Windows NT 4.0
(Part of the Microsoft Windows family)
Screenshot
Updated user interface similar to Windows 95
Developer
Microsoft
Web site: www.microsoft.com/ntserver
Release information
Source model:	Closed source
License:	Microsoft EULA
Kernel type:	Hybrid kernel
Support status
Unsupported as of December 31, 2004.[1]

Windows NT 4.0 was the fourth release of Microsoft's Windows NT or "Network Terminal" line of operating systems, which was started with Windows NT 3.1 in 1993. NT 4.0 was released to manufacturing on July 29, 1996. It is a 32-bit Windows system available in both workstation and server editions with a graphical environment similar to that of Windows 95. Image File history File links NT4_logo. ... Microsoft Windows is the name of several families of proprietary operating systems by Microsoft. ... Image File history File links Nt4server. ... The text below is generated by a template, which has been proposed for deletion. ... A software license is a legal agreement which may take the form of a proprietary or gratuitous license as well as a memorandum of contract between a producer and a user of computer software. ... A software license is a type of proprietary or gratiuitious license as well as a memorandum of contract between a producer and a user of computer software — sometimes called an End User License Agreement (EULA) — that specifies the perimeters of the permission granted by the owner to the... A kernel connects the software and hardware of a computer. ... Graphical overview of a hybrid kernel Hybrid kernels are essentially microkernels that have some non-essential machine code in the kernel address space in order for that code to run more quickly than it would were it to be in user space. ... Microsoft Corporation, (NASDAQ: MSFT, HKSE: 4338) is a multinational computer technology corporation with global annual revenue of US$44. ... Windows NT is a family of operating systems produced by Microsoft, the first version of which was released in July 1993. ... An operating system (OS) is a computer program that manages the hardware and software resources of a computer. ... July 29 is the 210th day (211th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 155 days remaining. ... 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. ... 32-bit is a term applied to processors, and computer architectures which manipulate the address and data in 32-bit chunks. ... Microsoft Windows is the name of several families of proprietary operating systems by Microsoft. ... Windows 95 is a consumer-oriented graphical user interface-based operating system. ...

While providing far greater stability than Windows 95, it was also less flexible from a desktop perspective. Much of the stability is gained by virtualising the hardware and having software applications access the system APIs rather than the hardware directly as was done in DOS-based versions, including Windows 95 and later. The trade-off is that writing to the APIs rather than hardware directly requires much more work be done by the computer and so hardware intensive applications such as games run much slower. While many programs written for the Win32 API will run on both Windows 95 and Windows NT, despite support for DirectX, the majority of 3D games will not. A application programming interface (API) is the interface that a computer system, library or application provides in order to allow requests for services to be made of it by other computer programs, and/or to allow data to be exchanged between them. ... ‹ The template below has been proposed for deletion. ... Windows API is a set of APIs, (application programming interfaces) available in the Microsoft Windows operating systems. ... DirectX is a collection of APIs for handling tasks related to multimedia, especially game programming, on Microsoft platforms. ...

The dichotomy between the NT and "9x" lines of Windows only ended with the arrival of Windows XP, by which time the gaming APIs—such as OpenGL and DirectX—had matured sufficiently to be more efficient to write for than common PC hardware and the hardware itself had become powerful enough to handle the API processing overhead acceptably. Windows XP is a line of operating systems developed by Microsoft for use on general-purpose computer systems, including home and business desktops, notebook computers, and media centers. ... OpenGL (Open Graphics Library) is a standard specification defining a cross-language cross-platform API for writing applications that produce 3D computer graphics (and 2D computer graphics as well). ... DirectX is a collection of APIs for handling tasks related to multimedia, especially game programming, on Microsoft platforms. ... A application programming interface (API) is the interface that a computer system, library or application provides in order to allow requests for services to be made of it by other computer programs, and/or to allow data to be exchanged between them. ...

