Until Microsoft Windows XP Home arrived,
previous versions of Microsoft’s consumer operating systems still
were based on very antiquated, 16-bit underpinnings.
Microsoft Windows XP Home was the first consumer version of
Microsoft Windows built on the enhanced Microsoft Windows 2000
kernel, which evolved from the Microsoft Windows NT kernel. The new
kernel alone, the same one in Microsoft Windows XP Professional, is
a quantum leap forward in reliability.
Tip:
The term kernel is used to describe the core internal
services that power an operating system.
The consumer-oriented Microsoft Windows 9x
product line had to be hybrid operating systems, combining
both old and new operating system technologies, so Microsoft could
guarantee backward compatibility with a full range of MS-DOS-based
legacy software applications and hardware devices.
Note:
I use the phrase “Microsoft Windows 9x product line,” to
abbreviate and encompass three consumer-oriented operating
systems: Microsoft Windows 95, Microsoft Windows 98, and
Microsoft Windows Me, which share a common MS-DOS heritage.
Although the Microsoft Windows 9x consumer
product line runs 32-bit software, these consumer versions of
Microsoft Windows still retain many of the vestiges of their 16-bit
DOS history.
Because Microsoft Windows 9x-based operating
systems can run real mode device drivers very similar to those used
under MS-DOS 6.x, the home user versions of Microsoft Windows are
inherently much less reliable. The business versions of
Microsoft Windows always have required native, 32-bit device
drivers and, as a result, have been more crash-proof.
Tamper-Proofing the Security with Microsoft Windows Operating
Systems
Although the consumer-oriented Microsoft
Windows 9x product line always provided the illusion of some
local security, in reality it offered no protection. Worse yet,
Microsoft Windows 9x products gave people a false sense of security.
Even a beginner could compromise the Microsoft Windows logon.
Also, the business versions of Microsoft
Windows allow you easily to set up controls to prevent
curious users from tinkering with their software configuration.
Anything like this you can do to prevent tampering will do wonders
to lower your computer support costs.
Superior Underpinnings and Performance of the Microsoft Windows
Operating Systems
Because of the underlying architecture of the
Microsoft Windows 9x product line, a single buggy software
application can crash your entire PC. With business versions of
Microsoft Windows, most substandard software applications will not
interfere with other software programs.
The business versions of Microsoft Windows also
are more scalable. As you add more RAM, faster processors, and even
a second processor, performance continues to increase.
Comparing Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional to
Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 4 and Microsoft Windows 98
Independent studies have shown that
Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional is faster and more
reliable than Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 4 and Microsoft
Windows 98. For example, ZD Labs found that:
Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional was 17
times more reliable than Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 4,
and 50 times more reliable than Microsoft Windows 98.
Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional was
27 percent faster than Microsoft Windows 98, both with 64MB
and 128MB of RAM.
Microsoft Windows Operating Systems Action Items
How important is it for your company to use
reliable software? How critical is it for this software to allow for
highly granular security settings?
What's the average age of most of your
company's computer peripherals? Are a substantial number of these
devices more than five years old, to the point where the devices may
not have 32-bit device drivers?
How often do individual software programs
crash on PCs in your company? Does each occurrence require a full
reboot before the user can resume working?
Have you had any incidents in your company
where curious users tinker with and inadvertently break their PC
configurations?
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