0 squarely at business users. And with an impressive list of features and performance improvements, NT appears to hit its target.
NT
4.0 seems to promise something for everyone. For Windows 3.x users who want more reason to upgrade than just the pretty face of Win 95, NT 4.0 adds an alluring combination of stability and security. Users get a performance boost, a wide range of new and better features, and enhanced Internet connectivity.
The sweeping changes made to NT 4.0 touch nearly every service and aspect of the OS. It's easy to see signs of upgrades in the interface, management tools, Internet and networking capabilities, programming interfaces, and performance.
Performance
We've had beta versions of the new NT in the BYTE lab for a while. However, it wasn't until Microsoft handed us the final release code -- barely in time to make this issue -- and we did some real-world testing with the actual OS that we could determine how well NT's performance matches its promotion.
The
features table
and
performance charts
summarize our findings. Except where noted, perf
ormance results are for NT 4.0 Workstation. We focused more heavily on Workstation because, to users of Windows 3.x, the target audience for the upgrade, it's unfamiliar. In contrast, those users interested in NT Server are likely already familiar with NT's capabilities from their experience with version 3.51.
We configured three mainstream systems for testing: a Gateway Pentium-133 with 64 MB of RAM, a Gateway Pentium Pro-150 with 64 MB, and a Cyrix 6x86-P200 with 32 MB. The hard disks in the Gateway systems were connected to the system boards' IDE interface. The Cyrix system used an Adaptec AHA-2940 SCSI adapter and a SCSI hard drive.
Each system was equipped with a PCI-based Matrox Millennium video adapter configured for 1024- by 768-pixel resolution with 256 colors. Matrox supplied video drivers for Win 95 and NT 3.51, and we used the Microsoft video driver that comes with NT 4.0.
To evaluate performance, we used the new SYSmark/32 1.0 benchmark for Win 95 and NT platforms. This test measures
performance in six categories by executing scripts that run eight real-world applications: Adobe PageMaker 6.0, CorelDraw 6.0, Lotus Freelance 96, Lotus WordPro 96, Microsoft Excel 7.0, PowerPoint 7.0, Word 7.0, and Paradox 7.0.
The results of this first round of tests (see
"NT 4.0 SYSmark/32 Performance"
) show a clear trend: NT Workstation 4.0 outperforms both NT 3.51 and Win 95. On the Cyrix system, however, we discovered that a change made to the NT code just before final release produced some surprising results (see the sidebar "NT 4.0 Bogs Down on Cyrix 6x86" for more information).
On the Pentium system, NT 4.0 bested Win 95 in all categories, delivering an average 12 percent performance increase. NT 4.0 showed a stunning improvement of 49 percent in the graphics test and 33 percent in desktop publishing. Microsoft's decision to move the display and print drivers into the kernel (see the sidebar "Getting to the Kernel: Is NT Still Safe?") and its attention to optimization ha
ve clearly paid off.
The improvement over NT 3.51 averaged 30 percent. We attribute this seemingly high score to a 45 percent increase in word processing scores and a 40 percent increase in spreadsheet scores, results that are due to the poor performance of 3.51, which fell below that of Win 95 in those categories.
The performance differential between NT 4.0 and Win 95 is much more dramatic on the Pentium Pro system. The Pentium Pro's CPU core is optimized for 32-bit operation at the expense of 16-bit instructions, so it naturally favors NT over Win 95, which is still built around 16-bit DOS code. Improvements in the graphics architecture also contributed to the 68 percent increase in the graphics benchmark.
Again, NT 3.51's lackluster word processing and spreadsheet performance are obvious, allowing Win 95 to turn in better scores, even on the Pentium Pro. In the same tests, NT 4.0 shows increases of 40 percent and 29 percent, respectively. Increases in the other graphics-based tests range from
12 percent to 22 percent.
Windows NT Server 4.0 is also faster than NT 3.51 Server. We compared old and new Server versions of NT using a SQL server benchmark developed by NSTL (see "Powerhouse Pentium Pro Servers," September BYTE, for test details). Running Microsoft SQL Server 6.5 under both versions of NT Server on a four-processor, 200-MHz ALR Revolution Quad6, we noted a 5 percent overall performance increase under NT 4.0 Server when testing with up to 16 users. The test is CPU- and memory-intensive and doesn't measure I/O performance.
Interface and Management
Surely the most prominent change to NT 4.0 is the addition of the Win 95 user interface. Present are the familiar Start button, Taskbar, Shortcuts, Network Neighborhood, and My Computer. Also included is Windows NT Explorer, which provides a hierarchical view of each drive and folder, including network drives.
Desktop management should get easier for system administrators as well. NT's User Profiles and System Polic
ies provide a convenient means to control access to network and desktop resources. System policies help administrators to standardize desktop configurations and enforce behavior. And you can store roaming users' profiles on an NT server so that users always receive the same desktop, regardless of their location.
Internet Operability
If Internet immersion is the name of the game, then Microsoft is playing for keeps. NT 4.0 includes Internet Explorer (IE) 2.0, Microsoft's Web browser. (Unfortunately, Microsoft released a much-improved version, IE 3.0, shortly after NT 4.0 shipped -- too late to make it onto the NT 4.0 CD-ROM.) IE supports existing Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) standards, such as tables, while also incorporating extensions for in-line sound and video, background Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) support, and support for Internet shopping applications.
