Technical information

Reviewer’s Guide Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 3.51 5
Evaluating Features of Windows NT Workstation
This reviewer’s guide is designed to address the product and feature improvements that have been added to Windows
NT Workstation 3.51 plus base operating system features included in Windows NT Workstation 3.5. This guide
assumes that you are already familiar with the basic architecture and features of the Windows NT operating system.
Windows NT Workstation 3.51 Features
New Platform Support
Windows NT 3.51 includes support for the PowerPC architecture in addition to Intel, MIPS and DEC Alpha AXP.
It extends the Windows NT operating system to the new processor architecture supported by the industry-standard
PReP compliant manufacturers. Developers who seek the broadest hardware support for their applications will
continue to see the greatest leverage from supporting Windows NT.
Windows 95 Common Controls and Dialogs
Windows 95 common controls are supported in Windows NT 3.51. Common controls are a set of windows that are
supported by the common control library. This means that the appearance of certain system applications has changed
in Windows NT 3.51. Specifically, the appearance of File Manager, Print Manager, Clipboard Viewer, Command
Prompt, Chat, CD Player, Media Player, and Sound Recorder has been changed. It also means that what might have
been a menu item in a new application, such as Console, is a tabbed dialog box.
If the change is in the application’s toolbar, tool tips may appear when you use your mouse to point to a particular
icon in the application’s toolbar. Tool tips describe the function of the particular toolbar icon.
Some of the dialog boxes in the applications that have changed now have a question mark in the upper right hand
corner. The question mark replaces the Help button in some of the dialog boxes. If the dialog box has a question
mark in the upper right hand corner, you can click your left mouse button to change the cursor to an arrow with a
question mark. Then when you click a field or a control in the dialog box, a tool tip appears that describes the field
or control you clicked on.
Another way to display this same information for dialog box fields and controls is to right click the field or control to
display a What’s This? tag. Left or right clicking on the What’s This? tag displays the same Help for the field or
control.
Improved Device Support
To use a PCMCIA card with Windows NT, it must be in the PCMCIA slot from the time you boot your computer to
the time you shut it down. Windows NT 3.51 provides an “enabler” driver that will go to the PCMCIA controller and
perform the actions expected for Card Services and Socket Services to power the PCMCIA and configure it for use
by the device driver.
In most cases, a Windows NT device driver is needed for the device, with the exception of most modems and hard
drives. MS-DOS and Windows card and socket device drivers are not compatible with Windows NT 3.51. Support
for certain modem, small computer system interface (SCSI), network adapter, and hard disk PCMCIA cards have
been included in Windows NT 3.51. However, PCMCIA card support and socket support has not been included.
Please refer to the Hardware Compatibility List (HCL) for a listing of tested hardware.
Delrina WinFax Support
When using Windows NT Workstation 3.51 with Delrina WinFax Lite version 3.0 and Delrina WinFax PRO 4.0,
you must follow the instructions below. Do not allow any 16-bit fax software to install it's own communications
driver. Delrina WinFax PRO for Networks is not supported.