SUMMARY
Both Windows 95 and Windows NT Workstation 3.51 are designed to deliver a
common set of capabilities - great application support, ease of use,
connectivity, and manageability. Both products provide a platform for a new
generation of Win32-based applications that provide new features and
greater performance and reliability than today's Win16-based applications.
When choosing the right operating system to deploy for your corporation,
consider the needs of the users:
- Users doing mobile computing should use Windows 95 for the plug & play,
power management, and the Windows 95 Briefcase feature.
- Developers, engineers, and other technical computer users, should
choose Windows NT Workstation.
If you have the hardware to support Windows NT, and all your applications
and devices are supported, choose Windows NT Workstation. If you have older
hardware, older applications, and older devices, choose Windows 95.
You can plan for the future by making all new hardware purchases compatible
with Windows NT Workstation.
MORE INFORMATION
Mobile Users
Mobile computer users need integrated features, such as electronic mail,
fax, and remote networking, which ease information access from whatever
location. They need a high level of compatibility with their current
devices and applications, and an operating system which places moderate
demands on the system (RAM, disk space, battery power) and provides Plug
and Play device configuration capabilities. These users should use Windows
95.
Developers and Technical Users
Developers, engineers, scientific researchers, statisticians, and other
technical users often run processing-intensive applications, while also
using business productivity applications. Today, many of these users must
have both a UNIX-based workstation and a PC on their desk to get their job
done. Windows NT Workstation can save costs by meeting their demands for
greater processing power while also running Windows-based personal and
business productivity applications on the same system. Windows NT
Workstation provides the performance of a leading-edge workstation or mini-
computer at a fraction of the cost, with its support for symmetric
multiprocessing (SMP) and its portability to different high-performance
platforms like those based on Alpha AXP, PowerPC, or MIPS-based CPUs.
Business Desktop
For the business desktop, examine the business problem you're trying to
solve. To determine if Windows NT Workstation is compatible with your
existing hardware and software, answer the following three questions:
- Do your current systems have the resources (minimum 12 MB RAM, 90 MB
hard drive space) required to run Windows NT Workstation? If not, do
you have the budget to upgrade these systems to run Windows NT
Workstation? You should weight this cost against the extra reliability
and protection features you get with Windows NT Workstation. If you can
not afford to upgrade your systems today, you should deploy Windows 95.
-
Are there Windows NT Workstation drivers for the devices you have in
place, including video cards, drive controllers, proprietary 3270
devices, and network interface cards? The Windows NT Hardware
Compatibility List can be used to determine if drivers are available for
these devices.
-
Are your applications compatible with Windows NT Workstation? Are you
running applications that require an MS-DOS or Windows device driver or
SR, and have these been ported to Windows NT Workstation?
If the answer to each of the above questions is yes, then you should deploy
Windows NT Workstation. In the areas that require the higher level of
compatibility, you should deploy Windows 95.
Do you need the additional application and system protection features
offered by Windows NT Workstation?
In some situations, the business cost from a disruption in service caused
by an application bringing down another application or the system can be
very high. Windows NT Workstation can help minimize these costs by running
Win16 applications in separate address space (often referred to as separate
virtual machines) so that if one Win16 application fails, all of the other
applications will continue to run. Win32-based applications running on both
platforms provide greater reliability through use of separate memory
address areas, multiple asynchronous message queues, and structured
exception handling. Windows NT provides an additional level of protection
for the system by completely separating operating system and application
code. Windows NT Workstation can also be configured to automatically
restart if the system goes down. If the value of these additional
protection features offered by Windows NT Workstation is greater than the
value of the higher level of compatibility offered by Windows 95, choose
Windows NT Workstation.
Do you require the data security features offered by Windows NT
Workstation?
Both Windows 95 and Windows NT Workstation can help prevent naive users
from damaging their system configuration. Beyond this, the Windows NT File
System (NTFS) can be configured to restrict access to systems and data.
This prevents malicious users from deleting system files or damaging line-
of-business applications. With these features, a Windows NT desktop system
can even be shared by multiple users and still maintain security for all
files on the system. In addition, Windows NT Workstation is currently in
the evaluation phase for the government C2 level security specification. If
the value of these additional security features offered by Windows NT
Workstation is greater than the value of the higher level of compatibility
offered by Windows 95, choose Windows NT Workstation.
