NT 4.0 released to manufacturing last night

Late in the day, the firm said it would U-turn its policy of limiting IP links to 10 on the Workstation product. The policy would have meant headaches for IT managers planning NT 4.0 Web servers. Microsoft had originally invoked the limit to differentiate its more costly NT 4.0 Server version.

Both Workstation and Server versions will be widely available inside a month, CEO Bill Gates told a Washington audience. Understandably, given the multiple iterations of Windows now available, Gates outlined positioning of NT 4.0, saying Workstation will have the same user

interface as Windows 95, an integral copy of Internet Explorer, peer Internet hooks, and improved system administration features. The Server flavour will have the same features as Workstation but will be optimised for multiprocessor systems and bulk out security.

As when it pushed users to switch from Windows 3.1 to Windows 95, Microsoft will play the badge game, offering a "Designed for Windows NT and Windows 95" logo programme designed to identify software that runs on both NT Workstation and Windows 95.