1. "EDITORS CORNER" 
* WINDOWS 2000 (W2K) 1999 EXPECTATIONS
2. "TECH BRIEFING"
* NEW W2K STORAGE FEATURES - WHITE PAPER
3. "NT RELATED NEWS" 
* STILL WAITING FOR W2K: WHEN?
* INTERESTING BACKOFFICE ADMINISTRATOR'S CONFERENCE
* MICROSOFT HAS PUT FULL TECHNET CD CONTENT ONLINE: FREE!
* THE TEN BIGGEST CHANGES IN W2K
4. "NT THIRD PARTY NEWS"
* RE: NEW PRODUCT ANNOUNCEMENT: SECURITY EXPLORER
* NETWORK SERVANT NOW CORRECTLY DISPLAYS LAST LOGON DATE
* AUTOPILOT AVAILABLE VIA ONLINE PURCHASE
* NEW PRINT MANAGER PLUS V2.61 SLASHES COSTS OF PRINTING
* THE 4 FLAVORS OF QUOTA ADVISOR, AND WHAT THEY DO.
5. "HINTS AND TIPS - TIME SAVERS AND OTHER GOODIES...
6. "THE NT STOCK WATCH"
7. "Y2K WATCH"
8. "HOW TO USE THE MAILING LIST"
Instructions on how to subscribe, sign off or change your address.

****************WHAT IS NTOOLS E-NEWS?******************************
Sunbelt Windows NTools E-News is the World's first and largest 
E-Newsletter designed for NT System Managers that have the job to 
get and keep NT up & running in a production environment. Sunbelt 
launched this electronic newsletter early 1996. Every two weeks we
keep the Windows NT community informed and aware of new developments
of NT and 3-rd party NT System Management Tools. You get hints and
tips that will enable you to better utilize and understand Windows NT, 
now renamed to Windows 2000 (W2K and pronounced Win-two-K).

You'll find general Windows NT related and third party news, tech
information, and 3-rd party beta and release information. As a
subscriber to NTools E-News[tm], you will receive instant notifi-
cation of important NT related events and you are also a charter 
member of the Sunbelt Field Test Bonus Program. Sunbelt Software is 
the first and largest distributor worldwide of Third Party System
Management Tools for Windows NT with 6 subsidiaries in the US and 
Europe.

**************************SPONSOR**********************************
Windows NTexplorer magazine is the #1 magazine for UK based Windows
NT professionals. With an editorial focus on the management of 
Windows NT & BackOffice components, Windows NTexplorer magazine
helps IT directors, managers and project leaders decide on the direc-
tion of their "NT Shop" whilst leaving the technical stuff to Windows 
NT magazine. Claim your free copy of Windows NTexplorer magazine today!

Simply email [email protected] with your postal details, or 
click here http://www.ntexplorer.com. We'll send you a copy asap!
*******************************************************************

1. "EDITORS CORNER" 

Hi NT-ers,

What is happening with W2K, and do we care? Well, yes and no. This
has been the world's most hyped piece of software ever for sure, we
are now basically 5 years down the road from the first time that it
was discussed under a multitude of code names.

Many terms have been invented to describe it: slideware, vaporware,
slipware, you name it. Are we anxiously biting our nails until we 
finally get the gold release? Nope, let's get all those NT systems 
safely to SP4 and then we'll think again. But large outfits really 
need Active Directory to roll out NT and since it is not there, 
Novell has a new temporary lease on life with its NDS. 

NT is still penetrating the enterprise from the bottom up and is
growing, but the growth has slowed somewhat. W2K should get that
boosted again but it now looks like it will even slide in 2000.
MS just announced that Beta 3 will be pushed back. Personally I
think we still might see a Q4 surprise release. Not that this 
will do much good. Nobody is going to deploy W2K right over the 
millennium roll-over.

