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THERE HAVE BEEN more and more articles on the other Windows—Windows NT. You may be wondering if this new operating system is just for business or if it's practical for home use as well.

Windows NT actually isn't new. It was released as Windows NT 3.1 in 1993, which makes it older than Windows 95. Parts of Windows NT were born in the same Microsoft-IBM development effort that gave birth to the not-very-successful OS/2. OS/2 was IBM's industrial-strength operating system that was to overcome the speed and reliability limitations of Windows in the days before version 3.0. Of course, after Windows 3.0, Windows became a household word.

OS/2 lost the battle for the desktop to Windows 3.1 and finally to Win95. But Windows 3.1, in compromising design to assure it could run all of the old DOS programs, had some weaknesses. The most serious to those running critical operations was that Windows 3.1, unlike OS/2, didn't have preemptive multitasking. This meant that programs running under it weren't completely isolated from each other or the system, so a single misbehaving program could shut down the whole machine. Therefore, OS/2 appealed to businesses because of its stability, speed, multiuser, and security features.

When IBM and Microsoft parted ways around 1994, Microsoft knew it needed a version of Windows for the business users who would eye OS/2. The answer was Windows NT, which is also a true preemptive multitasking 32-bit operating system. The older version had an interface more similar to Windows 3.1 than OS/2 and was able to run virtually all Windows 3.1 and most DOS programs. Unlike Windows 3.1, however, it didn't have DOS underneath it.

Today, Windows NT 4.0 comes in two flavors: Windows NT Workstation, which is for individuals or networks, and Windows NT Server, which is for computers functioning as the main machine on a network. They're similar, but let's keep this discussion to the Workstation version.

Windows NT has been gaining popularity for years and has really taken off with the release of version 4.0, for several good reasons:

One thing slowing Windows NT's acceptance had been its hunger for RAM and powerful CPUs. Recent price cuts on these two components have made this less of a barrier.

Windows NT 4.0 now has the same, easier-to-use interface that Win95 offers.

Windows NT makes a more secure platform for running your own Web page server, which is something more businesses are undertaking.

Windows NT always would run Windows 3.1 programs. Until recently, however, there were few programs written specifically to take advantage of the operating system's 32-bit capabilities. Now, many of the programs written today for Win95 are also optimized for Windows NT, so Win95's success has given the other operating system a boost.

From a user's viewpoint, Win95 and Windows NT have more similarities than differences. I have included a summary of how they compare at the end of this article. Here's an overview of where the operating systems differ:

Although it looks and feels like Win95, Windows NT is usually more crash-resistant, more secure from hackers, better for servers that need a lot of RAM and large hard drives, and able to let more remote users dial in. Sometimes it can be faster, especially if mated with a computer having multiple Pentium CPUs. And it makes a good Web page server.

Win95 is less demanding upon hardware, usually easier to install, runs faster on modest hardware, and is far superior for running DOS and Windows games. Some games will run only under Win95. Your chance of running into some gadget incompatible with Win95 is far smaller than on Windows NT. And on a portable computer, it knows how to stretch battery capacity/time because it can reduce power to components when the machine isn't in use. Win95 runs a wider variety of software; most, but not all, Win95-compatible programs will run on Windows NT. But, Windows NT costs more.

The Real Differences

Windows NT's inability to use MS-DOS and Windows 3.1 device drivers causes some hardware and software not to run because the operating system requires its own, sometimes-hard-to-find drivers. Possible victims are less popular, specialized, and older video cards or printers; many new 3D video cards; and offbeat gadgets that contain their own drivers. Adobe Type Manager fonts (PostScript) won't run on Windows NT either. While Windows NT's known RAM appetite is at least 32MB, there's a compensation: It manages large amounts of RAM better. For example, if you run RAM-hogging programs that thrive on more than 32MB, once you buy that extra RAM, the programs are likely to run faster on Windows NT than on Win95.

Unlike Win95, if a computer has a motherboard with sockets for several CPUs, Windows NT simultaneously taps the computing power of these processors. This makes a fast desktop machine or, more commonly, a network server that performs well even when everyone's logged on. Windows NT lacks power management (the ability to reduce power to the hard drive, monitor, and CPU during inactivity). On a desktop computer, this is disappointing and ecologically offensive.

Your chances of getting high-quality games to run are much better on Win95 than on Windows NT. On the other hand, Windows NT's OpenGL graphics support means professional 3D CAD/design programs, such as AutoCAD, run much faster than on Win95 when rendering 3D figures. Windows NT's higher system resources capacity means it's far less likely to give you out-of-memory messages.

Although many MS-DOS programs will run well in a DOS window in Windows NT, complex and intensely graphical ones, particularly games, may not. If this is the case, unlike Win95, Windows NT doesn't offer a built-in feature of restarting in MS-DOS mode. Raw DOS is usually gone forever.

While a Win95 machine could be turned into a company Web server by adding some software, it's not an optimal setup. Both Windows NT Workstation and Windows NT Server include Peer Web Services, which is a module specifically designed to run a reliable Web page server.

Windows NT's more complete pre-emptive multitasking protects the system against lockup, not only from misbehavior of modern 32-bit programs but also from errant Windows 3.1 and DOS programs. In Windows NT, old Windows 3.1 programs may crash themselves but are far less likely to bring the whole house down.

Windows NT offers far more security. Win95's opening password is a joke that anyone can bypass. By contrast, Windows NT lets you make individual files and directories closed to individuals or groups.

Although you can set up a computer to let any user dial in by modem and become part of a small network with the WIN95 PLUS! PACK, Windows NT Server lets dozens of remote callers dial in simultaneously. Even though Win95's Plug-and-Play way of adding new hardware is imperfect, there are times when it works flawlessly and lets you install new toys painlessly and brainlessly. With Windows NT, you're back to manually setting IRQ's and installing software drivers for the time being (until NT 5.0 is released).

Win95 has decent built-in faxing ability; Windows NT requires a sometimes expensive, and less standard, third-party utility.

Another Windows NT weakness is that it provides no way of upgrading an existing Win95 system; you have to install Windows NT from scratch and re-install all of your programs, drivers, and data. It's a frustrating job, especially if you've been spoiled by Win95's ability to recognize hardware on its own.

If you've thoroughly checked your hardware and software and still have to reboot (or restart) your locked-up Win95 or Windows 3.1 system several times a day, are planning to set up a Web server for the Internet or an intranet (an internal network that works like the Internet), or need the upper limits of performance that only a multiple-CPU computer can give you, then lean toward Windows NT.

If your Win95 system is as reliable as you need it to be, you're serious about playing games, your hardware is modest, or you just can't stomach the idea of re-installing all of your programs, drivers, and data, then stay with Win95. For now, you may have little to gain and much to lose by switching. And of course, if you have a critically important program or device that won't run under Windows NT, you should leave your system alone.

Each operating system has clear strengths and weaknesses, and you can use both within one office. It's your choice. But wait long enough, and you may not have to decide. We suspect that one day, Microsoft will merge Win95 with Windows NT. Within a year or two, the differences may become less pronounced, and even the names Windows NT and Win95 may disappear, leaving something more like one Windows with three levels—home, workstation, and server.