Unix trounces Windows NT in testing

[Mitch Stone <mstone@vc.net>]

Unix trounces Windows NT in testing 
By Stephen Shankland 
December 1, 1998, 9:15 p.m. PT 

http://www.news.com/News/Item/0%2C4%2C29416%2C00.html?sas.mail 

Windows takes a shellacking when stacked up against Unix, according to a 
newly released study.  

Microsoft's Windows NT finished dead last overall in a comparison with 
five different versions of the Unix operating system, concluded a market 
research firm that assessed the latest versions of these operating 
systems. 

IBM's AIX version of Unix topped the rankings, followed by Compaq's 
Digital  Unix, Sun Microsystems' Solaris, and Silicon Graphics' Irix. 
Each of these four operating systems received a "good" rating from D.H. 
Brown Associates. 

Hewlett-Packard's HP-UX earned an  "OK" rating. 

However, "Even the Enterprise Edition of Windows NT Server 4.0 trails 
Unix in every area except for PC client support," D.H. Brown said in a 
statement. 

The company ranks the major Unix variants and NT each year using a 
scorecard  that judges six factors. Windows NT ranked last in every area 
except one. 

"NT still falls short of Unix for advanced Internet protocols and 
extensions. NT also lags in features for scalability, reliability, 
availability, serviceability, and system management," the study said. 

Windows NT earned second place in support for PC clients, losing out to 
Compaq's Digital Unix. The latter also took top marks in its support for 
services across a large corporation. 

IBM's AIX ranked first for system management and support for intranets 
and the Internet. Big Blue has taken "the most active role of the major 
operating system vendors" in providing software for electronic commerce, 
D.H. Brown said. However, AIX tied for fourth place in its score for 
reliability, availability, and serviceability. 

Solaris 7's full 64-bit capabilities launched it from last place among 
Unix systems last year to third place this year, according to D.H. Brown. 
Solaris won out in scalability, reliability, availability, and 
serviceability, but was second to last in its support for PC clients. 

Irix also improved overall, with a strong rating for reliability, 
availability, and serviceability, the study said. HP-UX, however, slipped 
backwards, in part because of HP's failure to ship promised Java-based 
system management tools, which are key for managing a computer remotely. 

D.H. Brown noted that the study doesn't reflect market share or customer 
satisfaction. "The industry has frequently shown that the best technology 
does not always win in the marketplace," the firm admitted in the study. 

Companies still can highlight their system's advantages, D.H. Brown said: 
"The results show that in a brutally competitive industry that relies 
ever more on commodity technology, it is still possible to differentiate 
with leading-edge operating system features." 

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Mitch Stone
mstone@vc.net