In the mean time, everybody is finding out that to really have NT
up & running in a production environment you need more tools. The
'aftermarket' for NT utilities is booming and I expect it to keep
on going especially since full W2K deployment is going to be almost
two years away. It is a great time for third party developers to
show what time and money they save _now_ and how they are going to
integrate with W2K.

W2K has a raft of new features (See item: "THE TEN BIGGEST CHANGES 
IN W2K", but does not make things easier. On the contrary actually. 
There is tremendous opportunity for the third party community to 
add value, especially in the Active Directory space. There are 
significant holes in V1.0 of AD. Trusted Enterprise Manager is a 
good example of a tool that does provides essential (system admin 
delegation power) value now, but will positively shine in the new 
W2K environment. 

Let's get to work and see what's up with W2K, read on!

Warm regards,

Stu Sjouwerman


********************************************************************
2. "TECH BRIEFING"

* NEW W2K STORAGE FEATURES - WHITE PAPER

Windows 2000 has become VERY strong in storage management. Microsoft
has come out with a White Paper that describes all the features and
introduces a few new concepts which are important to understand.
W2K includes a few key enhancements to the storage architecture
that help large environments to scale better. The white paper
describes the enhancements in NTFS.

We have a copy of it on the Sunbelt website that you can pull down 
immediately without filling out any forms or anything. It's in WORD
format so it makes no sense to repeat everything. This is a warmly
recommended piece to download, print, and study at home overnight
with a hot cup of something and no disturbances. Here it is!
http://www.sunbelt-software.com/forum/w2000storage.doc

After you have read it, check out the page for Storage Resource Manager
on the Sunbelt website and you will see that it is an excellent tool for
right now, and will fit even better in the W2K environment.

********************************************************************

3. "NT RELATED NEWS" 

* STILL WAITING FOR W2K: WHEN?

Well, they have pushed back the release date for the W2K Beta 3 to April
instead of this Feb'99. That might well mean that it will not 'Go Gold'
until Q1 or even Q2 2000. But I'm optimistic and think they might come
up with it in Q4 this year. They have had enough time one would say.

MS also continued the ongoing NT Server 4.0 upgrade promo until the end
of June. That signals that they do not count on announcing W2K before
that time, and I predict that the upgrade promo will continue to at least
Q3 or Q4. The delay will start to impact the NT sales and we already see
the server growth percentage slow down somewhat.

"Microsoft vehemently denied that Windows 2000 would slip to the second
half six months ago and now we see that it probably will," said Chris Le
Toq, analyst for Dataquest. "It would be a really tough product to deliver
in the fourth quarter. The Year 2000 issue would be a big deal."

Of course Chris is right. No one in their right mind is going to deploy
W2K during the millennium roll-over or even 3-6 months afterward. The 
fact that Microsoft just made a large investment in Banyan is also very
interesting. Banyan is the third 'Network Directory' system in the 
market, and has been competing with Novell's Directory Service for years.
Banyan has agreed to migrate all their customers to Active Directory
but MS may be having some problems with Active Directory. This shows
Bill Gates' well knows strategy of always betting on more than one horse.

And in the same vein, Microsoft's Terminal Server pricing finally 
collapsed. They were under pressure right from the start and have finally
caved in to user demands. They have committed to shipping the next edition
as standard with W2K. Terminal Server is to be integrated as of Beta 3 of
W2K that we will see in April. 

The new price levels for Terminal Server basically mean that the multiuser
server component is free. If you deduct the new license costs from a five
user retail pack's price of $1,299, for example, then you're down to the
ballpark price for vanilla NT Server (although admittedly this comes with
Client Access Licenses too). 

There is one other thing in the announcement that is noteworthy: the $9,999
Internet Connector License. This is an idea to allow so called 'Application
Service Providers' have 200 simultaneous anonymous users hook up anony-
mously to NT Server Apps. 15 years ago this was called timesharing on the
mainframe, the only thing different is that there is no authentication and
it's now worldwide. 

