“Workstation maker SGI has released its first Intel-based server
computers with both Microsoft Windows NT and Linux operating
systems, but Linux is getting top billing in the long run.”
“Windows NT just won’t be ready in time for what SGI has in
mind. The company needs an operating system that can run on
machines with dozens of processors, said Jan Silverman, SGI’s new
vice president of marketing for computer systems.”
“For SGI, which has been casting about for a recovery strategy,
it’s an issue of being tied to someone else’s schedule.”
“‘You’re really caught in a bind how much value you can add to
the NT operating system,’ because Microsoft controls the
development, Silverman said. SGI hopes to stand out from the crowd
by making its Intel servers able to use dozens or even hundreds of
processors, and for that, ‘you need an operating system where you
can actually muck around with the kernel,’ he said.”