Windows 98 Professional Reference
Managers had come to realize that the labor cost for administration and technical support of a corporate workstation figured significantly in the overall cost of implementing the workstation. A simpler and less-versatile PC, they reasoned, would have the following advantages:
Microsoft, having invested millions over the years to give Windows more power and flexibility, initially downplayed the idea that the public would actually want less power and less flexibility. Behind the scenes, however, they put their legion of large brains to work on addressing how they might position themselves to accommodate this new thin-client paradigm.
Over the years, Microsoft had been collecting data on work habits and accompanying costs associated with PC operations. They were also aware of the work of other groups, such as the Garter Group, which showed that the single largest line item associated with the cost of operating a PC was so-called end-user operations--unproductive labor costs generated by a workstation user interacting directly with features of the operating system and with non-work-related applications (as opposed to interacting with application(s) required for the user's work assignment). The Garter Group cost model is shown in Table 4.1.
Table 4.1 Total Cost of Operating a Corporate Workstation
| Operation | Percentage of Total Cost |
| Nonbillable End-user Operations | 46 |
| Technical Support | 21 |
| Capital Cost | 21 |
| Administrative Cost | 13 |
Furthermore, although the capital, technical, and administrative costs are easily discernible from a corporate spreadsheet, the ellusive end-user operation cost is invisible, hidden in the overall labor cost, providing a permanent lag in user productivity.
It soon became as clear to Microsoft as it was to Microsoft's competitors that a maintenance-free PC with a more-limited, less-flexible user interface could provide a far lower total cost of ownership in many corporate environments. Microsoft's first act was to declare victory--Windows, they argued, already has the features necessary to create a limited-use environment that will reduce the cost of end-user operations. They then set to work developing additional tools designed to reduce administrative and technical costs. Their goal was to provide a system that offered not only the power and flexibility of a modern PC operating system (if you wanted it) but also the limited, low-cost operating mode of a thin client (if you wanted it). This virtual thin-client approach, according to Microsoft, is better than the permanent limitations of cheap, thin-client hardware. Total cost of ownership, they said, would not depend on a new kind of hardware but rather on new software and on a new approach to system management.
NOTE: Microsoft nevertheless set to work adapting Windows for the approaching arrival of network PCs and other thin-client hardware units. A new generation of network-based Windows products, such as the new NT Hydra system (named for the many-headed serpent of antiquity) will support clients in a variety of thicknesses.
With much fanfare, Microsoft launched their Zero Administration Windows (ZAW) campaign. Zero Administration is a set of existing methodologies and a promise to develop new methodologies to help reduce the total cost of operating a Windows system. Zero Administration features fall into two basic groups:
Many of these Zero Administration features are built directly into Windows 98. (Other, more-advanced features will appear in NT 5.0 and future Windows releases.)
The natural development of the Windows operating system has simplified some of the tasks associated with system administration. Windows 98 is certainly the most hands-off operating system Microsoft has developed. Some of the Zero Administration tools provided with Windows 98 include the following:
These labor-saving features are discussed throughout the book. Refer to specific chapters for additional information. I mention these features here so that you can view them as a natural consequence of Microsoft's initiative to reduce total cost of ownership.
Research has shown that one of the biggest time sinks in system administration is the need to update system software in order to maintain compatibility with new hardware and new versions of applications. Windows 98 includes a tool called Windows Update. Windows Update logs onto the Internet and consults a large, online database to see whether any drivers or system files on your computer need updating. Any out-of-date files are then updated from the Web site.
To access the Windows Update Wizard:
The Windows 95 Zero Administration Kit was Microsoft's first effort to market the potential of Windows for supporting a terminal-like, dedicated workstation environment. The Windows 95 Zero Administration Kit was a ready-made implementation that used several existing Microsoft Networking features (most notably, the System Policies feature). The Windows 95 Zero Administration Kit also helped you set up a Windows 95 installation share on a server for easy network client installation and, optionally, configured the client to access Office 97 running on the server.
One important aspect of the Windows 95 Zero Administration Kit was that it classified Windows corporate workstations and client workstations according to two operating modes:
In both cases, the user's access to local file system and local operating system features is limited, so as to limit the cost of end-user operations.
