Paul, Article...INTEL/ Intel's & Microsoft's Workstation Leadership Forum demonstrates technical workstation momentum...
March 10, 1998
M2 PRESSWIRE via NewsEdge Corporation : Bill Gates and Craig Barrett keynote forum
-- Developers plan Windows NT and Intel migration strategy
Intel Corporation and Microsoft Corporation are hosting a two-day event for 300 leading workstation system and software vendors and users in Seattle. The Workstation Leadership Forum demonstrates that a dramatic shift has occurred in the technical workstation market segment, toward systems based on the Intel Architecture and the Microsoft Windows NT operating system. Keynoting the Forum are Microsoft Chairman and CEO Bill Gates and Intel President and COO Craig Barrett.
Joining Barrett and Gates are top technical application vendors Dassault Systems, Infinity, Landmark Graphics, Mental Images, Parametric Technology, Structural Dynamics Research Corp., SolidWorks, Synopsys and many others. The forum will focus on vendors' commitment to the Intel Architecture and NT workstation platform.
"There has been a tremendous shift in the workstation environment in the past year," said Gates. "UNIX traditionally commanded that environment, but now customers are demanding the simplicity and innovation of Windows NT, the power of the Intel Architecture and the lowest total cost of ownership. As a result, the Intel Architecture and NI' platform is rapidly becoming the most compelling choice for all technical workstations."
"With the performance of the Pentium fig processor, the latest graphics technologies and all the recent advances in Windows NT, users no longer question the technical capabilities of this new workstation platform," Barrett said. "Major workstation application segments are moving to the Intel Architecture and Windows NT workstations."
New Programs, Products Announced at Forum Microsoft
and Intel announced the Migration Assistance Program (MAP) for workstation developers and customers. MAP is designed to simplify the move from RISC/UNIX to Intel Architecture and NT environments, making it easy for independent software vendors (ISVs) and customers to protect their investments in systems while embracing new computing technologies. MAP will help ISVs establish a robust environment for application development and optimisation for the Intel Architecture and NT platform for both IA-32 and IA-64 processors.
In addition, Intel announced the new AGP Pro graphics standard, which will deliver up to four times the power of today's AGP specification as well as improved cooling to meet the demands of advanced graphics on both IA-32 and IA- 64 platforms.
Analysts Highlight the Success of Intel Architecture and NT Workstation A report from International Data Corporation (IDC) states that sales of workstations equipped with Windows NT increased more than 80% in 1997, in contrast with a 7% decline in UNIX sales. Shipments of computer workstations with the Intel Architecture and Windows NT outsold those with the UNIX operating system for the first time, according to IDC; 1.3 million Intel Architecture and NT workstations were sold compared to 660,000 UNIX units.
Andrew Allison, industry consultant and editor/publisher of the newsletter, Inside the New Computer Industry, stated: "The shift from RISC/UNIX to the Intel Architecture and NT environment, which began in 1996, gathered momentum last year. The joint effort by Intel, Microsoft and their leading workstation OEMs to encourage ISVs to develop on the Intel Architecture and NT platform will accelerate this trend. I anticipate significant declines in RISC workstation volumes this year as the Intel Architecture and NT applications portfolio and the performance of the platform both increase dramatically."
Industry ISVs and OEMs Migrate to Intel Architecture and NT Workstation Leading ISVs representing five key market segments - mechanical computer-aided design, electronic design automation, geosciences/seismic analysis, geographic information systems, biomechanical engineering and financial trading/risk analysis announced at the Leadership Forum their support of the Intel Architecture and NT workstation platform. These vendors demonstrated their solutions in a featured technology showcase held during the forum. Companies include 3D Labs, Avid, Bridge, CAD.Lab, Dynamic Pictures, Engineering Animation, ESRI, Evans & Sutherland, Infinity, Kuck, Landmark Graphics, Mental Images, Mentor Graphics, Parametric Technology, Reuters, Structural Dynamics Research Company, SoftImage, Solidworks, Synopsys, Unigraphics and ViewLogic Systems.
Demand for Intel Architecture and Windows NT Surges; Business Integration and TCO Cited
Business integration is one of the key benefits behind the rapid adoption of the Microsoft and Intel platform for technical workstations. The Intel Architecture and NT environment handles diverse user needs -- including business productivity, personal productivity and technical applications -- in a single integrated desktop. In addition, the Windows NT environment offers features like Component Object Model (COM) that facilitate the integration of information across the enterprise. For example, Landmark Graphics, a leading supplier of integrated information systems and professional services to the energy industry, recently announced its commitment to COM for dynamic high-performance UNIX and Windows NT interoperability.
Another factor driving the adoption of the Intel and Microsoft platform is its low total cost of ownership (TCO). A 1997 study by the consulting firm of Deloitte and Touche, Technical Workstation Total Cost of Ownership Study - A Cost Comparison of Microsoft Windows NT Workstation and UNIX, surveyed 113 organisations and found that the average three-year TCO for technical workstations running Windows NT Workstation Was $66,000 versus $104,000 for comparable RISC/UNIX-based machines -- a savings of 37 percent. The findings suggest that for a group of 25 technical workstations, the three- year savings in TCO would amount to almost $1 million.
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Regards, Michael |
