Datapro releases findings from 1996 worldwide workstations user ratings survey; survey finds large opportunity for Windows NT.DELRAN, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 23, 1996--The 1996 Datapro International User Ratings Survey of Workstations revealed that the workstation market is rapidly evolving to a dual environment that will include both UNIX UNIX Operating system for digital computers, developed by Ken Thompson of Bell Laboratories in 1969. It was initially designed for a single user (the name was a pun on the earlier operating system Multics). and Windows NT (Windows New Technology) A 32-bit operating system from Microsoft for Intel x86 CPUs. NT is the core technology in Windows 2000 and Windows XP (see Windows). Available in separate client and server versions, it includes built-in networking and preemptive multitasking. . Twenty-three percent of the respondents who are UNIX workstation users are already using Windows NT, and another 22 percent are evaluating NT. Windows NT will emerge from the under-$10,000 low-end technical desktop market, and 80-90 percent of the application workload over the next two years will still be dominated by UNIX. Five vendors dominate the workstation market. These vendors are Digital Equipment Corp.; Hewlett-Packard; IBM (International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY, www.ibm.com) The world's largest computer company. IBM's product lines include the S/390 mainframes (zSeries), AS/400 midrange business systems (iSeries), RS/6000 workstations and servers (pSeries), Intel-based servers (xSeries) ; Silicon Graphics, Inc.; and Sun Microsystems Sun Microsystems, Inc. (NASDAQ: JAVA[3]) is an American vendor of computers, computer components, computer software, and information-technology services, founded on 24 February 1982. . No other vendor received significant mention from survey respondents. However, Datapro believes that the emergence of Windows NT into the workstation arena opens the door for new players. Peter Lowber, Datapro Senior Analyst for workstations and servers, warns "those vendors that are not supporting Windows NT are missing a major growth opportunity and will lose market share." The most important criteria to users when selecting a workstation is performance, followed by service and support, then price and availability of applications. The most important workstation features and functions are multivendor support, support for running Windows applications A program that is written to run under Microsoft's Windows operating system. Such applications typically run under all 32-bit versions of Windows, but earlier applications might also run under the 16-bit versions (Windows 3.x) as well. See Windows. , and support for a single UNIX operating system Noun 1. UNIX operating system - trademark for a powerful operating system UNIX, UNIX system operating system, OS - (computer science) software that controls the execution of computer programs and may provide various services . Respondents from Asia rate the importance of a UNIX operating system notably higher than the survey norm. The survey was based on a questionnaire mailed to 10,500 IT professionals with UNIX workstations in the Americas (Canada, the U.S., Central and South America South America, fourth largest continent (1991 est. pop. 299,150,000), c.6,880,000 sq mi (17,819,000 sq km), the southern of the two continents of the Western Hemisphere. ), Europe (the U.K., Italy, France and Germany), and the Asia/Pacific region. A total of 994 valid responses were received. The full results of The 1996 International User Survey on Workstations appear in the June 1996 issue of Datapro's Workstations & Servers: Systems information service. Datapro Information Services See Information Systems. Group, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies, provides timely and accurate information and analysis on the full spectrum of IT products, vendors, technologies and markets. Drawing on the strength of an international staff of researchers and analysts, Datapro has been relied on by thousands of organizations and consulting firms for more than 28 years. CONTACT: Datapro Information Services Group Peter Lowber, 617/860-6642 Internet: plowber@dri.mgh.com http://www.datapro.com |
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