Windows NT 4.0 was rendered obsolete with the advent of Windows 2000 but it remained (as of 2005) in widespread use as a stable workhorse despite Microsoft's many efforts to persuade customers to upgrade to more recent versions. Windows 2000 (also referred to as Win2K) is a preemptible, interruptible, graphical and business-oriented operating system that is designed to work with either uniprocessor or symmetric multi-processor 32-bit Intel x86 computers. ... 2005 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Features

Most noticeable was that both the workstation and server editions of Windows NT 4.0 had gained the user interface of Windows 95, including the Windows Shell, Windows Explorer (known as Windows NT Explorer), and the use of "My" nomenclature (e.g. My Documents). Windows 95 is a consumer-oriented graphical user interface-based operating system. ... In computing, Windows Shell is the most visible aspect of the Microsoft Windows line of operating systems. ... Windows Explorer running on Windows XP Windows Explorer is an application that is part of modern versions of the Microsoft Windows operating system that provides a graphical user interface for accessing the file systems. ... On Microsoft Windows operating systems, My Documents is the name of a special folder on the the computers hard drive that is commonly used to store a users documents, music, pictures, downloads, and other files. ...

The server editions of Windows NT 4.0 include a built-in web server, Internet Information Services version 2.0. It also natively supported plugins and extensions of Microsoft FrontPage, a web site creation and management application. Wikimedia servers architecture The term Web server can mean one of two things: A computer that is responsible for accepting HTTP requests from clients, which are known as Web browsers, and serving them HTTP responses along with optional data contents, which usually are Web pages such as HTML documents and... Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS; sometimes, erroneously called Server or System) is a set of Internet-based services for servers using Microsoft Windows. ... Microsoft Frontpage (full name Microsoft Office FrontPage) is a WYSIWYG HTML editor and web site administration tool from Microsoft for the Microsoft Windows line of operating systems. ... A website (or Web site) is a collection of web pages, typically common to a particular domain name or subdomain on the World Wide Web on the Internet. ...

Other important features included with this release were Microsoft Transaction Server for network applications, and Microsoft Message Queuing (MSMQ), which improved communication. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Microsoft Message Queuing or MSMQ is a technology developed by Microsoft and deployed in its Windows Server operating systems since Windows NT 4 and Windows 95. ...

One significant change from previous versions of Windows NT was that the Graphics Device Interface (GDI) was incorporated into the kernel^[2] to speed up the Graphical user interface (GUI), which resulted in a significant performance improvement over Windows NT 3.51, but also created the requirement to have graphics drivers located in the kernel, resulting in potential stability issues. GDI is short for Graphics Device Interface or Graphical Device Interface, and is one of the three core components or subsystems of Microsoft Windows. ... A graphical user interface (or GUI, often pronounced gooey), is a particular case of user interface for interacting with a computer which employs graphical images and widgets in addition to text to represent the information and actions available to the user. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with . ...

One bad thing about Windows NT 4.0 was that it lacked support for Direct3D. This however was resolved in all future releases of the NT family such as Windows 2000. Not surprisingly, Windows NT 4.0 also did not support USB, but that was also fixed with the release of Windows 2000. This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Windows 2000 (also referred to as Win2K) is a preemptible, interruptible, graphical and business-oriented operating system that is designed to work with either uniprocessor or symmetric multi-processor 32-bit Intel x86 computers. ... Note: USB may also mean upper sideband in radio. ... Windows 2000 (also referred to as Win2K) is a preemptible, interruptible, graphical and business-oriented operating system that is designed to work with either uniprocessor or symmetric multi-processor 32-bit Intel x86 computers. ...

Service Packs

Microsoft released Windows NT 4.0 service packs primarily to fix bugs. Windows NT 4.0, during the product's lifecycle, had several service packs, as well as numerous service rollup packages and option packs. The last full service pack was Service Pack 6a (SP6a). A Service Pack (more commonly, SP) is a software program that corrects known bugs, problems, or adds new features. ... A software bug is an error, flaw, mistake, failure, or fault in a computer program that prevents it from behaving as intended (e. ...

A SP7 was planned at one stage in early 2001, but this became the Post SP6a Security Rollup and not a full Service Pack. July 29 is the 210th day (211th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 155 days remaining. ... 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. ... August 24 is the 236th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (237th in leap years), with 129 days remaining. ... 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. ... October 16 is the 289th day of the year (290th in leap years). ... 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. ... December 14 is the 348th day of the year (349th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. ... May 15 is the 135th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (136th in leap years). ... 1997 (MCMXCVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... October 25 is the 298th day of the year (299th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1998 (MCMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ... May 4 is the 124th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (125th in leap years). ... 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ... November 22 is the 326th day (327th on leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ... November 30 is the 334th day (335th on leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 31 days remaining. ... 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ... July 26 is the 207th day (208th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 158 days remaining. ... This article is about the year 2001. ...

