ISDN and Windows 95

August 1996 / International Features / The CAPI Puzzle / ISDN and Windows 95

The German version of Windows 95 includes an ISDN/Common-ISDN API (CAPI) 2.0-compliant subsystem (called the CAPI subsystem ) that invokes Microsoft's Network Driver Interface Specification (NDIS) drivers; the application then sets up the board as a LAN network card. Products from vendors who cooperated with Acotec and Microsoft in time for the release of Win 95 in Germany are listed but are not detected au tomatically. You install boards that are not listed by using the manufacturer's disk. You then select the relevant card and the Acotec CAPI 2.0 protocol in a procedure that's similar to installing a LAN card.
The use of NDIS has given rise to criticism in G ermany. Why use network drivers if the user has no need to network? It's a good question, and Microsoft GmbH's answer is that it was a way of getting applications to talk to a wide range of boards.
The subsystem concept lets boards coexist in the same way as NDIS-managed network cards do. However, the practical benefit of coexistence is not obvious to the average user.

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Matthew Wilson
My approach to software engineering is far more pragmatic than it is theoretical--and no language better exemplifies this than C++.

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