Microsoft Corp. and Digital Equipment Corp. this week announced plans for joint technology development, joint marketing and new services designed to push Windows NT on higher-end systems in the enterprise.
The announcement expands the two companies' 1995 Alliance for Enterprise Computing initiative to promote Windows NT in corporations, making Digital the first worldwide prime integrator for Windows NT, as well as the single point of contact for large customers using BackOffice-based systems.
The firms will collaborate on optimizing Windows NT Server and SQL Server for very large memory (VLM) on 64-bit systems such as Digital's Alpha and release symmetric multiprocessing-based computers called Windows NT Enterprise Servers. Initial systems will use 32-bit and 64-bit Alpha processors and are expected to debut in early 1999. The first 64-bit systems will ship with Windows NT 5.0 and SQL Server.
Windows NT 5.0 will support VLM on Alpha, while a 64-bit version of Windows NT for Alpha will precede a similar version for Merced, Intel's next-generation processor, Microsoft Chairman and CEO Bill Gates said during a press conference question-and-answer session.
Gates danced around a question of whether Windows NT 5.0 will be a "true" 64-bit operating system as Unix is. He did say Microsoft would have a better idea of when Windows NT 5.0 will be released after it gets feedback about the second beta release before midyear. "After that, we'll commit to a final product," he said. "We're getting close."
Gates avoided directly positioning the announcement as a Unix-killer, saying "there will always be Unix," a comment that surprised at least one analyst. However, as Windows NT creeps up into higher end systems in the enterprise, Unix increasingly will be pushed out, Gates indicated. "This is the first I've heard [Microsoft] say Unix is going to stay," said Andrew Allison, an independent computer consultant in Carmel, Calif. The reality is that Unix is booming, driven by Year 2000 problems, the Internet and the demands of data centers, he said. "The IT community has reached a consensus that today NT isn't ready for prime time."
Meanwhile, Allison wasn't optimistic about NT 5.0's 64-bit future. "It is indeed sounding like NT 5.0 is going to be the pseudo 64-bit version," Allison said. Full 64-bit capabilities may not come until NT 6.0, which could be several years off, he said.
"This announcement may be a barometer of the growth of NT in the enterprise," said Collin Mahony, an analyst at The Yankee Group. "When [enterprise resource planning] vendors like SAP start embracing NT, it's a sign that Unix will continue to dwindle," he said. "Unix will not go away. It will just become more specialized."
Meanwhile, Gates said the proposed merger of Digital and Compaq Computer Corp. is a positive situation for Windows NT, since Compaq made its bet on Windows more strongly than other companies, including Digital. Digital was heavily invested in operating environments for mainframes and other large systems, he said.
However, Compaq does not have the expertise in building complex networks, a strength of Digital and IBM, Gates added.
Microsoft will continue its partnerships on Windows NT with other companies, including Hewlett-Packard Co., but is focusing on the Digital alliance because Digital has been so successful at promoting Windows NT-based applications, such as Exchange, Gates said.
Also under the expanded alliance, Digital will add clustering capabilities to Windows NT and develop resource-sharing models to operate on top of Microsoft Cluster Server, as well as move middleware applications, such as batch job management, onto Windows NT, Gates said.
In the meantime, Digital will build its FX32 emulation software into the Windows NT environment, so Windows NT will provide an emulation and translation environment on Alpha, expanding the range of Alpha software, according to Gates. Source-code compatibility between Intel Corp.- and Alpha-based systems will be provided through a future single programming model and single API for 64-bit Windows NT running on Alpha or Intel.
As well as planning joint marketing of Windows NT Server and SQL Server on Alpha and x86 platforms, Microsoft will ship Windows NT Workstation, NT Server, BackOffice and tools for Alpha and x86. Microsoft plans concurrent releases of its server-based products on Alpha and x86 systems, and eventually on the IA-64 architecture.
In addition to creating six new consulting and integration services, Digital also will increase the number of its Microsoft certified systems engineers and developers to 3,000 by the end of 1999, with half certified on SQL Server and half on Microsoft Exchange and Internet technologies, as well on Microsoft's Transaction Server, Messaging Queue Server and SiteServer.
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