Microsoft weighs split NT 5.0 release -- Workstation Could Possibly Ship Before Server
Stuart Glascock & Barbara Darrow
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09/21/98
Computer Reseller News
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Copyright 1998 CMP Publications Inc.
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Redmond, Wash. -- Microsoft Corp., like the industry at large, is divided over whether to split the launch of Windows NT 5.0 Workstation from the rollout of Windows NT 5.0 Server.
Sources close to the company said Microsoft marketers are pushing for a fall release of the workstation so they will have new software to sell, while NT technologists vehemently oppose the idea.
The business desktop operating system is much closer to completion than the server, which promises dramatic new functionality that is taking awhile to perfect, said hardware OEMs.
Microsoft, however, said it does not plan to split the product launch. The company said it is not considering separating the launch of the workstation and server products. But behind the scenes, Microsoft representatives have floated the idea to hardware OEMs, according to analysts and OEM sources.
A 1998 launch of NT 5.0 Workstation would give Microsoft something to crow about at Comdex and give workstation manufacturers a shot in the arm, analysts said.
The operating system is way behind schedule. Last November, CRN reported the slippage of NT 5.0 to late 1998 and the impact that could have on the industry (CRN, Nov. 24, 1997). Microsoft months ago stopped offering clues about dates. The typical response to queries on ship dates is: "It depends on feedback from beta testers." Microsoft President Steve Ballmer told conference attendees earlier this month to expect "NT 5.0 availability in eight to 12 months."
"Microsoft is torn on the issue of splitting the NT 5.0 launch," said Steve Kleynhans, vice president of workgroup strategies for The Meta Group, Stamford, Conn. "The marketing guys would love to have something to sell this fall and winter, but [Senior Vice President of the Business and Personal Systems Group Jim] Allchin is adamant about this not happening."
So while internal marketing forces continue to push for a phased release, senior operating-system executives hold back, said sources briefed by the company.
"Technically, it's [possible to split the launch] but logistically painful," Kleynhans said. "The two [Workstation and Server] are exactly the same OS. The bytes are identical. The only difference is packaging."
Should Microsoft ship Workstation and not Server, the perception would be that there was something wrong not only with the server portion but with the workstation part as well, he said.
Kleynhans and other analysts said they expect a tandem shipment of Workstation and Server "barring disaster or miracle" in August 1999.
Timing is critical for enterprise accounts. "If it doesn't make it out by the first quarter, our corporate customers will wait it out. They don't want to touch any aspect of their infrastructure" that close to the turn of the century, said Mark Tebbe, president and chief executive of Lante Corp., Chicago.
Microsoft will not split the release, Tebbe said, noting that while the core code is identical, the real value-add is in Active Directory and Intellimirror-features that cannot be implemented until the server software is complete.
It is increasingly hard to forecast what Microsoft will do, said Fred Oh, director of product marketing at Acer America Inc., San Jose, Calif. "The indications are the desktop is going to be ready way ahead of the server version, and that could be part of the interval struggle that's going on," he said. "Their party line is it will ship when the quality is in."
Since NT 4.0 is seen as stable, Microsoft may be pulling back on the NT 5.0 push. "They have a lot riding on this as far as what they have stated publicly and technology-wise, so we can understand their nervousness and anxiety behind making sure everything is right with the release," Oh said.
Still, Microsoft is winning some converts with promises of things to come in Windows NT 5.0.
"What we crave are the directory services, and we simply can't get there as fast as we would like," said Larry Quinlan, technology director for Deloitte Consulting, Marietta, Ga., which already is a Windows NT Server shop.
Textbook publishing giant Harcourt Brace of Boston is switching from Novell Inc.'s NetWare to Windows NT 5.0 and is making the interim step of going to Windows NT 4.0., said George Nelson, senior vice president of technology for Harcourt Brace. He characterized NT delays as a short-term frustration and not a reason to change direction.
In timing the release, Microsoft also has to confront the year 2000 problem and corporations' grave concerns about it.
"Who knows what kind of problems we may have in the year 2000?" said Quinlan. "Companies might not have time for NT 5.0."
"It's too late, even if it is released today," said an IS manager at Firmenich Inc., Geneva, Switzerland.
Despite rumblings from anxious OEMs, chief information officers and VARs-for now at least-the word from NT 5.0 technical gurus such as Tanya van Dam, Microsoft group product manager for NT Server, is stay the course and let the beta cycles run. "We're locked and loaded," she said, denying that Workstation would ship before Server, even if some hardware makers like the idea.
JOE WILCOX contributed to this story.
September 21, 1998
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