“Yet another version of Windows? Microsoft today unveiled
one it prepared earlier, Windows for Express Networks 1.0.
From a company that has in the past gone on the record as saying it
gets its products right when they’ve got a 3 in front of them, this
may be a reckless designation, but WEN (is this a ship-date joke?)
is actually based on NT Embedded, so it has more provenance than
you’d initially think.”
“As Microsoft tells it, WEN is a server appliance based on NT
Embedded, and is being released to OEMs today – so it’s a reference
design/spec, right? Coincidentally – not – the first OEM will be
Intel, which itself has announced “two versions of the Intel
InBusiness Small Office Network,” sealed, multifunction appliances
priced at $1,499 and $1,999. The big one has data mirroring
capabilities and faster CPU, and the option to add DSL or ISDN
shortly….”
“Not only that, but when Intel first took the wraps off server
appliances the company made it abundantly clear that the classic
Microsoft NT network licensing scheme would not be welcome in the
server appliance arena. There would be no ‘per seat’ licence, the
buyers could just pay the one-off price for the gear and plug
in.”