ARCHIVED: What are the differences between Windows 95 and Windows NT Workstation 4.0?
Note: For security and support reasons, UITS recommends using Windows 2000 Professional or Windows XP Professional, rather than NT Workstation 4.0, on Indiana University's network. Microsoft retired both mainstream and extended support for this version in June 2004, which means security updates are no longer being developed. For more information, see Microsoft's Windows Desktop Product Lifecycle Guidelines page at:
http://support.microsoft.com/?LN=en-us&pr=lifecycle
Windows 95 and Windows NT 4.0 share a common user interface. The following information from Microsoft summarizes the differences and similarities between the two platforms:
System and peripheral requirements and support |
Windows 95 | Windows NT |
---|---|---|
Runs MS-DOS device drivers | Yes | No |
Runs Win16 device drivers | Yes | No |
Recommended RAM for running multiple applications |
32+MB (minimum 8) | 64+MB (minimum 16) |
Typical disk space requirement |
55MB | 120MB |
Runs on PowerPC, MIPS R4x00, and RISC systems
|
No | Yes |
Supports multiprocessor configurations for scalable
performance without changing operating system or applications |
No | Yes |
Application support | Windows 95 | Windows NT |
Win32 API for application development, OLE for
linking data across applications |
Yes | Yes |
Preemptive multitasking of Win32 applications |
Yes | Yes |
Runs Win16 applications | Yes | Yes |
Multimedia APIs (DibEngine, DirectDraw, DirectSound,
DirectInput, Reality Lab 3D graphics libraries) |
Yes | DirectDraw and DirectSound |
DCOM | No | Yes |
OpenGL graphics libraries for 3D graphics |
Yes (SP1) | Yes |
System resources capacity | Greatly expanded | Unlimited |
Runs MS-DOS applications | Yes | Most |
Runs IBM Presentation Manager (through 1.3) and
POSIX 1003.1 applications |
No | Yes |
Application and data protection |
Windows 95 | Windows NT |
Preemptive multitasking for Win16 applications |
No | Yes |
System completely protected from errant Win16 and Win32
applications |
No | Yes |
NTFS file system provides complete protection of
files on a stand-alone system (files, folders, and applications can
be made "invisible" to specific users) |
No | Yes |
Has automatic recovery from a system failure |
No | Yes |
Ease of use | Windows 95 | Windows NT |
Next-generation Windows User Interface |
Yes | Yes |
Plug-and-Play technology that lets you add hardware
automatically and dynamically reconfigure the system |
Yes | No |
Connectivity | Windows 95 | Windows NT |
LAN connectivity and peer-to-peer networking, with
all popular protocols including TCP/IP, IPX/SPX, DLC, and
NetBEUI |
Yes | Yes |
Open networking architecture provides a choice of clients,
transports, drivers, and extensibility for support of third-party
networking applications |
Yes | Yes |
Built-in Remote Access Services |
Yes | Yes |
Built-in Windows Messaging Client providing email and fax
|
Yes | Fax support separate |
Manageability | Windows 95 | Windows NT |
Open system management architecture provides infrastructure
for third-party system management solutions |
Yes | Yes |
Supports existing and emerging system management standards
(SNMP, DMI) |
Yes | Yes |
System policies to provide centralized control over desktop
configuration |
Yes | Yes |
User profiles to provide consistent configuration for roving
users or different users sharing a single system |
Yes | Yes |
Remote monitoring of system performance |
Yes | Yes |
System and peripheral support | Windows 95 | Windows NT |
Fully exploits 386DX, 486, and Pentium platforms |
Yes | 486 and Pentium |
This is document advu in the Knowledge Base.
Last modified on 2018-01-18 12:20:07.