[WinMac] Clarification on my NT opinions...

Dan Schwartz(expresso[at]snip.net)
Thu, 17 Dec 1998 23:20:59 -0500

        Dear All,

        In the last few days, I've opined about NT, extolling some of its
virtues... And at times, its shortcomings. So rather than let others
misinterpret my opinions, I've decided to take a few minutes to let those
of you know where I stand on some of the strengths and weakness' of Windows
NT. I pay particular attention to Mac <-> NT integration issues, and some
of my opinions are shaped by this very part of the equation:

        1) NT makes a lousy Web server. IIS 4 is indeed full of security holes and
is quite buggy; hence I do not recommend the NT4/IIS4 product;

        2) NT4/Exchange 5.5 is another dog: There are other products that are much
more robust for eMail duty, and the Mac client doesn't provide the full
feature set (5.5/SP2 nonwithstanding);

        3) As a desktop operating system (workstation), NT4/SP3 and NT4/SP4 are
quite excellent. The very features that led me to the Mac over a decade ago
have led me AWAY from the MacOS and TOWARDS NT4:

                3A) Stability;
                3B) Ease of use;
                3C) Lower total cost of ownership.

        In short, the eloquent Mac argument that it is "what you get done at the
end of the day that counts" has been turned upside down: Now the MacOS has
stability and crashing problems, while NT4 runs smoother and better;

        4) Don't confuse my like of the Windows NT *operating system* with my
distaste for the x86 (inHell) *hardware platform*: Personally, I much
prefer the additional stability that NT has when running on the DEC, err,
Compaq Alpha platform.

        [Actually, it is quite easy to write a stable, robust operating system
whenever you only have a limited number of hardware platforms. Apple
leveraged this simple truth for many years to produce decent operating
systems (such as System 7.5.1) when there were only about 70 platform
variations, or HAL's (Hardware Abstraction Layers). By the same token,
Microsoft has done this exact same thing with NT/Alpha; as opposed to the
"pee-cee toilet" you find in the x86 world.];

        5) For Mac file service, NT4's File Server for Macintosh is actually quite
good, as long as you pare down the number of services running on the
server. NTFS is quite adept at handling the fragile dual fork Mac files --
Certainly better than AppleShare Server 4.0.2 & 4.2.2 on top of HFS;

        6) Unfortunately, NT4's Print Spooler for Macintosh is pretty lousy... I
disable this service unless absolutely necessary. This, by the way, is one
area (PostScript® printing) where the MacOS really shines (except when
printing QuarkXPress files);

        7) Windows NT has excellent, 24/365 tech support if you have it running on
a DIGITAL, Compaq, Dell, or IBM platform. In fact, one of the reasons
Compaq bought DIGITAL was because DEC had more NT support engineers than
Microsoft themselves! Contrast to Apple's server tech support... More like
"Dial-A-Prayer." Yes, Greg Jewett's WGS/AppleShare support USED TO be good
(although they were on pagers over the weekend); but now even Apple's
"premium" products have crappy support.

        [In fact, I just had this last issue arise on a problematic WGS-9150/120
running AppleShare Server 4.2.2 this evening... AFTER I started to draft
this letter!]

        8) Stick closely to the NT Hardware Compatibility List (HCL), available at:
 <http://www.microsoft.com/isapi/hwtest/hcl.idc>. Just because that really
hot video board you want to plug in has NT drivers doesn't mean that it's
on the HCL.

        Yours truly,
        Daniel L. Schwartz,
        Electrical Engineer.

        Dan's Macintosh Consulting
        Suite 1306
        1840 Frontage Road
        Cherry Hill, NJ 08034-2205

        609-795-8965

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