The service packs and an option pack were also released to add features. These included newer versions of Internet Information Services, versions 3.0, and 4.0, support for Active Server Pages, public-key and certificate authority functionality, smart card support, improved symmetric multiprocessing (SMP) scalability, clustering capabilities, and component object model (COM) support, among others. Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS; sometimes, erroneously called Server or System) is a set of Internet-based services for servers using Microsoft Windows. ... Active Server Pages (ASP) is Microsofts server-side script engine for dynamically-generated web pages. ...

Editions

Servers

• Windows NT 4.0 Server, released in 1996, was designed for small-scale business server systems.
• Windows NT 4.0 Server, Enterprise Edition, released in 1997 is the precursor to the Enterprise line of the Windows server family. Enterprise Server was designed for high-demand, high-traffic networks.
• Windows NT 4.0 Terminal Server, released in 1998, allows the users to log on remotely. The same functionality was called Terminal Services in Windows 2000, and Remote Desktop in Windows XP and Windows Server 2003.

Windows NT 4.0 Server was included in versions 4.0 and 4.5 of BackOffice Small Business Server suite. 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. ... 1997 (MCMXCVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1998 (MCMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ... Terminal Services or Terminal Server Edition (TSE) is a component of Microsoft Windows operating systems (both client and server versions) that allows a user to access applications or data stored on a remote computer over a network connection. ... Windows 2000 (also referred to as Win2K) is a preemptible, interruptible, graphical and business-oriented operating system that is designed to work with either uniprocessor or symmetric multi-processor 32-bit Intel x86 computers. ... Windows XP is a line of operating systems developed by Microsoft for use on general-purpose computer systems, including home and business desktops, notebook computers, and media centers. ... Windows Server 2003 is a server operating system produced by Microsoft. ... Microsoft Small Business Server is an integrated suite of server products from Microsoft designed for running network infrastructure (both intranet management and Internet access) of small and medium enterprises having no more than 75 workstations. ...

Other

• Windows NT 4.0 Workstation was designed for use as the general business desktop OS. Boasting a pure 32-Bit environment, with excellent stability, it quickly became a success for its intended market.
• Windows NT 4.0 Embedded was designed for special function devices like an ATM or kiosk.

Outdoor ATMs may be free-standing, like this kiosk, or built into the side of banks or other buildings An automatic teller machine, automated teller machine (ATM) or cash machine is an electronic device that allows a banks customers to make cash withdrawals and check their account balances without... a pagoda-like kiosk in Lausanne. ...

Security

There is no fix for the MS03-010 security issue on Windows NT 4.0 because Microsoft claims that "Due to these fundamental differences between Windows NT 4.0 and Windows 2000 and its successors, it is infeasible to rebuild the software for Windows NT 4.0 to eliminate the vulnerability. To do so would require rearchitecting a very significant amount of the Windows NT 4.0 operating system, and not just the RPC component affected. The product of such a rearchitecture effort would be sufficiently incompatible with Windows NT 4.0 that there would be no assurance that applications designed to run on Windows NT 4.0 would continue to operate on the patched system."

Instead, Microsoft suggested that Windows NT 4.0 users protect the NT 4.0 system with a firewall that blocks Port 135.

External links

• Windows NT Workstation 4.0 Official Product Page
• Windows NT Server 4.0 Official Product Page
• Screen shots of Windows NT 4.0 Workstation
• Guidebook: Windows NT 4.0 Gallery – A website dedicated to preserving and showcasing Graphical User Interfaces
• HPC:Factor Windows NT 4.0 Workstation Patches & Updates Guide
• HPC:Factor Windows NT 4.0 Server Patches & Updates Guide
• Windows NT 4.0 Reference Material

References

1. ^ Windows Operating System Product Support Lifecycle FAQ. Microsoft. Retrieved on 2006-09-21.
2. ^ Windows IT Pro - Windows NT 4.0, April 1996

• Keith Pleas. "Windows IT Pro, Windows NT 4.0", Penton Media Inc., 1996-04.