by Jo Pettitt (online at http://webserv.vnunet.com/www_user/plsql/pkg_vnu_news.right_frame?p_story=7 8168)
Microsoft's NT Terminal Server Edition (TSE) is under fire yet again after the company admitted the product is still not Year 2000 compliant, despite having already issued a Y2K patch.
TSE, which has faced a barrage of criticism from both analysts and users for its high licensing costs, was released non compliant in mid 1998. Microsoft promised Year 2000 fixes first in September and then December, neither of which were delivered.
According to industry analysts Gartner Group, Microsoft "quietly" posted a set of Year 2000 hot fixes for TSE in January this year, but has now admitted these are inadequate.
Neil MacDonald, NT analyst at Gartner Group, commented: "Microsoft has now just as quietly acknowledged that those hot fixes were incomplete, that further Year 2000 related problems have been discovered and that reapplication of a complete set of fixes will be required."
He said that as a result, many companies mistakenly believe that their deployments of TSE are compliant.
MacDonald also added that since Microsoft has given no estimate on when these complete fixes will be available, it may not be until the second quarter, leaving limited time for users to complete their Y2K projects and testing.
Jim Huntington, IT infrastructure manager at Muller Dairy, said TSE's non compliant status was causing headaches for his department as it means he cannot check off his systems as totally compliant.
"It does concern us as we've got a status box to fill in on each of our systems and Terminal Server does not have a tick in the box," he said. "We have no idea when SP4 will actually arrive and we have our own internal deadlines."
"If Microsoft doesn't bring out the pack in time for our deadlines we can't use it," he added.
Microsoft is saying TSE's Y2K compliance problems will be fixed with NT Service Pack(SP) 4, that they claim will be delivered this month. But MacDonald said SP4 for NT4 cannot be applied to TSE because it is based on a different kernel and users may be left waiting for the separate fix.
Simon Moores, chairman of the NT user group said: "It's either fixed or it's not. I believe that Gartner has caught Microsoft out on this occasion and it doesn't do wonders for customer confidence."
A spokesperson for Microsoft admitted that SP4 is scheduled for delivery in the first quarter of this year but that even this "could slip".
Moores said: "With only nine months to go before the world collapses around our ears, Microsoft, more than anyone, has to be able to deliver Year 2000 fixes to a 99.99 per cent level of confidence. If it can't, then mitigation ceases to be relevant and its time to start stocking up on canned food."
Bob Nunn - President, Operator Headgap Systems President, AppleCore of Memphis, Inc. E-mail: headgap@headgap.com
*=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-* | Operator Headgap Web BBS | V.34 Modem : (901) 759-1542 | | Supporting Mac, 64&128, Amiga | 33.6k Support: (901) 759-1543 | *=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-* | Visit our TeleFinder Site at: bbs.headgap.com - port 1474 | | Visit our Telnet Site at: telnet://bbs.headgap.com:1474 | | Visit our WWW Site at: http://www.headgap.com | | IP Address: 208.246.252.34 Fast ISDN Web Access! | *=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-* | New AppleCore Web BBS Page http://www.headgap.com/applecore.spml | *=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-*