The kicker however is that these anonymous users are NOT allowed to be on
your company payroll. You are supposed to rent it out to people outside
the company. Obviously difficult to police, and this means we need to 
watch out for something like Web-based software auditing creeping into W2K.

And to end off, on a recent little car trip to Saint Petersburg I found
a company that is already well into Windows 2000 and even advertising the
fact. I made a shot of their Billboard. 

http://www.sunbelt-software.com/win2kpic.jpg 

----------------------------

* INTERESTING BACKOFFICE ADMINISTRATOR'S CONFERENCE

BackOffice Administrators - Finally one for YOU!
The Microsoft BackOffice Administrator's Conference June 21-24, 
1999 - Space is limited - get real-life information from leaders 
like Sharon Dooley, Mike Hotek, Stephen Wynkoop and others. 

Windows NT/2000, SQL Server, SMS, Site Server, IIS, Exchange 
and more - things are changing rapidly and these changes move more 
and more responsibility onto the plate of the administrator for 
these systems. 

With a focused conference, you'll have the time you need to talk 
with speakers, to hear about real-life solutions and to network 
with your peers. Controlled session sizes will make sure you get 
information and techniques that pay off instantly.

This conference was designed, developed and built by NT admini-
strators like you. It's not about selling product, it's about 
getting the right sessions at the right time to make your job 
easier and your position stronger.

All speakers are pre-screened to assure quality and applicability. 
You'll get a directory of the speakers at the conference so you can 
contact them for more information. Registration is now open!
Go check out the details at: http://www.swynk.com/sunbelt
----------------------------

* MICROSOFT HAS PUT FULL TECHNET CD CONTENT ONLINE: FREE!

You may have heard about it, but perhaps not. It?s good news either way.
Ever wondered how the MS tech gurus got their status? Most of them have
studied Microsoft's bulky resource kits and the MS Knowledge Base. This
last one covers bugs and white papers, deployment guides and tips. 

In 1998 the only way to get your hands on all that valuable data together
in one location was a subscription to the TechNet CD-ROM program for 300
bucks per year. The good news is that in January 1999 Microsoft decided to
put the whole CD series online. And they added a few 'online-only' extra
goodies. The only thing you have to do is REGISTER, and the whole TechNet 
CD Online is free!

In case you already have the CD-ROM TechNet, keep it for a while. The 
benefit of getting the monthly CDs is the 20-CD library of service packs,
patches, and add-ons. That will save a lot of time if you have to download
lots of whopping service packs, updates, or product add-ons.

But the new TechNet Web has a few nice goodies. It has a Q&A column that
is called the 'TechNet Mole'. It will divulge secrets from MS's own IS
people. There are also candid MS product reviews written by TechNet 
subscribers like you. It's THE place to start look when you are hit with
a technical problem. Thank You Microsoft, it's a great way to use the Web.
Here you go: http://www.microsoft.com/technet/
-------------------------------

* THE TEN BIGGEST CHANGES IN W2K

1) ACTIVE DIRECTORY - AD gets all company-wide administrative information
organized into one single hierarchical tree-style directory.

2) IMPROVED SECURITY - W2K will provide a more secure environment by
implementing 'Kerberos' based log-ins and supports IPSec. These two major
changes mean significantly higher barriers against intrusions.

3) WINDOWS TERMINAL SERVER - Allows low-cost terminals or old PC's to
access NT in a true oldfashioned multi-user access fashion. Saves cash
for new PC hardware but not a big mainstream market. About 15% of the
NT sites plan to use it I recently read.

4) APPLICATION INSTALLATION SERVICE - This puppy installs apps
automatically as your users move around your network.


5) IMPROVED DISK MANAGEMENT - you can now add disk storage on-the-fly, 
which is pretty good. Also, see the Tech Briefing as there is much more
regarding that point.

6) HIERARCHICAL STORAGE MANAGEMENT - They also call this HSM and has been
around forever in mini- and mainframe environments. It automatically
moves infrequently used data to slower, less expensive media like tapes
or juke boxes.

