George (thread). "Good news for Novell" (no, I'm not back in <g>), but I owe you guys this:
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Microsoft changes tune on NDS for NT support
By Emily Fitzloff
InfoWorld Electric
Posted at 5:01 PM PT, Jan 21, 1998
Microsoft has apparently softened its position on providing technical support for its Windows NT customers who
choose to run Novell's NDS for NT.
In light of a story reported by InfoWorld last week (see Microsoft halts NDS support), Microsoft this week posted a
new statement on its Web site saying, "any customer that uses NDS for NT can expect full support for Windows NT
Server code from Microsoft."
According to Mike Nash, director of NT server marketing at Microsoft, the document issued last week by Microsoft
stating that the company would refuse support to customers deploying the Novell Directory Services (NDS) solution
"was wrong."
Nash said that, "Microsoft's position has remained the same, it is just that last week's message was miscommunicated
and wrong."
The statement posted last week on Microsoft's Web site said that NDS for NT "replaces two key system DLLs on
Windows NT Server. ... [which are] integral to the Windows NT Server 4.0 security sub-system." This claim was
confirmed at the time by the NT Server product manager, Bob Kelly.
Nash, however, conceded that both Kelly and the formal statement were wrong, and that NDS for NT in fact only
replaces one system DLL.
"Everyone at Microsoft, including executives and technical service personnel, was consistently wrong because they
were all reading from the same songbook," Nash said.
When asked how a factually incorrect statement could make it to Microsoft's Web site, Nash said, "it is a long,
disastrous story how that document got up on the Web."
Novell's director of product marketing, Michael Simpson, said that even Microsoft's second statement is still
inaccurate.
"Microsoft still claims that NDS for NT renders the NT Server non-C2 certified [for security]; when in fact, it never
was C2-certified," Simpson said.
Simpson, who said "you can bet the Department of Justice is paying very close attention to this," also said that NDS
for NT "does not affect client-to-server security one iota [as Microsoft claims]. It does impact server-to-server
authentication, but it renders the NT server more secure."
The bottom line for Simpson was that "NDS for NT is a no-risk proposition for customers. Now that Microsoft is
recanting, customers should feel comfortable deploying the product," he said.
At least one analyst agreed with Simpson that "Microsoft tried and failed to pull a scare tactic. They were yet again
acting anti-competitive."
Neil MacDonald, an analyst at the Gartner Group, added that "issuing such a harshly worded statement was the wrong
thing to do if Microsoft's top executives are trying to establish a kinder reputation -- that's why they yanked it after
hearing the backlash."
MacDonald said that he is no longer concerned about support issues for his clients running NDS for NT, because
"Microsoft is now offering support to NT customers with NT-specific problems and Novell was always offering
support for NDS for NT."
Like Simpson though, MacDonald also said that even the second statement issued by Microsoft contains some
inaccuracies.
"Several of their statements are misleading," MacDonald said. "First, there is no evidence that NDS for NT makes NT
less secure as Microsoft claims; and secondly, NDS for NT is absolutely an interoperability solution [contrary to
Microsoft's claim]."
Competitive (or anti-competitive) issues aside, users deciding whether to purchase Novell's NDS for NT as a solution
for managing heterogeneous NetWare and NT environments are pleased to know that they will apparently not have to
sacrifice NT technical support.
Brian Jaffe, director of network and client services at Bantam Doubleday Dell, in New York, was contacted personally
by a Microsoft service technician following Jaffe's statement in this week's issue of InfoWorld.
"I'm absolutely glad to hear that Microsoft will offer support to NT users with NDS for NT," Jaffe said. "I only wish
they wouldn't cloud the issue by bogging down a statement about technical service with a debate over which approach
to directories is better. They are two separate issues."
Microsoft Corp., in Redmond, Wash., is at microsoft.com. Novell Inc., in Provo, Utah, is at
novell.com.
Go to the Week's Top News Stories
Please direct your comments to InfoWorld Electric Deputy News Editor Carolyn April
Copyright c 1998 InfoWorld Media Group Inc.
InfoWorld Electric is a member of IDG.net
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Novell to revamp
IntranetWare for small
businesses
By Claudia Graziano, PC Week Online
01.21.98 6:24 pm ET
Novell Inc. will try to reach a new breed of
customer next week with a completely
revamped version of its IntranetWare for
Small Business software.
Targeting a growing number of Internet-savvy startups, Novell is revising
its IntranetWare for Small Business operating system with enhanced
Web connectivity, virus checking and centralized fax capabilities.
Initially released last February, IntranetWare for Small Business is a
pared-down version of Novell's flagship NetWare 4.11. But according
to Novell Product Manager Rick Balazs, the revised version--known as
IntranetWare for Small Business 1.0 and scheduled for release this
quarter--will reflect some significant changes.
"This is a new product offering with new upgrade policies," said Balazs,
who added that this release will be the first to compete directly with
Microsoft Corp.'s NT Small Business Server, released last October.
While Balazs declined to give specifics on the revised software's feature
set, he said the enhancements are in response to customer feedback
from small businesses looking to leverage the Internet.
"The No. 1 need [among small-business customers] is to be able to
communicate across the Internet. Closely behind that follows centralized
faxing and a concern about viruses," he said.
However, IntranetWare for Small Business' key strength will remain its
simple installation and administration, Balazs said. Customers will also
be able to centrally configure security controls through a scaled-down
version of Novell Directory Services. Other features, such as
multiprotocol routing, for example, will remain absent from the revised
software.
"Companies with networks that size really have no need for wide-area
connectivity," Balazs explained. "This is not intended as a branch-office
solution."
Currently, both IntranetWare for Small Business and NT Small Business
Server have 25-user limits--a limitation some say needs to be changed.
"The biggest hurdle has always been the 25-user limit," said Dave
Doering, an analyst at Techvoice Inc., a network consulting firm in
Orem, Utah. "If the limit was 100 users, the product would get a lot
more attention."
According to research from an International Data Corp. subsidiary,
Novell and Microsoft face a captive audience. IDC Link, which
monitors the small-business market's growth, projects the number of
businesses with less than 100 employees to grow from 1.1 million in
1998 to 2.2 million by the year 2000. The number of networked PCs at
small businesses is expected to grow from 8.15 million in 1998 to 17.97
million by 2001.
Novell, of Orem, Utah, can be reached at www.novell.com.
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Looks like "somebody" there is finally starting to kick some A$$.
Regards,
Joe...
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