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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Technical Glitch Hampers Windows Nt

From Staff And Wire Reports

Microsoft Corp.’s new version of its Windows NT operating system has a technical shortcoming in its installation process that could make some customers think twice about buying it.

Computer users who already have Windows 95 running on their personal computers would have to reinstall all programs, such as word processors, if they want to switch to Windows NT 4.0, Microsoft said. The program, which is used mainly in big companies, is scheduled to be released this summer.

The shortcoming won’t cause a loss of documents or disrupt the operation of a PC, but the cumbersome reinstallation process could increase the time and cost of upgrading the software for some computer users, analysts said.

“It might make some corporate customers realize that Windows NT is not as easy” to switch to as Microsoft has been promising, said John McCarthy, research director of software strategies at Forrester Research, a market researcher in Boston.