Microsoft, Intel fight Network Computer
by Alan Zisman
(c) 1997. First
published in Canadian Computer Wholesaler, June 1997
Do you know how much that PC really costs? No, not the
purchase price?
that?s too easy. How much has it cost after the purchase? not only the
cost of buying and updating software and hardware devices, but the cost
in learning to use it, and it lost productivity constantly fiddling
with
it.
Inevitably, estimates vary widely, but some estimates
put the Total
Cost of Ownership (now yet another three letter acronym?TOC) as high as
$40,000 over the five year useful life of a $3,000 PC. Some experts
suggest
that these figures are exaggerated?if employees weren?t fiddling with
their
screen savers would they be doing productive work or just hanging
around
at the water cooler.
Nevertheless, the TOC issue has led to a debate about
the use and nature
of personal computers, and is changing the way computers are being
designed.
One response to these figures has been the Network
Computer. First proposed
by Oracle Software?s Larry Ellison, the NC (a two letter acronym for a
change) is a small, cheap computer lacking any hard drives or floppy
drives?it
would get all its software across a network. As such, upgrading the
software
on the network would upgrade all these network terminals, while the
individual
users would have nothing they could fuss with. Critics have suggested
that
this would simply move costs from the individual computers to the
network
and its server, and that the real motivation behind the NC is to get
away
from a perceived stranglehold on the computing industry by
?Wintel??Microsoft
Windows software running on computers with Intel processors.
An NC, using a simple Web browser, could access
information across the
Internet or an internal business intranet, and could run any of the
growing
number of programs written in the popular Java language, including, for
example, upcoming office suite software from Corel or Lotus.
Microsoft and Intel have felt a need to respond to the
Network Computer
initiatives. They?re proposing a number of new standards, designed to
allow
users to continue to use Windows/Intel computers and software, while
simplifying
the machines and their administration, to reduce overall costs.
The first of these is the so-called Network PC?a three
letter acronym,
NPC, not to be confused with NC. In essence, a Net PC is a standard PC,
complete with hard drive, connected to a network. The NPC side suggests
that even if users are running software and storing their data across
the
network that a local hard drive is still a useful accessory?it allows
disk
caching, reducing calls to the network and dramatically increasing
performance.
So far, it simply sounds like a standard PC with an Ethernet card.
In order to reduce costs, however, the NPC would be
slotless? as with
many new PCs, standard input and output ports would be built into the
motherboard.
Unlike these PCs, however, there would be no expansion slots? no reason
to open the box. No fussing with switches or IRQ numbers. No problems
with
Plug and Play that doesn?t. The standard calls for a Universal Serial
Bus
port, allowing for some expansion using USB devices, but otherwise, no
chance for the user to upgrade, break, or waste time adding to their
system.
Next proposal is OnNow? a plan to eliminate the
typical moment or two
of bootup. Like many of today?s notebooks, an OnNow computer need not
be
shut down?instead, it would be put into a suspended mode, waiting for a
keytouch or mouse movement to awaken. Users are expected to like the
way
it will allow computers to be turned on without delay?more like a TV or
other consumer appliance. Network managers are expected to like this
technology,
because the suspended computers can be reawakened remotely, allowing
routine
maintenance and software updating from the network server.
OnNow specifications were released at Microsoft?s
April Windows Hardware
Engineering Conference (WinHEC), with products hoped for in the middle
of 1998.
Also aimed at the network administrator is the Zero
Administration Initiative.
Full of noble, money-saving intentions, it proposes a PC where
operating
systems can be automatically updated across the network without user
involvement
and software applications can be automatically installed or updated as
needed. This means, for example, if a user who doesn?t have Microsoft
Word
installed tried to open a DOC Word file, the system will automatically
respond by installing Word across the network.
An extension of Plug and Play would install and update
hardware drivers
as needed, again, automatically. Extensive network management tools
would
make it simpler to administer multiple clients from a single server.
For many business users, this would provide a massive
improvement?but
there?s some doubt that Microsoft can get all the pieces needed in
place
anytime soon. Despite the skepticism, Microsoft has announced that the
curious will be able to play with trial versions for Windows 95 and NT,
available on their Web site.
To help jumpstart all these various and overlapping
specifications,
Microsoft and Intel released an outline of their model of the
near-future
at the April WinHEC? the draft PC98 design guide. In it, we find a
vision
of next year?s Basic PC? a 200 mhz MMX Pentium with 32 megs of RAM, a
USB
port, and OnNow power management. And no ISA bus.
Intel and Microsoft recognize that many manufacturers
will continue
to include the so-called Industry Standard Bus, which first appeared on
IBM?s 286-powered AT models in 1984. They strongly want to encourage
the
industry to finally dump ISA, feeling that this is the major obstacle
holding
back successful Plug and Play. Instead, they want vendors to focus on
the
PCI bus, along with USB and Firewire (aka 1394) as the methods for
expanding
their hardware.
The draft PC98 document also describes a basic
portable specification?a
166 mhz MMX Pentium, with advanced power management, a standardized
docking
station, and again, a USB port. Specifications of four levels of
servers
are being released in a separate document.
For lots of information on these visions of the near
future, check with
Microsoft at http://www.microsoft.com/hwdev/.
In these columns, we?ve been looking at a series of
changes in the design
of PCs, many of which, such as MMX processors, Universal Serial Bus,
and
Firewire are part of the plans Microsoft and Intel are spelling out in
the PC98 proposals. When I started this series, I proclaimed that we?d
being seeing these changes this year?in 1997. Except for Intel?s MMX
processors,
however, it?s going to take longer than that before many of these
improvements
have any real impact on the market.
Next month, we?re going to look at what?s the
holdup?why it?s taking
longer to see products from DVD disks to USB on our desks and in our
stores.