7) MICROSOFT MANAGEMENT CONSOLE - This promises to integrate the admin
functions into a single program. It's basically a shell that you use to
fire up the admin apps.

8) 64GIG MEMORY LIMIT - admittedly, having 64 GIG RAM is pretty impressive.
You can have a m a j o r database running in memory that way. And prices
of memory are going to continue to drop so this is promising.

9) DISK QUOTAS - NT will have built-in bare bones quotas. We have looked
at them. Nice for a 25-user environment but hardly fit for enterprise use.
Wait for an interesting announcement from one of the Third Party quota
developers soon and read the item in below about Quota Advisor flavors.

10) WINDOWS SCRIPTING HOST - pretty powerful way to automate common tasks
and allows Third Parties to hook into as well to schedule things. 


***********************************************************************
4. "NT THIRD PARTY NEWS"

* RE: NEW PRODUCT ANNOUNCEMENT: SECURITY EXPLORER

In the last issue, we pointed you all to a new tool we found out about.
That caused almost a 1000 downloads and the developer called us and
said that was WAY too much to follow up and if we please could help.

So we jumped in and Security Explorer is now on the Sunbelt Website,
we'll sell and support that tool. It's pretty cool actually. A short
description: 

"Security Explorer is a powerful and intuitive utility to search for 
and modify Windows NT security on NTFS drives, the Registry, and Shares. 
Search across subdirectories for permissions. Grant, revoke, and clone
permissions across subdirectories without affecting any other user's 
permissions. Select 50 shares on a server, and grant permissions to 
multiple users and groups at one time. Export permissions to a database 
for further analysis and reporting. Back up your file permissions and 
restore them if necessary. Set ownership on files and directories. 
Seamless integration with the Windows NT 4.0 Desktop (right-click just 
about anywhere). Security Explorer makes finding security holes and 
fixing them a snap!" http://www.sunbelt-software.com/secuexpl.htm

Great tool to survive your next Security Audit and a wonderful 
companion product with Trusted Enterprise Manager to batten down the
NT hatches: http://www.sunbelt-software.com/tem.htm
------------------------------

* NETWORK SERVANT NOW CORRECTLY DISPLAYS LAST LOGON DATE

We updated the website with the brand new 3.1 release of Network ServaNT.
It now includes the object ?Users of domain (real last logon data)?. If 
you select this object, Network ServaNT will compare the logon data from
all DC?s and choose the last one. The last logon date plays an important 
role in reports about stale user accounts. Therefore the information 
displayed must be accurate.
------------------------------

* AUTOPILOT AVAILABLE VIA ONLINE PURCHASE

AutoPilot is a performance booster for busy NT workstations and servers.
One of our most active resellers has been given authority to sell 
AutoPilot on-line via their secure electronic download section. You can
now get a full copy within 10 minutes over at:
http://www.softwareshelf.com/auto.htm
------------------------------

* NEW PRINT MANAGER PLUS V2.61 SLASHES COSTS OF PRINTING

Slashing runaway costs of printing for schools and organizations, 
Software Shelf International, Inc. announced the release of Print Manager
Plus Version 2.6.1A for network administrators of educational institutions
and corporate environments to quota or track numbers of pages printed by
users or printers.

Software Shelf President Bill Feeley states, "Companies or educational
institutions can really find out how much money is wasted on printing and
why. A university of 25,000 students having gone NT with students on the
Internet is on average printing 200 million pages per year by students at
a cost of between $10 million to $30 million in paper, toner, and printer
wear and tear. Windows NT or 2000 lack functionality to directly control
or quota such printing across an organization or within a lab or group of
students. By installing Print Manager Plus on the Windows print server
this cost can be significantly reduced without loss of student production."

