that plan to have medium to large intranets. These organizations may not be interested in having a UNIX specialist on staff to take care of a single machine. Many companies use Windows NT now as a server for their LAN or WAN. If you already have a Windows NT administrator on staff, it certainly makes sense to use NT as the operating system for your intranet.

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