Windows NT Workstation 4.0

OPENING WINDOWS Windows NT Workstation 4.0

BY AL SHING

his month, b e fo re proceeding with Computer" interfa c e, or the Wi n d ows 95 using the graphical interface than by using our fe at u red topic, I have seve ra l Explorer. In Windows NT 4.0, these have the Start | S e t t i n g s | Ta s k b a r... interfa c e. Tthings to rep o rt on in the Micro s o f t replaced the File Manager. As before, File NT 4.0 still comes with Wi n d ows W ri t e, Wi n d ows wo rl d. Fi rs t , the Service Pa ck Manager is still available by executing WIN- and does not automat i c a l ly install for Wi n d ows 95 is ava i l able on Micro s o f t ' s FILE.EXE from Start|Run... The advantage of Wo rd p a d. Howeve r,Wo rdpad is ava i l able on WWW page (http://www. m i c ro s o f t . c o m ) . Explorer is that multiple instances can be run the CD-RO M , if desire d, and can be S e c o n d ly, I re c e n t ly attended a seminar and multitasked, unlike File Manager, which installed manu a l ly. Once installed, t h e p resented by some fo rmer Micro s o f t has multiple windows which are not multi- R egi s t ry is altered so that when .WRI fi l e s e m p l oye e s , wh e re the pri ze for attending the tasked. Files can be moved around by drag- a re opened, Wo rdpad will be used instead e n t i re pre s e n t ation was a free copy of ging and dropping from one instance of of W ri t e. The pre - release ve rsion of Wi n d ows 95, and more import a n t ly, a fre e Explorer to another. Wo rdpad does not have the ability to re a d c o py of Office 95. Fi n a l ly, a stack of Wo rd 6.0 .DOC files nor can it pro c e s s C D - ROMs ap p e a red at my door last we e k , Unicode ch a ra c t e rs. Th e re are some ra n ge s wh i ch contain the new Microsoft Wi n d ow s of ch a ra c t e rs that cannot be edited using NT Wo rk s t ation 4.0 Pre - R e l e a s e. Since I Corporations are going Wo rdpad because of this limitat i o n . suspect that Wi n d ows NT Wo rk s t ation 4.0 is Those who have installed NT before will going to be ve ry important to the corp o rat e to like Windows NT 4.0 have no trouble installing or upgrading to wo rld in the near future, I thought I wo u l d because it works Windows NT 4.0. As before, the WINNT32 c o n c e n t rate this month's column on Win d ow s program is run under the previous release of NT Wo rk s t ation 4.0, using the new copy of just like Windows 95, NT, and copies the files from the CD-ROM to O ffice 95 that I installed to run under both but without the hard disk, while simultaneously creating Wi n d ows 95 and Wi n d ows NT 4.0. the three setup diskettes for running the mini the compromises. NT setup system. One difference I noticed THE NEXT RELEASE OF WINDOWS NT Windows NT 4.0 immediately is that the ATAPI CD-ROM/Dual Windows NT Workstation 4.0 is the next Channel PCI IDE driver now recognizes the release of NT, and uses the Wi n d ows 95 has security, PCI IDE controller in my system, whereas the i n t e r fa c e. For corporations, this means that is completely 32-bit, version in NT 3.51 did not. This means that Windows NT will be deployable on suitable the high-speed data transfers available th ro u g h desktop platforms to take advantage of NT's and runs Office 95 the PCI IDE controller are now supporte d under inherent stability and security, without having and Internet applications N T. I am still awaiting this support fo r to sacrifice the usability of the Windows 95 Windows 95. i n t e r fa c e. The major elements of the inter- without a hitch. Once the mini setup system completes, and face are present in the re l e a s e, i n cluding the the system is rebooted,Windows NT 4.0 boots task bar and the Explore r. A right cl i ck on up in setup mode. Setup has been changed to the task bar reveals one item that is not pre- Also still ava i l abl e, but just as hard to look and feel like Windows 95's setup, using sent in Wi n d ows 95's task bar — a Ta s k fi n d, is the old Program Manage r, wh i ch can wizards and the same wallpaper. (For those of M a n age r. The Task Manager displays a list be brought up by selecting Start|Run... and us who have struggled through Windows 95 of the active tasks in the system and contro l e n t e ring PRO G M A N.EXE. If Wi n d ows NT se t u p , this screen makes you feel like the system buttons to minimize or end a task, or tile or 4.0 was installed as an upgrade from NT is going to lock up at any moment). When cascade the windows. These are the same 3 . 5 1 , P rogram Manager contains ex a c t ly setup completes, the system is rebooted, and functions that norm a l ly are done through the wh at it did in NT 3.51, but is not upgra d e d the familiar login process is performed via the task bar, but there may be tasks that ap p e a r with items that we re placed in the Start CTRL-ALT-DELETE key sequence.The user in the Task Manager that do not appear on M e nu. It doesn't take long to re a l i ze that ID and desktop settings are retained from the the task bar. Wi n d ows 95 has a similar func- P rogram Manager is not ve ry useful once the Windows NT 3.51 settings, but are converted tion that is invo ked by the CTRL-ALT- n ew interface is in place. As with Wi n d ow s to the Windows 95 format, just like in an DELETE key sequence, but in Wi n d ows NT, 9 5 , the Start Menu and Programs menu can upgrade from Windows 3.1 to Windows 95. this key sequence brings up the logo ff / s h u t- be displayed grap h i c a l ly by ri g h t - cl i ck i n g d own dialog, thus the re q u i rement for the the Start button and selecting Open. Th e n , FUNCTIONALITY WITHOUT Task Manage r. d o u bl e - cl i ck on the Programs icon in the COMPROMISE Those of us who use Windows 95 regularly S t a rt Menu. It is mu ch easier to add, ch a n ge, Corporations are going to like Windows NT have grown to either love or hate the "My or move items in the Programs menu by 4.0 because it works just like Windows 95,

TECHNICAL SUPPORT MAY 1996 but without the compromises. Wi n d ows NT 4.0 has securi t y, is completely 32-bit, a n d runs Office 95 and Internet ap p l i c at i o n s without a hitch. The daily stru ggles and c rashes due to complicated netwo rk drive r c o n fi g u rations and limited conve n t i o n a l m e m o ry are no longer a fa c t o r. Howeve r, Wi n d ows NT 4.0 does come with a hefty p rice for physical system re q u i re m e n t s : 12MB of RAM, and 108MB of free disk space to install. These are essentially the same re q u i rements that Wi n d ows NT 3.51 h a d. For users with a suitable mach i n e, a n d a desire for the Wi n d ows 95 interfa c e, Wi n d ows NT 4.0 Wo rk s t ation is a system t h at will satisfy the user, and meet the needs of corp o rate computing. ts

NaSPA member Al Shing has more than 21 years of computing experience, specializing in operat - ing systems programming and support. He is experienced in supporting PC, open systems, and large systems environments. He can be reached through Internet ID [email protected].

TECHNICAL SUPPORT MAY 1996