“Novell’s program, The Novell Advantage over Windows 2000,
takes aim at Windows 2000 in general, and its Active Directory
service in particular.
Microsoft itself routinely compares its Active Directory to
Novell Directory Services (NDS), often unfavorably. The Advantage
site features lengthy rebuttals to Microsoft’s claims, plus a daily
‘Did you know?’ feature that pokes holes in Microsoft’s claims
about Windows 2000.
Novell points out that NDS has been around for more than 10
years. It’s mature and available on a number of platforms, while
Windows 2000 is brand new, bound to have bugs, and Active Directory
is a Windows 2000-only solution.
Beyond that, much of Novell’s beef is with a feature on
Microsoft Direct Access called ‘Windows 2000 Server: A Prime Choice
over Novell’s NetWare 5.’ Novell calls Redmond’s claims ‘false and
misleading,’ with ‘many blatant untruths in an attempt to mislead
existing and potential Novell customers.’ “