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`NT pricing: low-cost OS, Back Office 'gotchas.' (Microsoft Corp's
`Microsoft Windows NT Server 3.5, NT Workstation 3.5, Back Office
`operating systems) (Product Announcement)
` (Sep 19, 1994)
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`Abstract (summary)
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`Microsoft Corp introduces its $700 Windows NT Server 3.5 and its $395 Windows NT Workstation 3.5
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`operating systems. The company also unveils its Back Office operating system/E-mail bundle that packages
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`NT Server, SQL Server, SNA Server, Systems Management Server and Microsoft Mail 3.2 together. The
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`firm will replace Mail with Exchange when it is ready to ship during the middle of 1995. The company
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`wants to displace Novell Inc's NetWare network operating system, which has the largest market share
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`among users with PC networks. Industry insiders expect volume prices for NT Server and NT Workstation
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`to be approximately 50 percent less than list price. Microsoft is pricing Back Office in a way that is unique
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`to the company. The price will be $2,200 for the bundle, plus a $300 per-user connection charge. The
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`company is negotiating with several PC vendors to bundle Back Office with their systems.
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`Full Text
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`Microsoft Corp. will officially launch the NT Back Office product suite this week, setting extremely
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`aggressive pricing for the operating system -- but making up for lower revenues with user-access fees.
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`The combination of Windows NT 3.5 with the Back Office suite represents Microsoft's most determined
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`effort yet to persuade customers that it has a product line that can effectively replace Novell Inc.'s
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`NetWare, the dominant PC network operating environment, and other competitors' products.
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`Microsoft CEO Bill Gates will formally introduce the suite this week at Windows World in Dallas.
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`NT Workstation 3.5 will be available for a single-quantity list price of $395, while NT Server 3.5 will be
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`$700, sources close to the company said. With volume discounts, users could pay 50 percent less than
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`those prices, sources said.
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`Microsoft also will release its new NT Back Office pricing model, under which customers will pay a per-user
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`license fee for each Back Office application they access, sources said. The entire Back Office bundle --
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`which includes NT Server, SQL Server, SNA Server, Systems Management Server (code-named Hermes),
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`and, eventually, the Exchange mail server -- will sell for $2,200, plus a $300 per-user connection fee,
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`sources said. Until Exchange is ready to ship in mid-1995, Back Office customers will receive Mic rosoft
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`Mail 3.2 as a placeholder, they said.
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`While direct comparisons cannot be made in all cases, retail prices for NetWare 4.02 range from $1,395 for
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`a five-user license to $47,995 for a 1,000-user license. A comparable bundle of IBM networking products
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`would comprise OS/2 2.x, which sells for anywhere from $25 to $150 per copy, and LAN Requester or LAN
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`8/8/2014
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`Samsung - Exhibit 1027 - Page 1
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`Page 2 of 3
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`Server. LAN Requester costs $50 per client; LAN Server Entry edition is priced at $795; and LAN Server
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`Advanced edition costs $2,295.
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`Some IS personnel said that while the Microsoft pricing seems attractive, the per-user fees may be the
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`company's "gotcha."
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`"At first blush, the pricing model didn't sound that bad," said Bruce Barnes, manager of PC systems for
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`Unocal Corp., in Los Angeles. "But then if you take $50 per client for Hermes and multiply it by 10,000, it's
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`really not that cheap."
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`Several OEMs said they would be ready this week to start shipping machines with NT 3.5 installed.
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`Microsoft officials said users can expect to see the new version in retail computer stores within three
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`weeks.
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`Last week, Microsoft was working to cement deals with a handful of OEMs to bundle the entire Back Office
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`suite with their hardware, but it was uncertain whether those deals would be completed in time for this
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`week's announcement.
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`Among the companies considering bundling Back Office are AT&T Global Information Solutions, Compaq
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`Computer Corp., Digital Equipment Corp., NEC Technologies Inc., and Sequent Computer Systems Inc.,
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`sources said.
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`NT 3.5 will come in two varieties -- NT Workstation and NT Server -- but the Server version will include a
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`choice of several user-selectable modes, including the Advanced Server mode, Microsoft officials said.
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`Copyright 1994 Gale, Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
`
`Indexing (details)
`
`Subject
`
`Computer software industry -- Product introduction;
`
`Marketing Strategy;
`
`Microsoft Windows NT;
`
`Network Operating System;
`
`Network operating systems;
`
`Operating System;
`
`Operating systems (Software) -- Product introduction;
`
`Operating systems -- Product introduction;
`
`Product Introduction;
`
`Product introduction;
`
`Software;
`
`Software industry -- Product introduction
`
`Company / organization Microsoft Corp.; Microsoft Corp. (Product introduction)
`
`Product name
`
`Microsoft Windows NT Server 3.5 (Network operating syst
`
`em) (Product introduction),
`
`Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 3.5 (Operating system
`
`) (Product introduction),
`
`Microsoft BackOffice (Network software) (Product introdu
`
`ction)
`
`Identifier (keyword)
`
`Trade, table, MSFT
`
`http://search.proquest.com/professional/printviewfile?accountid=154215
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`8/8/2014
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`Samsung - Exhibit 1027 - Page 2
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`Page 3 of 3
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`NAICS classification
`
`51121: Software Publishers
`
`Product classification
`
`7372500: Systems Software Pkgs
`
`SIC classification
`
`7372: Prepackaged software
`
`Title
`
`NT pricing: low-cost OS, Back Office 'gotchas.' (Microsoft
`
`Corp's Microsoft Windows NT Server 3.5, NT Workstation
`
`3.5, Back Office operating systems) (Product
`
`Author
`
`Announcement)
`
`Foley, Mary Jo
`
`Publication title
`
`PC Week
`
`Volume
`
`Issue
`
`Pagination
`
`v11
`
`n37
`
`p1(2)
`
`Publication date
`
`Sep 19, 1994
`
`Publisher
`
`Ziff Davis Enterprise
`
`Journal subject
`
`Business, Computers and office automation industries
`
`ISSN
`
`0740-1604
`
`Journal code
`
`0PCE
`
`Source type
`
`Magazine/Journal
`
`Language of publication English
`
`Document type
`
`Product Announcement
`
`Source attribution
`
`Gale Group Computer Database, © Publisher specific
`
`Accession number
`
`16247482
`
`Document URL
`
`http://search.proquest.com/professional/docview/108836
`
`4775?accountid=154215
`
`Copyright
`
`Copyright 1994 Gale, Cengage Learning. All rights
`
`reserved.
`
`COPYRIGHT 1994 Ziff Davis Enterprise
`
`Date created
`
`Updates
`
`First available
`
`2012-07-14
`
`2012-10-07
`
`2012-10-17
`
`2012-10-07
`
`Database
`
`Gale Group Computer Database™ (1983 - current)
`
`Copyright© 2014 ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. Terms and Conditions
`
`http://search.proquest.com/professional/printviewfile?accountid=154215
`
`8/8/2014
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`Samsung - Exhibit 1027 - Page 3