Features include an End User Inquiry Tool informing users how much they 
print. More robust, easier to use, it installs in seconds as a native NT 
service with all user and printer names automatically pulled up with no 
system administrator work required. All versions of Print Manager Plus 
are Year 2000 Compliant. Print Manager Plus is already in use by 
thousands of schools and organizations worldwide. Download 30-day eval:
http://www.sunbelt-software.com/printmgr.htm
------------------------------

* THE 4 FLAVORS OF QUOTA ADVISOR, AND WHAT THEY DO.

Quota Advisor is now without doubt the Market Leader in NT disk Quota
tools. The advanced technology of their (patent pending) Filter Driver
technology makes this tool a true second generation tool that does
hard disk quotas better than the first generation utilities that use
NT security to lock out users from objects. Quota Advisor is also the
first tool that can assign quota's to individual _USERS_, apart from
several disk objects (like home directories) that it of course does.

There are now 4 flavors:
- Quota Advisor Cluster Edition that fully supports MSCS
- Quota Advisor 4.0 which is by far the most advanced quota tool
- Quota Advisor 2.1 Enterprise Edition
- Quota Advisor 2.1 Standard Edition

The last two have been made cheaper so you have a choice which tool
you need to use for what machine. We have compiled a grid with all
the features. You should really have a good look at these features,
the new V4.0 is really made based on your feedback and has a few
very powerful options. If you compare the prices of Quota Advisor
with other tools on the market you will find that QA is sometimes
half the cost, with more features. This is the QA page:
http://www.sunbelt-software.com/qa21.htm 

And as a shortcut, this goes straight to the Grid!
http://www.sunbelt-software.com/QAcomp.htm

********************************************************************
5. "HINTS AND TIPS - TIME SAVERS AND OTHER GOODIES...

Tip Regarding Tape Backup Devices: Buy technology that is FAST,
but also affordable so that you can buy TWO of them. It is important
you can get your hands on a critical file that sits on a backup tape
in a short amount of time. Tapes fail much more than disks, so it
makes sense to make more than one tape, perhaps even at the same 
time.

So buy TWO identical tape devices. That also allows you to quickly 
restore a file _while_ you are making a backup on the other device so 
that you do not have to interrupt that backup and put your data at 
risk. And if you need to get tapes off-site for disaster recovery, 
you can use a little known but highly useful utility called Media 
Mirror that provides you with RAID1 for your tape backup devices. 
Check it out at http://www.sunbelt-software.com/highmm.htm


********************************************************************
6. "THE NT STOCK WATCH" Weekend Jan 30, 1999
52 WK 52 WK P/E WEEK
SECURITY CLOSE HIGH LOW RATIO CHNG
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Advanced Micro Devices... 22 15/16 33 12 3/4 +6.3%
BMC Softwear............. 46 11/16 60 1/4 32 1/4 35 +6.2%
Citrix Systems Inc....... 90 5/8 107 1/2 36 3/8 +3.8%
Compaq Computer.......... 47 5/8 51 1/4 22 15/16 +3.1%
Computer Associates...... 50 5/8 61 15/16 26 51 +5.6%
Data General Corp........ 19 9/16 21 13/16 7 -5.1%
Dell Computer............ 100 94 7/32 23 1/2 +20.4%
Gateway 2000 Inc......... 77 1/4 70 3/4 35 7/8 35 +23.6%
Hewlett Packard Co....... 78 3/8 82 3/8 47 1/16 28 +12.5%
Intergraph Corp.......... 5 1/16 10 9/16 4 11/16 -1.2%
International Business Ma 183 1/4 199 1/4 95 5/8 28 +1.9%
Micron Electronics Inc... 15 3/8 24 3/4 9 11/16 25 +3.3%
Microsoft Corp........... 175 174 7/16 69 1/4 74 +12.0%
NCR Corp................. 48 3/4 55 3/4 23 1/2 41 -0.5%
Network Associates Inc... 52 3/8 67 11/16 25 1/2 +5.8%
Novell Inc............... 20 3/8 20 11/16 6 13/16 70 +6.1%
Oracle Corp.............. 55 3/8 54 5/16 18 3/16 50 +11.0%
Qualcomm Incorporated.... 65 13/16 67 5/8 37 3/4 41 +11.5%
Qualix Group Inc......... 7 13/16 9 1/8 0 15/16 +0.8%
Seagate Technology....... 40 11/16 44 1/4 16 1/8 +5.6%
Silicon Graphics......... 20 9/16 19 1/4 7 3/8 +22.3%
Sun Microsystems Inc..... 111 3/4 115 3/4 37 5/8 51 +14.0%
Sybase Inc............... 10 3/16 11 5/8 4 1/2 -1.2%
Symantec Corp............ 20 7/16 32 5/8 8 11/16 27 -10.1%
Unisys Corp.............. 33 1/8 36 1/2 15 1/4 31 -3.2%
Veritas Software Corp.... 83 5/8 85 23 3/4 84 +8.6%
Dow Jones 30 Industrials. 9,358.83 +2.6%


