Microsoft Windows
With the same graphical interface as other versions of Windows and simple administration possible from the server console, Windows 2003 Server is possibly the most popular NOS in use
today. Microsoft introduced Windows NT in 1993 with version 3.1 (about the same time Windows 3.1 was taking off as a desktop graphical interface for DOS). This NOS went pretty much
unnoticed until version 3.51 was introduced about a year later. Windows NT 3.51 was quite stable, and by this time, hardware vendors had met the challenge with the 486 and Pentium processors. Because of its similarity to Windows 3.1 and its powerful networking features, Windows NT gained popularity. Microsoft began to put its significant marketing muscle behind it,
and Windows NT started to become a viable alternative in the network operating system market previously dominated by Novell NetWare and the various flavors of UNIX. Windows NT was followed closely by Windows 2000, then 2003 Server, and the Windows platform has become a dominant force in the NOS market.
NOTE:
For more information on Windows server OSes, check out Microsoft’s website at www.microsoft.com .
In the following sections, you will learn about the features, inner workings, administration, application support, and security of Windows Server.
