Hi CP!,

Here is yet another fine example of how Bill Gates is screwing Microsoft. The guy is off his rocker (past his prime). This makes no sense at all. In short Bill is releasing Windows NT 4.0 with little to no web server support in the "Workstation version", in fact he forces a limitation on the # of IP's that can access a computer running NT Workstation. BUT if you buy his $1000 Windows NT 4.0 SERVER software, it will not limit IP traffic. As Tim O'Reilly tells us in my included message, this could be bad for the web.

I think it's bad for Microsoft. People will either pirate NT Server, or go with another OS (Linux is free ya know), either way Bill loses money.

-Scott

 ---------- Forwarded message ----------
 Date: Thu, 18 Jul 1996 17:32:10 -0700
 From: Ellen Elias 
 To: pjh@tecoma.mccc.edu
 Subject: NT Workstation 4.0: Bad News for Web Servers
 
 Below you will read an alert written by Tim O'Reilly,
 President of O'Reilly & Associates. If you would like to
 speak with Tim or another O'Reilly executive about the
 issues raised in this alert, please contact me.
 
 Thank you,
 Ellen Elias
 elias@ora.com
 (707)829-0515 ext. 322
 
 You may have already heard that in Microsoft's upcoming NT
 Workstation 4.0, functionality will be significantly
 reduced. If you want to run *any* Web server--O'Reilly's,
 Microsoft's, or others'--on NT, you'll have to buy NT
 Server for $999. The implications of Microsoft's actions
 are serious for the Web community, and I encourage you to
 help spread the word about it.
 
 First, the facts: NT Workstation 4.0 will limit the number
 of unique IP addresses which can contact a Web server to 10
 or fewer in a 10-minute period. No previous version of NT
 Workstation has contained this limitation. Of course, this
 effectively eliminates NT Workstation as an option for
 Internet or Intranet Web server usage.
 
 Now, the implications: this development will choke off one
 of the most important new directions for the Web: its
 return to its roots as a groupware information sharing
 system for the desktop. Like email and the PC itself, Web
 publishing belongs on the desktop. With the higher price
 tag of NT Server ($999 vs. $290), users who have never
 before put up a web site will be extremely unlikely to do
 so.
 
 This move by Microsoft will hurt the efforts of Web
 developers, Intranet developers, and Internet service
 providers, a great many of whom have been happy to create
 sites on NT Workstation. Microsoft has been saying that IIS
 (the Web server they include with NT Server) is free, and
 quite clearly, this is now exposed as untrue. Developers
 will have to stick with the older NT Workstation operating
 system if they want to use any server other than IIS (noted
 for its security problems), or will have to upgrade and pay
 extra for the server of their choice.
 
 Chief WebSite developer Bob Denny says: "When I first
 started developing Web servers in 1994, nearly all Web
 serving was done on the Unix platform. Considering that
 companies such as O'Reilly & Associates, Netscape, and a
 half dozen more, pushed hard in the fight to legitimize NT
 vs. Unix as a Web server platform over the last 18 months,
 Microsoft's actions are pretty extreme."
 
 I've sent email to Bill Gates to let him know of my
 personal concern about the impact of his plans on Web users
 and developers. I encourage anyone interested in
 maintaining the open systems nature of the Web to send
 email to Microsoft, post this news on their sites and in
 newsgroups, and write letters to editors, to put pressure
 on Microsoft to reverse their decision. They've reversed
 such decisions before, when people have expressed their
 opinions about an important issue such as this.
 
 Regards,
 Tim O'Reilly
 President
 O'Reilly & Associates

CP:

Now this is a good reason to publish articles daily!!!

Here's Microsoft's response to the HUGE uproar in the internet
community.  It's funny how people on the net listen to what people on the net
want, where as our own government can't hear us. :(

Microsoft makes it sound like it was just a tested feature or something,
and that it was "Beta tester" feedback that made them reverse the
decision.

Likely story.

Scott.


        MICROSOFT REMOVES TECHNICAL LIMITATION 
        IN WINDOWS NT WORKSTATION 4.0 BETA
       
           REDMOND, Wash., July 19 /PRNewswire/ - Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq:
       MSFT) today announced that it has decided to remove a technical
       limitation under evaluation in the Microsoft(R) Windows NT(R)
       Workstation operating system version 4.0 beta that restricted
       inbound TCP/IP connections to 10 unique IP addresses.  The company
       appreciates the rigorous customer beta testing and subsequent
       customer feedback that led to this decision.
       
           Microsoft believes this decision is in the best interests of the
       large number of customers who are planning to base their Internet
       and intranet solutions on Windows NT.  This decision will also help
       customers deploying distributed peer-to-peer applications.  During
       the beta period, Microsoft found that various user scenarios were
       affected by the proposed limits in the TCP/IP stack.
       
           Microsoft believes customers are best served by a production Web
       server that runs on a dedicated mission-critical server such as
       Windows NT Server.  In contrast, Windows NT Workstation is optimized
       for use as an interactive workstation.  Microsoft will introduce a
       compelling upgrade to make it easier for customers testing or
       running Web servers on Windows NT Workstation 3.51 to upgrade and
       take advantage of the high-performance tuning of Windows NT Server
       4.0.  Pricing and availability will be announced later.
       
       NOTE:  Microsoft and Windows NT are either registered trademarks
       or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other
       countries.