The Next Windows

The desktops of 100 million people are about to change. What's going to happen?

John Montgomery

For tens of millions of users, Windows is the OS. It's the only one they'll use, and they use it day in and day out. Therefore, it's big news when Microsoft announces major revisions to both its mainstream desktop OS(Windows 95) and its workstation/server OS (Windows NT). And unless the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) can stop it, 1998 will be the year remembered for OS desktop/Web integration.

Both Windows 98 and NT will support some extreme Internet integration. Foremost among that integration is the merging of the desktop user interface and the Web browser so that browsing your computer and browsing the Web have a similar feel. A key technology behind this integration is Active Deskto p (and Active Channel), a technology that permits users to put Web elements, including HTML, Java applets, and ActiveX controls, onto their desktops.

The DOJ's October 20, 1997, declaration that Microsoft's bundling of Internet Explorer 4.0 with Windows is illegal has cast a shadow over Windows 98. But unless the DOJ's action is supported by a federal judge, you can expect Microsoft to complete the integration of its desktop OS into the Web, and vice versa, by the end of 1998.

For its part, Windows 98 is intended to be compatible with Windows 95 but faster and easier to manage. A new Disk Defragmentation Wizard enables users to optimize their hard disks for the applications they use the most. Windows 98 will also include a system file checker that tracks system changes and helps restore the system if necessary.

As for Windows NT5.0, it promises enhan ced scalability at both ends of the spectrum. NT5.0 will bring better support for laptops through improved Plug and Play, better power management, and an encrypting file system to prevent prying eyes from getting information off a lost laptop. On the desktop, the inclusion of file allocation table (FAT) 32 and a direct Windows 95-to-Windows NT upgrade will make migration to NT simpler. In addition, NT5.0 will be more at home on the network, with technologies such as the Distributed File System (Dfs), Kerberos security, a smartcard infrastructure, and Active Directory. At the high end, support for 64-bit very-large-memory systems and the I ₂ O I/O architecture push NT's scalability way up.

But the biggest question on users' minds about Windows in 1998 -- aside from when Microsoft will actually ship the next versions -- is, "Which Windows should I run?" Microsoft has been very clear about this: It strongly urges business users without a need for Win16 com patibility to use NT. Home users, especially game players, should stick to Windows 98. But a unified driver model (WDM) and new versions of Microsoft's gaming APIs show strongly that Microsoft believes the future of Windows is NT and that, at some point, the Windows 95/Windows 98 line will expire.

---

Where to Find

Microsoft

Redmond, WA
Phone:    800-426-9400
Phone:    206-882-8080
Internet: 
http://www.microsoft.com




Information on products in the 
operating systems
 category

HotBYTEs
 - i
nformation on products covered or advertised in BYTE

---

NT 5.0's Distributed File System (Dfs)

illustration_link (20 Kbytes)

Distributed Component Object Model (DCOM) creates an abstract object model for local and network systems.

---

Microsoft for 1998

illustration_link (12 Kbytes)

AT A GLANCE: Windows 98 and Windows NT 5.0 will integrate desktop and Web functions, unless the U.S. Department of Justice can interfere.

WHO SUPPORTS IT: Microsoft, numerous ISVs, numerous users.