Many corporate PC networks aren’t as centralized as companies would like them to be. Quick software upgrade cycles and many generations of computers working side by side have added up to an enormous mess for networking professionals.
The introduction of a new version of Microsoft Windows, the default operating system at most companies, has added a new potential for incompatibilities. At some companies, as many as 11 versions of Windows — NT4 SR-2, NT4 SR-1, NT4, NT3.51, 98, 95SR-2, 95-SR-1, 95, 3.11, 3.1, 3.0, and that’s not counting any beta or interim versions or patches being tested — are fighting for attention on the same network.
The biggest incompatibilities remain between the 3.x iterations and the later 95/98/NT lines. The 3.x line was built on DOS’s 8.3 filename limit, has minimal built-in networking features and no native Internet connectivity. The more recent suggested upgrade from Windows 95 to 98 isn’t as seamless as Microsoft promised: bookmarks are handled differently; the file system is so customizable that it’s easy to get lost in it; and the newer file allocation table method, FAT32, is incompatible with many disks and programs formatted to the FAT16 system used in Windows 95 and earlier. (We’ll be covering the highs and lows of FAT32 next week in Workspace.)
Microsoft’s solution to these companies is simple — purchase an NT4 workstation license for each machine. This is an unrealistic solution not only because of the price of the software upgrade but because many computers will need to have their internal memory doubled (or tripled) to run on NT4. Who wants to run the memory and computationally-intensive NT4 on a 75 MHz ‘486 circa 1993?
Although these Windows workstations may have promise, they aren’t shipping in volume yet. It’s also possible that their introduction will add yet another flavor of Windows into the mix, a mix that’s getting muddier every day. It’s enough to make you want to scream: “Shut all those Windows and let me get some work done!”
———-
Are you using multiple versions of Windows at work? Tell us how you’re coping.
