If you're looking to justify that 200-MHz Pentium Pro, this is the issue for
you. Windows NT Workstation is making inroads into all areas of multimedia-3D
graphics, video editing, Web development authoring, and more. We've spent more
than a 1000 hours researching this topic to give you an honest assessment of the
impact Windows NT is making on the multimedia industry.
As multimedia gains momentum in corporations worldwide, MIS has an
opportunity to be proactive in its implementation to make multimedia partof
its suite of supported applications. Windows NT Workstation is a serious
alternative to Macintosh and UNIX workstations for multimedia. Power users can
use the same machine on their desktop for high-end multimedia applications and
PC-based office automation applications. This means one less platform for MIS to
deal with. MIS can manage these power users and not say, "You're on your
own," just because they require an unsupported platform.
Windows NT Workstation is attracting the major players in the 3D graphics
arena: Lightwave, Softlmage, Adobe Premiere, Photoshop, Elastic Reality,
Photomorph, and others have implemented native Windows NT solutions. Microsoft
purchased Softlmage, a respected 3D graphics package, last year and ported it to
Windows NT. In less than a year, Microsoft has taken this $50,000 SGI-based
solution and repackaged it with third-party hardware for less than $15,000. At
this price point even the most die-hard UNIX fans will take a look.
What about digital video editing? Amiga's demise left a void-and Windows NT
Workstation was ready to fill it Windows NT Workstation has the
opportunity to be the dominant player in this market by 1997. Products such as
Avid's Real Impact and in:synch's Speed Razor bring commercial-quality video
editing to PC desktops. Windows NT reduces the cost of entry, and this is giving
corporate users access to tools that were previously out of reach.
Windows NT Workstation still has some way to go: Macintosh continues to
dominate multimedia authoring and desktop publishing. High-end Macintosh users
are the most loyal computer users I've seen: They'll need to see their favorite
applications running natively on a fast Windows NT-based workstation before
they'll even consider making the switch. Most of the major authoring packages
are moving to Windows NT within six months. Even Adobe and Quark, two big
players in desktop publishing, consider Windows NT to be a strategic platform.
What about Windows 95? Professional multimedia developers never considered
Windows 3.x to be a serious contender for their day-to-day work. Its not
uncommon to find 32-to-128MB of RAM on some graphics workstations. Windows 95
does not provide that kind of scalability. Both power users and large
organizations (including Alcoa, Bose, Charles Schwab, Barclays Bank, MCI,
Merrill Lynch, and the US Coast Guard) are skipping Windows 95 in favor of
Windows NT Workstation.
So when will Microsoft give Windows NT Workstation the attention it
deserves? That should come with Windows NT 4.0. Look for coverage in next
month's issue.
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