Hi all, I am back in could not resist at these prices!
This could help WBT sales.....
Some NT Terminal Server users to get new pricing
April Jacobs
Computer World
In an attempt to placate user complaints about steep pricing on its thin-client offering, Microsoft Corp. said it will provide a single-fee licensing scheme for its Windows NT Terminal Server (WTS) operating system next month -- but only for Internet and home-based workers.
Because of the targeted audience of the new scheme -- it won't help users on the corporate network, for example -- its ability to satisfy most users' complaints is doubtful.
"I would say unequivocally that [the current pricing for WTS] is too expensive," said Bill Bayer, manager of information technology at Komatsu Canada Ltd., an industrial equipment maker in Mississauga, Ontario.
WTS now costs $1,100 -- the same as Windows NT Server 4.0. The price includes a server license and 10 client access licenses for file- and print-sharing services. Users have to ante up separately for NT Workstation, which costs about $250 per seat.
Additional access licenses cost about $40 each, and if users want access to non-Windows applications, they must purchase an add-on from Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based Citrix Systems Inc., which costs several thousand dollars.
John Frederiksen, Microsoft's group product manager for WTS and NT, said the new scheme fills a legitimate gap for customers who may have browser-based applications and home workers.
"This is a dubious pricing structure at best, given the typical thin-client configuration [of WTS users]. A mere 10% of the thin-client software is actually run on thin-client systems, while over 60% are run on standard PCs," said David Friedlander, an analyst at Cambridge, Mass.-based Giga Information Group.
THERE'S A CATCH
The catch, Friedlander said, is that users are forced to upgrade to NT Workstation instead of being able to remain on their Windows 9x desktops.
The new scheme would let a company pay a one-time fee for browser-based and home-based users to connect. Now, those users must have an NT Workstation license, which is nearly impossible for a company to verify. In the new plan, the amount of time those users connect to the server wouldn't be limited, but the number of connections would. The number of connections allowed and the price of the new license have yet to be determined, Frederiksen said. Microsoft expects to formally announce the scheme next month.
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