Windows NT Vs. Windows 9x

Windows NT Vs. Windows 9x

The following list summarizes some comparative points between Windows NT and Windows 9x. For instance, although Windows 9x and Windows NT Workstation have many features in common, such as the user interface and system utilities, the two operating systems differ dramatically in underlying architecture and structure.

Windows NT Workstation offers higher performance and higher reliability and security than does Windows 9x. On the other hand, Windows 9x has less demanding hardware requirements, offers broad application and device compatibility, and works well on notebook PCs because of better power management features and Plug-and-Play.

The key to appreciating what Windows NT offers over Windows 9x is in the platforms and settings that Windows NT targets.

Windows NT is designed to satisfy the needs of powerful workstations networked together in a corporate environment.

Windows 9x dominates the home market and is used on low-end PCs where applications software using multimedia devices and ease of installation are more of an issue than network security and high-end performance.

Windows 9x evolved from DOS and Windows 3.x, and while it might require greater resources, Windows 9x can run on the same basic hardware and run the same software as its predecessors. This ability is referred to as maintaining backward compatibility.

This is not true, however, of Windows NT, which places more extensive requirements on both hardware and software, and has functionality that differs from that of Windows 9x and its predecessors.

Windows NT makes the break with the past by not claiming to be 100% backward compatible with older hardware and software, thereby allowing Windows NT to offer more power and functionality.

In comparing Windows 9x to Windows NT, there are two important points to remember:

First, if Windows NT is installed on a PC that is not as powerful as the type of computer Windows NT was designed to run on, Windows NT will not perform as well as Windows 9x would on the same PC.

On a powerful workstation PC with a configuration recommended for Windows NT, Windows NT will perform faster and better than Windows 9x.

The second important point is that Windows NT is not one more evolution of DOS, Windows 3.x, and Windows 9x. In fact, the opposite is true. Windows NT was developed before Windows 95. Windows 95 and its upgrade, Windows 98, were built as a bridge between the old (DOS with Windows 3.x) and the new (Windows NT).

A few other differences between Windows 9x and Windows NT are worth noting, as well:

Windows NT is a full 32-bit operating system, operating in protected mode as soon as it receives control from BIOS; however, Windows 9x begins the boot process in real mode and loads some real-mode components before shifting to protected mode. Windows 9x supports real-mode device drivers; Windows NT does not allow them. Windows 9x uses virtual device drivers (VxDs) that often interact directly with hardware. Windows NT does not allow this kind of device driver but instead uses virtual device drivers, which it calls VDDs. These VDDs are allowed to work only within their virtual machine and must depend on Windows NT device drivers to communicate with the device itself