NOTE: At this writing, Microsoft has not announced whether they will release Windows 98 Zero Administration Kit. (Check the Microsoft web site at www.microsoft.com for the latest information on Zero Admin in Windows 98.)
Microsoft implemented the TaskStation and AppStation operating modes through a system policy file with predefined policies for TaskUser and AppUser global groups. You don't need a special Zero Administration Kit to create a similar environment in Windows 95 or Windows 98. You just need a severe and systematic approach to System Policies, as you'll learn later in this chapter.
You can create an operating mode similar to the TaskStation or AppStation mode by using Windows 98 System Policies. Chapter 7, "System Policies," describes how to configure System Policies in Windows 98; see that chapter for information on System Policies and Windows 98's System Policy Editor.
Follow these steps to create a limited operating mode for Windows 98 users:
Table 4.2 System Policy Settings for Windows 95 Zero Administration Kit AppUser Group
| Tree | Subtree | Setting |
| Windows 98 | Sharing | Disable file-sharing controls |
| Network | Disable print-sharing controls | |
| Windows 98 | Shell | Path to Programs items: O:\Start Menu\Programs |
| System | (Custom Folders) | Path to Desktop items: O:\Desktop |
| Hide Start Menu subfolders (no setting; check if you use custom folder or desktop icons) | ||
| Path to Startup folder items: O:\StartMenu\Programs\Startup | ||
| Path to Network Neighborhood items: (no setting; enter a path to create a custom Network Neighborhood) | ||
| Path to Start Menu: O:\Start Menu | ||
| Shell (Restrictions) | Remove "Run" command | |
| Remove folders from "Settings" on Start Menu | ||
| Remove Taskbar from "Settings" on Start Menu | ||
| Remove "Find" command | ||
| Hide drives in My Computer | ||
| Hide Network Neighborhood (no setting; check to hide) | ||
| No "Entire Contents" in Network Neighborhood (no setting; check to hide) | ||
| No workgroup contents in Network Neighborhood | ||
| Hide all items on desktop | ||
| Disable "Shut Down" command (no setting; check to disable; usually not a good idea to disable shutdown: leave unchecked) Don't save settings at Exit | ||
| Control Panel (Display) | Disable Display Control Panel | |
| Hide background page | ||
| Hide screen-saver page | ||
| Hide appearance page | ||
| Hide settings page | ||
| Control Panel (Network) | Disable Network Control Panel | |
| Hide Identification page | ||
| Hide Access Control page | ||
| Control Panel | Disable Passwords Control Panel | |
| (Passwords) | Hide Change Passwords page | |
| Hide Remote Administration page | ||
| Hide User Profiles page | ||
| Control Panel | Hide General and Details pages | |
| (Printer Settings) | Disable deletion of printers | |
| Disable addition of printers | ||
| Control Pane | Hide Device Manager page | |
| (System) | Hide Hardware Profiles page | |
| Hide File System button | ||
| Hide Virtual Memory button | ||
| Desktop Display | Wallpaper (no setting) | |
| Color Scheme (no setting) | ||
| Restrictions | Disable Registry Editing Tools | |
| Only run allowed Windows applications; no setting (: useful for limiting and defining the user's environment) | ||
| Disable MS-DOS prompt | ||
| Disable single-mode MS-DOS applications |
The Shell Custom Folders settings (refer to Table 4.2) provide an additional opportunity for customization and control. that, in Table 4.2, custom folder settings refer to the mapped drive O:. The Windows 95 Zero Administration Kit uses the mapped O: drive to define the location of the custom Desktop and Start Menu folders. A logon script assigned to each user account maps the O: drive to the location of the custom folders that this user account will access.
The Only Run Allowed Windows Applications setting, under Windows 98 System/Restrictions, is another useful setting that helps limit the user's choices. You can specify a list of Windows applications that the user can run; all others will be inaccessible.
This chapter discussed Microsoft's Total Cost of Ownership initiative and described some of the features of Windows 98 that help reduce the cost of operating a PC in a corporate environment.
User profiles are another useful feature that can help you limit the user's access to the system. See Chapter 8, "User Profiles," for a discussion of how to limit and customize the desktop environment through mandatory user-profile settings.
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