Overall, Windows 95 is the best choice where you need to leverage your
investment in your existing infrastructure by using your existing
applications and devices as you make a steady transition to Win32-based
applications and more capable hardware. In other cases where the highest
levels of protection for applications, system and data are required to meet
your business needs, Windows NT Workstation is the best choice.
Similarities of Windows NT Workstation and Windows 95
The following table summarizes features that the products share. Feature
differences that exist today, but will be resolved in the future, are noted
as "Future Release".
Windows NT
Product Feature Windows 95 Workstation
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Application Support
- Win32 API for application development, OLE Yes Yes
for linking data across applications
- Preemptive multitasking of Win32 Yes Yes
applications
- Runs the majority of Win16 applications Yes Yes
- Multimedia APIs (DibEngine, Direct Draw, Yes Future
DirectSound, Direct Input, Reality Lab 3D Release
graphics libraries)
- OpenGL graphics libraries for 3D graphics Future Yes
Release
Ease of Use
- Auto-detection and configuration of Yes Yes
hardware during installation
- Next-generation Windows User Interface Yes Future
Release
- Plug and Play technology that lets you add Yes Future
hardware automatically and dynamically Release
reconfigure the system
Connectivity
- LAN connectivity and peer-to-peer Yes Yes
networking, with all popular protocols
including TCP/IP, IPX/SPX, DLC and NetBEUI
- Open networking architecture provides Yes Yes
choice of clients, transports and drivers
and extensibility for support of third
party networking applications
- Built-in Remote Access services Yes Yes
- Built-in universal inbox providing Yes Future
email and fax Release
- Built-in MSN online service Yes Future
client software Release
Manageability
- Open system management architecture Yes Yes
provides infrastructure for third party
system management solutions
- Supports existing and emerging system Yes Yes
management standards (SNMP, DMI)
- System Policies to provide centralized Yes Future
control over desktop configuration Release
- User profiles to provide consistent Yes Yes
configuration for roving users or
different users sharing a single system
- Remote monitoring of system performance Yes Yes
System and Peripheral Support
- Fully exploits 386DX, 486, and Pentium Yes Yes
platforms
- Disk compression Yes Yes
(VFAT) (NTFS)
- Dynamic PCMCIA support (you don't have Yes Static today,
to reboot system to add a device) Yes in Future
Release
Support and Service
- Quick Fix Engineering teams to solve Yes Yes
critical problems at specific sites
- Regular Service Pack releases to Yes Yes
provide new drivers, component updates,
and problem fixes
Differences between Windows NT Workstation and Windows 95
The following table summarizes differences between the two products that
will continue over time.
Product Feature Windows 95 Windows NT
Workstation
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Application Support
- System Resource Capacity Greatly Unlimited
expanded
- Runs MS-DOS applications Yes Most (see
note below)
- Runs IBM Presentation Manager No Yes
(through 1.3) & POSIX 1003.1 applications
Application and Data Protection
- Preemptive multitasking for Win16 No Yes
applications
- System completely protected from No Yes
errant Win16 and Win32 applications
- NTFS file system provides complete No Yes
protection of files on a stand-alone
system (Files, folders, and applications
can be made "invisible" to specific users)
- Has automatic recovery from a system No Yes
failure
System and Peripheral Requirements and Support
- Runs MS-DOS device drivers Yes No
- Runs Win16 device drivers Yes No
- Minimum recommended RAM 8 MB 12 MB
- Typical disk space requirement 40 MB 90 MB
- Runs on PowerPC, MIPS, and DEC Alpha No Yes
AXP-based RISC systems
- Supports multi-processor configurations No Yes
for scaleable performance without
changing operating system or applications
NOTE: Windows NT Workstation requires 12 MB RAM 486 or greater, or
compatible RISC-based system. Also, certain categories of applications that
try to directly access hardware will not work on Windows NT Workstation
because they compromise security or system robustness (for example,
applications that try to directly access hardware, some MS-DOS games
requiring specialized hardware access, and old MS-DOS and Windows device
drivers [including VxDs]).