Trying to catch up on email again...  After I said:

> ...... senior manager in the US Navy have put out something
> called "IT-21".  The way I read it .....it says that *ALL* Navy
> desktop / *network* operating systems will be MS Windows
> 95-98-2000 / NT based ASAP...

Glenn came back:

> I'm having difficulty seeing why that makes any more sense
> than requiring all "mainframe" OSs to be the same.

And Bruce:

> In what way does a mix of Win95, Win98 and WinNT solve the
> "Tower of Babel" problem? Are they under the misapprehension
> that these three platforms behave similarly?


I may have mislead y'all a bit in one area:  I believe Windows 95-98
usage is an interim thing;  and the target end-user OS is NT WS;
a.k.a. >= Windows 2000, et. al. I guess.

Also note that none of this is being done in secret:  There is a huge
(mind-numbing, actually) amount of info on public web sites about
IT-21 that can be yours for the pointing.  Just throw "IT-21" at
Altavista, and at last count it will find 1080 web pages.  For the
public position on IT-21 by CINCPACFLT, go direct to # 4 on the
Altavista list (this web page may be a bit out of date;  but AFAIK
it is still generally the official Navy direction, even if there may have
been some mods / delays since then):

http://www.norfolk.navy.mil/chips/archives/97_jul/file1.htm

Straight off this public web page:

> ..... establish minimum Navy AIS standards and requires all non-
> standard NOS and e-mail products to be replaced no later than
> December 1999.

> These standards include:

> Windows NT Server 4.0 as the standard fleet NOS. This will soon
> be followed by Windows NT 5.0. Windows NT Server 4.0 is DII
> COE compliant.
> MS Exchange as the standard e-mail solution for both fleets to
> ensure an interoperable secure messaging system is operational
> prior to AUTODIN in activation.
> MS Office 97 as the standard fleet office suite software.


Note that DII-COE is Govey-speak for:  Defense Information
Infrastructure Common Operating Environment....

Anyway, IT-21 is not something that is still in the debate stage;
I believe it's about as done a deal as anything can get in DOD IT:
NT is it, for network operating system servers and the desktop...
now.....  don't shoot the messenger;  the IT-21 decision was made
10 or more steps above my grade level....    :-)

Ken Sletten