Microsoft Responds to Netscape Misinformation

In addition to costing you less than Netscape's server solution, there are some key differences to consider when evaluating Microsoft's server solution and Netscape's.

IIS Has The Following Advantages:

• Optimized for the Microsoft® Windows NT™ Server Operating System
  • By focusing directly on Windows NT Server, the Internet Information Server delivers a Web server that offers the highest performance, easiest installation and management, and best programming model for a new generation of Web applications.
• Costs less than Netscape's solution, particularly when all the costs are considered
  • You only pay for the pieces you need (see chart for details).
• Provides the most standard features
  • Complete and flexible built-in logging.
  • Ability to log directly to ODBC databases from one server or many.
  • Secure Internet Information Server administration from the Internet Service Manager running on Windows NT.
• Includes high-performance database access
  • Internet Database Connector included at no extra charge.
  • The fastest TPC-C benchmark results to date are run using ODBC and SQL Server™ on Windows NT Server.
• Has a solid application strategy
  • The open, high-performance Internet Server API (ISAPI) extends the ability of five million Win32® programmers to the Internet.
  • Microsoft extends its commitment to the Internet by focusing the Internet Studio ("Blackbird") authoring tool on open Internet standards.

NETSCAPE'S WEB SERVER SOLUTIONS FALL SHORT

• Choice
  • Netscape ships pieces of their product line across a confusing array of operating system platforms.
  • Netscape applications run only on some versions of their "supported" platforms.
  • Even the proprietary Netscape API, called NSAPI, is not available on all their "supported" platforms.
• Performance
  • Netscape defines performance as an arbitrary measure against an ambiguous configuration of servers.
  • Microsoft wins on performance, lower hardware cost, and room for growth, reports Haynes & Company/Shiloh Consulting in new comparison study. Download (135K) the complete document. This document was created in Microsoft Word for Windows 6.0 format. If you do not have Microsoft Word, check out the Microsoft Word Viewer.
• Reliability
  • Windows NT Server is running mission-critical applications around the world. The Internet Information Server was able to deliver over 1.5 million hits per day on the first day of operation for http://www.nba.com/ --- while it was still in Beta!!!
  • Over 14,000 customers around the world registered to download Microsoft Internet Information Server in the first five days of availability.
• Extensibility
  • Netscape offers a fragmented development direction with a proprietary API that is not available across all their supported platforms.
• Cost Effectiveness
  • Netscape servers are more expensive than Microsoft's server solution (see chart).
  • Microsoft offers 7x24 worldwide support for Windows NT Server and Internet Information Server.

PRICE COMPARISON DETAIL

There are multiple parts to a useful Web server solution. Ideally, you want to be able to mix and match the best of breed:

• Client browser
• Operating system
• Web server
• Content-creation tools
• Application-development tools
• Database and data-access tools

With Netscape, you're locked into their proprietary approach. That approach is very confusing and extremely expensive as detailed below.

PRICE COMPARISON CHART

Components	Microsoft Internet Information Server	Netscape Communications Server	Netscape Commerce Server
Windows NT Server	$699	$699	$699*
Web server software	Free	$495	$1,295
Internet Information Server (Web, Gopher, FTP, Internet Database Connector, Performance Monitoring (SNMP MIB), Unlimited client licenses)	FREE	N/A	N/A
Internet browsers (for 100 clients)	FREE	$4,500	$4,500
Microsoft FrontPage	$695	N/A	N/A
Netscape LiveWire Pro**		$695	$695
Visual Basic® Script	FREE	N/A	N/A
Total Cost	$1,394	$6,389	$7,189

* Although the Netscape comparison listed pricing for Windows NT Workstation, the workstation version of Windows NT is not a recommended or supported platform for running application servers.

**To our knowledge, Netscape LiveWire Pro cannot be purchased for use today, and is not available in beta.

©1996 Microsoft Corporation