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Appendix B
Windows NT Changes And Enhancements
This appendix details the major differences between Windows NT 3.51 and 4.0. As this book is aimed at system administrators, the changes to the application programming interfaces have been omitted.
Windows NT Common Features
Common features of both Windows NT Workstation and Server are detailed in this section.
The User Interface
The most notable change introduced with Windows NT 4.0 is the inclusion of the Windows 95-style graphical user interface. This replaces the Windows 3.1-style GUI previously used with Windows NT. If you are not familiar with the Windows 95 GUI, Windows NT 4.0 can, at first glance, appear to be a totally new operating system, and it can take some time getting used to. However, once you delve beneath the surface, you will find the same core operating system.
With the introduction of the Windows 95-style GUI, several administrative tools have also been replaced. The most important tool changes are the File Manager, which has been replaced by the Windows NT Explorer, and the Print Manager, which has been replaced by the Printer window. Most of the other system administration tools are unchanged, although they do have the Windows 95-style windows.
Another less obvious, but no less important, change to the graphical user interface is that Microsoft has changed the system architecture of Windows NT by moving the GUI from User mode to Kernel mode. By placing the GUI in Kernel mode, the GUI gains direct access to the computer hardware. This provides a performance improvement, as the GUI is now less dependent on other software components to perform its tasks. However, as the GUI now has direct hardware access, any problems within the GUI could cause Windows NT to crash.
High Performance File System
The High Performance File System (HPFS) is the native OS/2 file system. Until Windows NT 4.0, HPFS volumes could be accessed and used by Windows NT. However, certain native Windows NT facilities, such as local file security and disk compression, couldn’t be used with HPFS volumes. It has never been possible to format Windows NT with HPFS, as support was only provided to assist with the migration to Windows NT.
All support for HPFS volumes has been dropped with Windows NT 4.0. If you have a Windows NT 3.51 system with HPFS volumes attached, you will need to convert them to NTFS by using the conversion utility before upgrading to Windows NT 4.0.
Internet Explorer
Internet Explorer is an integrated Web browser that can be used to access data on the Internet, as well as corporate intranets. Internet Explorer is not only included with Windows NT 4.0, but is automatically installed on your desktop, thus encouraging its use.
When dial-up networking has been configured, Internet Explorer can automatically dial up your Internet service provider to access Internet-based resources.
Microsoft Exchange
A client version of Microsoft Exchange is provided with Windows NT 4.0 and provides Windows messaging services. The Exchange client can be accessed from the desktop via the Inbox icon. The Inbox is referred to as the Universal Inbox, as it can be interfaced with not only Microsoft Mail, but with the Internet and other online mail services, as well.
Hardware Profiles
Hardware profiles can be used to configure Windows NT for different hardware configurations—for example, a laptop computer could be used with or without a docking station, thus having two completely different hardware configurations. By creating profiles for each configuration, Windows NT can be started with the correct software components for each configuration. This stops the software service failure messages that would usually be displayed, for example, when starting an undocked laptop if the network adapter is not present.
Netware Client
The Netware Client shipped with Windows NT is now NDS aware; in other words, the client is compatible with the NDS structure used by Netware 4. Prior to Windows NT 4.0, the Netware client could only be use with Netware 4 servers in bindery emulation mode.
Netware user passwords can now be automatically synchronized with the Windows NT user passwords. With NT 3.51, when the user changed her Windows NT user password, the Netware user password had to be changed manually. This is no longer the case. However, this is only a one-way synchronization process. If a user manually changes her Netware 4 password, her Windows NT password will not change automatically to match it.
Point-To-Point Tunneling Protocol
The Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP) enables the creation of a virtual network across the Internet. This allows native Windows NT file and print services to be accessed via the Internet. The Point-to-Point Tunneling protocol creates a virtual network by encapsulating any of the supported RAS protocols before routing them across the Internet.
Administrative Wizards
A number of administrative wizards are now available to guide the system administrator through the basic administrative tasks. However, they can become quite tedious, as you will be led through the administrative task step-by-step.
Telephony Application Program Interface
The telephony application program interface (TAPI) enables Windows NT to store your modem configuration details. When a new TAPI-enabled communication package is installed, the application can obtain the modem configuration details for your modem from Windows NT, saving you from having to enter these details each time you install communication software.
Enhancements To Windows NT Server
This section details the enhancements that apply only to Windows NT Server; these are in addition to the common features already discussed.
Internet Information Server
The Internet Information Server (IIS) is a fully functional Web server (a Web server makes available files and applications by using the Hypertext Transport Protocol, or HTTP). The IIS is now fully integrated with the Windows NT source software CD-ROM and installation process. Previously, IIS was available as a separate product.
A version of IIS is also supplied with Windows NT Workstation, but it is referred to as Peer Web Services.
FrontPage
To help the user create Web pages, a copy of FrontPage is now included with Windows NT Server. FrontPage is a Web authoring and management tool that includes various configuration and management wizards to assist in the creation of Web sites.
Domain Name System
The Domain Name System (DNS) provides an IP-to-host name look-up function. Previously, the DNS server software was only available as part of the unsupported software shipped with the Windows NT resource kit.
Network Monitor
A cut-down version of the Network Monitor shipped with Microsoft’s System Management Server (SMS) is included with Windows NT Server. This version of the Network Monitor is limited to capturing network data packets sent to and from the server that the monitor is running on. With the full SMS version, all data packets on the network can be captured.
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