[...] Oracle was expected to sell its database software to manage
records for networks of NCs, as well as software for the desktop devices
themselves. But the company's move to replace Windows NT altogether is a
new and ambitious development.
"We are not just attacking them on the desktop, we are attacking them on
the server which we think is also too complex," Mr. Ellison said. "Our
system is much faster than Windows NT and it's much cheaper."
Oracle's server operating system is a variant on the widely used Unix
system, and is designed to run on low-cost servers running Intel Corp.
microprocessor chips, the same hardware that has helped make Windows NT
successful. Mr. Ellison didn't disclose pricing for the operating
system, but said it could be available on servers for as little as
$1,500.
Tom Rhinelander, an analyst at Forrester Research in Cambridge, Mass.,
said he doubted that Oracle can become a credible supplier of server
operating systems, a field dominated by Windows NT and many variants of
Unix. "That is an incredible uphill battle," added Greg Blatnik, an
analyst at Zona Research Inc., a Redwood City, Calif., research firm.
- Joe
Joseph S. Barrera III (joebar@microsoft.com)
http://research.microsoft.com/~joebar
Phone, Redmond: (206) 936-3837; San Francisco: (415) 778-8227
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