As expected (CI No 3,154) Dell Computer Corp has entered the PC workstation market with the Dell Workstation 400 range of Pentium II based machines aimed squarely at the financial services, digital content creation and MCAD mechanical computer-aided design markets. The company also lined up support from independent software houses, including big name MCAD developers such as Parametric Technology Corp, Autodesk Inc and Dassault Systemes SA, as well as Reuters Holdings Plc’s TIBCO, Neovision and Mathworks Inc in the financial services segment. Dell will be fighting it out in the Intel space with the likes of Compaq Computer Corp and Digital Equipment Corp, and competition will be fierce: according to IDC figures the new workstations will be priced between 20% and 40% cheaper than current offerings. Dell says its expects to see 44% year on year growth in the WIntel workstation market, as users migrate from Unix to Windows NT. The new machines include the Matrox Millennium II or the Elsa Gloria card for higher performance 3D graphics: Prices for the workstation 400 start at $3,900 for a single 266Mhz Matrox system going up to $8,900 for a dual 300Mhz Gloria M system.
