Netscape's defection leaves IBM and Sun Microsystems as the only serious
proponents of client-side Java technology. (For a complete list of JVM players,
see Dana Gardner and Niall McKay, "Netscape Drops Development of Java
Virtual Machines," at http://www.infoworld.com/cgi-bin/displayArchive.pl?/98/27/t08-27.8.htm.) Most other enterprise
developers are looking to Enterprise JavaBeans (EJB)--a server-side
implementation that lets you create cross-platform enterprise server
applications--as the best way to leverage the nascent development platform.
However, analysts are already raising questions about EJB's suitability for that
task.
For example, EJB technology requires that each platform vendor develop an
appropriate wrapper to network-enable the hosted Beans. Because
some platform vendors are also software developers, competitive pressures might
ultimately drive these vendors to incorporate proprietary tweaks to support
their JavaBean solutions. Proprietary implementations, in turn, might fragment
the EJB market in much the same way that proprietary JVM hooks fragmented the
client-side Java market.
Competition from Microsoft and the component object model (COM),
distributed COM (DCOM), and COM+ communities might also undermine EJB development. The growing popularity of Windows NT as an application server and
Microsoft's willingness to literally give away developer tools and technology to
gain market and mind share, might render the entire EJB argument moot, at least
at the departmental and workgroup server level.
Is there hope for Java in any flavor? Perhaps. Digitivity (now owned by
Citrix Systems) is performing amazing feats with server-side Java. Digitivity is
taking a radical approach to solve the frustrating problem of client-side JVM
compatibility. Digitivity's solution takes calls from the Abstract Windowing
Toolkit (AWT) of a server-side application and redirects them to a lean client
running natively on Windows, Macintosh, or another platform. With new owner
Citrix behind the technology, who knows where it might lead?
—Craig Barth
NT 5.0 to Include Terminal Server
Windows NT 5.0 seems to include everything, including the kitchen sink.
Microsoft revealed that it will integrate the core technologies of Windows NT
Server 4.0, Terminal Server Edition into Windows NT Server 5.0. All NT Server
5.0-based installations will be multiuser capable. In other words, customers
need only turn on the feature to enable access by devices and clients using the
Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP). (How customers will turn on the feature remains
unclear.) Microsoft is reportedly considering a similar, although more limited,
capability in NT Workstation 5.0.
Microsoft officials are debating whether to ship NT 5.0 with the multiuser
subsystems in place or to install the subsystems as an option from the NT Server
5.0 CD-ROM. No matter how Microsoft delivers Terminal Server to NT 5.0, it'll
likely generate controversy, because Terminal Server will contribute to the
already enormous NT 5.0 code base. As Mark Russinovich reported in "Inside
Microsoft Terminal Server," (July 1998), the Terminal Server hack isn't a
minor one. Citrix Systems (the original designers of the MultiWin architecture)
and Microsoft have had to perform a fairly impressive juggling act with
win32k.sys just to make multiuser NT work. Now, with all of the other changes
and new technologies slated for NT 5.0, Terminal Server's inclusion is
generating groans throughout the analyst community.
—Craig Barth
Announcements
New SQL Server Magazine
Windows NT Magazine announces the launch of SQL Server Magazine, an independent guide to SQL Server as a business application platform. Each month, you'll find coverage on interoperability, migration, development and implementation strategies, availability, scalability, security, and data warehousing. For more information or to subscribe, go to the SQL Server Magazine Web site at http://www.sqlmag.com.
Microsoft to Use NetIQ's AppManager for NT
Microsoft has selected NetIQ's AppManager product line to manage its network of Windows NT systems and applications. AppManager will provide centralized performance and event management to monitor the health and availability of all Microsoft production NT servers and server applications (such as Exchange Server, SQL Server, and Internet Information Server—IIS) that run on those servers.
Microsoft selected NetIQ because of AppManager's depth of monitoring
across NT and BackOffice, use of SQL Server as a database and Visual Basic for
Applications (VBA) as a scripting language, and ease of implementation and
customization. NetIQ and Microsoft will collaborate on future versions of
AppManager.
This contract is NetIQ's largest to date and one of the largest NT
contract wins by any systems management vendor. It will reposition NetIQ in the NT industry. For more information about this announcement and AppManager, contact NetIQ, 408-556-0888, or on the Web, http://www.netiq.com. Or contact Microsoft, 425-882-8080, or on the Web, http://www.microsoft.com.
—Sarah Hogan
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