********************************************************************

7. "Y2K WATCH" Only 334 days to Jan 1, 2000 

Americans want to know more about the Y2K glitch and how it could affect
their lives and less about the reactionary fears it is causing, a new 
survey says. The 1,002 people surveyed said the press should refrain 
from lurid tales of gun-toting survivalists predicting Armageddon and 
report instead on the Y2K readiness of local hospitals, governments, 
and electric utilities. 53 percent of the public calls Y2K "one of the 
most important issues facing the country right now." 

This is the most interesting Y2K article that has come my way this week.

http://www.wired.com/news/news/email/explode-infobeat/politics/story/17611.html

********************************************************************

8. "HOW TO USE THE MAILING LIST"
Instructions on how to subscribe, sign off
or change your email address


TO SUBSCRIBE TO THE LIST (Tell your friends!)

Click: http://lyris.sunbelt-software.com/scripts/lyris.pl?join=nt-list
and fill out the form, simple & easy: 1 minute work.

Or by email, send a blank message to the following address:
[email protected]

_____________________________________________________

TO QUIT THE LIST

1) The Web Way:
http://lyris.sunbelt-software.com/scripts/lyris.pl?
choose the NT-List, use your email address that is at 
the bottom of each newsletter and leave the list via 
the web interface.

2) The Email Way: Simply follow the personalized 
instructions at the very end of this newsletter.
_____________________________________________________

TO CHANGE YOUR ADDRESS

First unsubscribe and then resubscribe as per the
procedure above.

********************************************************************

FOR MORE INFORMATION

On the World Wide Web point your browser to:

For the newsletter and our website:
USA: http://www.sunbelt-software.com

Email for US sales information to:
[email protected]
Email for US Tech support to:
[email protected]
Email to the US Editor:
[email protected]

Email for European Sales to:
[email protected]
Email for European Tech support to:
[email protected]

********************************************************************

Things Our Lawyers Make Us Say:
This document is provided for informational purposes only. 
The information contained in this document represents the
current view of Sunbelt Software Distribution on the issues
discussed as of the date of publication. Because Sunbelt
must respond to changes in market conditions, it should not
be interpreted to be a commitment on the part of Sunbelt
and Sunbelt cannot guarantee the accuracy of any informa-
tion presented after the date of publication.

INFORMATION PROVIDED IN THIS DOCUMENT IS PROVIDED "AS IS"
WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED,
INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF
MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND
FREEDOM FROM INFRINGEMENT.

The user assumes the entire risk as to the accuracy and the
use of this document. This document may be copied and
distributed subject to the following conditions: 1) All text
must be copied without modification and all pages must be
included; 2) All copies must contain Sunbelt's copyright
notice and any other notices provided therein; and 3) This
document may not be distributed for profit. All trademarks
acknowledged. Copyright Sunbelt Software Distribution, Inc.
1996-1999.

(email me with feedback: [email protected])