If users want to use Raw Iron database servers in place of SQL Server on NT, it isn't much different than using Unix or Linux underneath, he said.
Karan Khanna, Microsoft's lead product manager for NT Server, explained that applications that run under NT 4.0 will run under Windows 2000 if they don't access the new features.
Moving from the NT server field to Unix, as Compaq intends to do, won't result in a mixed sales pitch from the company, Yeates said.
However, another user was more keen on the idea of an NT-free server environment running an Oracle database.
For its part, Microsoft has spent considerable time and energy tamping down security problems with its own products, from NT and other server software to its Internet Explorer browser.
The company is offering a rangeof Platform Adapter Components (PACs), including the Microsoft COM PAC, which will allow integration with Microsoft'sSQL server, Internet Explorer, Windows NT and COM clients.
McGuire says a key addition is the built-in client for accessing applications on Windows NT 4.0 Terminal Server Edition, or Win 2000 Server.
Sun won the Internet server battle and checked progress of Microsoft Windows NT in its tracks.
The idea of a central management console for all server and desktop administration tools is a complete change for NT users and should give managers greater control over more NT resources.
But he batted down any suggestion that Intel's Red Hat investment was a warning to Microsoft, which wants to win corporate hearts and wallets with its NT operating system running on Intel-based server machines.
Microsoft's MMC plug-ins - which are management applets that run inside the console - replace many of the old configuration and administration tools that currently ship with NT, such as the User Manager, Server Manager and Event Viewer.
The NetDynamics 5 application server will be available on the Solaris operating environment and Windows NT platform by theend of this month, as will the PAC for COM technology.
With its low-end workstation and server markets coming under attack from economy-class machines using off-the-shelf Intel chips and Microsoft NT software, Palo Alto, Calif.
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