Microsoft Corp’s drive onto the Internet shifted up a gear with the announcement that it plans to work with 24 hardware and software vendors to deploy high-speed Internet services and content via current technologies, including cable television networks and future network infrastructures. The new public networks system will be developed using Microsoft NT Server. The project will incorporate cable modem technology, Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Loop modems, systems management tools and local and wide area network equipment. Claiming to be unhappy with the bandwidth restrictions facing cable television operators that transmit full-motion video, Microsoft reckons it can develop a system that will eliminate these restrictions. Windows NT Server will be used in the new network in conjunction with the Microsoft Internet Information Server, a proxy and cacheing server called Catapult, and Microsoft’s Internet Explorer World Wide Web browser. Future capabilities and applications of the system will include network quality of service, subscriber management, systems and network management, media streaming, authoring tools, and news and electronic mail services. Craig Mundie, senior vice-president of Microsoft’s consumer systems division said our goal is to remove the complexities confronting both cable and telephone companies in delivering rich Internet services. Companies that jumped aboard the Microsoft wagon include Motorola Inc, 3Com Corp, Andersen Consulting, Ascend Communications Inc, Bay Networks Inc, Cabletron Systems Inc, Hewlett-Packard Co, Cascade Communications Corp and Cisco Systems Inc. Motorola Inc’s Multimedia Group also announced that it will develop next generation hardware and software for cable-based broadband networks with Microsoft. The companies are planning to integrate Microsoft’s Internet software with the Motorola CyberSURFR high-speed cable modem range.
