Within IBM, work had already begun on the definition of an NC before Larry Ellison fired his first shot in Paris. A small group of engineers in Rochester, however, was concerned that the definition within IBM was moving too slowly, and decided to define and build one of its own. After all, the engineers argued, the AS/400 was an absolutely ideal server for such a device, especially with the HTML gateway being planned for announcement in 1996. Led by engineers Glenn Batalden and Lou Behrens, this small group quickly developed its NC based on a PowerPC chip. They chose to package their creation in a small black tower about the size of an algebra textbook. They even rounded the back of this package to make it look like a tiny AS/400 sitting on the desktop. In April of 1996, they demonstrated a prototype of their new NC at the COMMON user group conference in San Francisco. The response from AS/400 customers who saw the NC for the first time was overwhelmingly positive. Back in the Rochester laboratory, plans were immediately put into place to bring the NC to market.

On September 5, 1996, the Rochester engineers proudly showed off their NC to the world. Now called the IBM Network Station, this device was the first NC from the Network Computer Reference Profile partners. The new NC attached to IBM and non-IBM servers, but the black color and the rounded back clearly showed its AS/400 heritage. On October 29, 1996, Sun introduced its own version of an NC, the JavaStation. Other vendors followed with more NCs that meet the reference profile. The NCs are built around RISC processors from various vendors and run some proprietary operating system usually based on Unix.

To counter the onslaught of NCs, one day before Sun announced the Java-Station, Microsoft and Intel announced their own initiative to develop a reference design specification for a new type of desktop computer they called the NetPC. Like the NC, the NetPC is simpler than a PC, with less flexibility and expandability. Unlike the NC, the NetPC is built around an Intel Pentium processor and works only with Windows. Unlike an NC, a NetPC must have an internal hard disk.

The NetPC specification is not intended to reduce the purchase of a system to less than $500. The intent is to provide a system that is easier to manage in a corporate environment, and to reduce the TCO of a PC. To accomplish this, the NetPC uses two initiatives: one from Intel called Wired for Management and another from Microsoft called Zero Administration for Windows. Wired for Management came out of a Desktop Management Task Force that several companies started in 1992. It provides a management product that PC Help desks can use to more easily manage LAN-attached PCs. The Zero Administration concept from Microsoft is incorporated into the Windows operating systems to automatically update the NetPC’s operating system from the server when the NetPC is booted, and to automatically install applications when they are invoked by the user. In addition, all data the user creates or enters can be automatically reflected to a server, so users have access to all their data, no matter which NetPC they use to log on to the network. A central administrator also can control all aspects of a NetPC’s configuration through the network.

Who will win the battle for the desktop? Most likely, the business customer. Both NCs and NetPCs hold the potential to reduce the TCO. The specific type of desktop to be used will ultimately depend on the types of applications and the types of servers employed in the business. Traditional client/server applications will still likely require full PCs. If, as the NC supporters claim, future client/server applications will be written in Java, then the NCs might be a better choice for a business. A NetPC also might work, but the full benefits are realized only when the server and all clients run only Windows. NCs, which work with any server, are much more open in this respect. And let’s not forget about the thousands and thousands of applications that are written for a 3270 or a 5250 terminal. Here, either an NC or a PC will work. From an AS/400 perspective, all the clients ranging from 5250 to NC to PC are supported. Further, a business can mix and match these clients, giving it the flexibility to place on each user’s desk the client that is best suited for that user.

Collaborative Computing

Workgroups of people in a business or across multiple businesses need to communicate and share information. Many businesses are finding new client/server software for workgroup computing, usually called groupware, to be very attractive. Groupware is built around the idea of collaborative human activities — that is, people working together in a group to perform some business activities. For this reason, groupware is also called collaborative computing. Examples of collaborative computing are creating a document with multiple contributors, having a conference with participants in remote locations, or simply exchanging electronic mail (e-mail).