On NT Server, Internet Information Server (IIS) has been upgraded to version 2.0. Features include easier setup, administ
ration from a Web browser, and support for Systems Management Server (SMS) as well as SNMP administration tools. Microsoft claims that IIS 2.0 is 40 percent faster than the previous version.
Peer Web Services (PWS), a subset of IIS Workstation, enables any user to publish personal Web pages over a corporate intranet. PWS also offers a platform on which to develop and test Web applications. While much more modest than IIS in resource requirements, PWS provides all ISAPI extensions and filters and is integrated into the NT security model.
Networking Enhancements
NT Workstation now has an improved version of Client Services for NetWare that supports NetWare Directory Service (NDS). This enables NT users to log in to NetWare 4.x servers running NDS and access files and print resources. It's integrated into NT and offers NDS authentication, browsing and print capability, and full support for NetWare log-in scripts, property pages, and NDS passwords.
The Point-to-Point Tunneling Pro
tocol (PPTP) is an open standard that allows you to use the Internet, or other public carriers, to provide secure connectivity between remote clients and public networks. It also provides the basis for Microsoft's Virtual Private Network (VPN) technology.
Using PPTP, remote users can dial into a local Internet provider and tunnel into their corporate network, seeing the same security and features found on their private network. From the user's perspective, the physical connection path is irrelevant; the VPN tunnel encapsulates all data in IP packets. VPN supports all the major network protocols, including TCP/IP, IPX/SPX, and NetBEUI.
The updated version of Dial-Up Networking now provides
channel aggregation
, the ability to combine the bandwidth of all available dial-up lines to achieve higher transfer speeds. For example, you can combine two PPP-compliant ISDN B channels or two standard modem lines to double the effective bandwidth. You can also mix ISDN lines with standard analog modem line
s.
Two NT server services, Windows Internet Name Service (WINS) and Domain Name System (DNS), have been combined to provide a form of dynamic DNS. Users can enter fully qualified DNS domain names, making it easier to connect to system resources.
NT now supports the Windows Messaging Client, a universal e-mail inbox that includes drivers for Internet and Microsoft mail. Internet support includes the ability to exchange mail over any network with SMTP or Post Office Protocol 3 (POP3) services. Messaging Client includes full MAPI 1.0 support, allowing you to send, receive, organize, and store e-mail and file-system objects.
Network OLE, which is now dubbed Distributed Component Object Model (DCOM), is a step closer to reality in this release. DCOM, a system of software objects designed to be reusable and replaceable, in theory allows you to distribute processes across multiple computers by providing the object-based communications infrastructure. NT 4.0 supports DCOM by hiding the details of applicat
ion pointers from both the application and the object.
New APIs
NT 4.0 now supports several new or updated APIs. For example, a set of encryption APIs lets developers create applications that work securely over nonsecure networks, such as the Internet.
For instance, Telephony API (TAPI) provides a platform for developing end-user computer telephony and communications applications. TAPI abstracts a wide array of telephone hardware and services, providing a standard programming interface. TAPI hides the actual details of a phone connection from an application in the same way that a network relieves an application from knowing the physical location of a printer.
NT 4.0 now supports the multimedia APIs introduced in Win 95. DirectDraw provides a device-independent way to access display-dependent features, such as memory, bit block transfer, and color decompression. It also enables digital video playback by taking advantage of the various types of hardware support available on vide
o adapters, such as video stretching.
DirectInput offers joystick support and control. The DirectPlay API provides simplified access to communications protocols and on-line services for games. The DirectSound API provides direct control of audio hardware and is designed to enable 3-D audio support in games. Under NT 4.0, however, DirectSound is emulated, and calls get translated to existing Win32 API calls at run time.
Support for these multimedia APIs will enable developers to create games and other applications for NT that were previously limited to Win 95. In addition, the Compact Disk File System (CDFS) has been upgraded to support Auto-Run and CD-XA, the format for video CDs that contain MPEG movies.
Shortcomings
The Plug and Play (PnP) philosophy states that your computer, add-in hardware, and software should work together without user intervention to configure themselves and resolve any conflicts. It's a noble goal, but it's one that NT doesn't yet reach in this release
.
As partial compensation, NT supports hardware profiles, allowing users to select from a list of known configurations (e.g., docked and undocked configurations for a notebook computer). Profile variables might include video resolution, network cards, and client services.
Other aspects of PnP can cause problems when you're installing NT 4.0. Interrupt-request (IRQ) and I/O-address conflicts between hardware components that Win 95 resolved, for instance, often stopped our NT installation in its tracks. Whether or not you're using PnP peripherals, make sure that you know the I/O-address and IRQ requirements for your hardware and have your jumper settings or configuration software and driver disks handy before you begin installation.
Caching disk controllers can also be a problem under NT because a reboot or a power failure could occur before the cache is flushed. Support for caching is limited to the DPT or IBM SCSI adapters for which drivers exist. However, you can use other controllers in write-th
rough mode or with caching disabled.
It's reasonable to expect that some older, obsolete hardware won't be supported in a new OS release. However, NT 4.0 lacks support for wave-table sound on current Sound Blaster PnP sound cards. Support for the ATAPI CD-ROM interfaces on these cards is also nonexistent. Before you plunge into an upgrade, be sure to check out the latest hardware compatibility list at Microsoft's Web site (
http://www.microsoft.com/hwdev
).
Running on NT
