Windows Nt 4.0 Terminal Server Edition Better Online
As corporate IT departments realized the massive cost savings of centralized management, Microsoft recognized that multi-user functionality needed to be a core component of the Windows operating system rather than a third-party add-on. Microsoft negotiated a licensing agreement with Citrix, acquiring the rights to build multi-user capabilities directly into the Windows NT 4.0 kernel. Citrix, in turn, focused on creating premium add-on extensions for Microsoft’s new platform, a product line known as MetaFrame. Architectural Breakthroughs: Inside the Hydra Kernel
At its heart, Terminal Server Edition was the standard Windows NT Server 4.0 re-engineered for the multi-user task. The core system was built on a 32-bit architecture with a Hybrid Kernel, which had been the hallmark of the Windows NT line since its inception. However, what set it apart were three major components: As corporate IT departments realized the massive cost
The relationship between Microsoft and Citrix during the development of WTS was highly cooperative but competitive. When Microsoft released Terminal Server, it offered basic multi-user functionality. However, organizations requiring advanced features—such as seamless window publishing, advanced client-side drive mapping, and extensive load balancing—continued to purchase Citrix add-ons.
Windows NT 4.0 Terminal Server Edition played a significant role in the development of remote desktop computing. Its success paved the way for future Microsoft technologies, such as:
In the late 1990s, upgrading desktop hardware across thousands of enterprise seats was prohibitively expensive. WTSE allowed organizations to extend the lifecycle of legacy desktop PCs. Because all processing took place on the robust server hardware, a legacy 486 PC running Windows 95 could seamlessly display a resource-heavy enterprise database application running on the server. Centralized Application Management
