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MICROSOFT CORP.'s SQL Server database is making strides against entrenched Unix-based competitors, such as Oracle Corp. and Sybase Inc., but Microsoft's Windows NT-only OS strategy for SQL Server remains both a blessing and a curse, said users and analysts contacted last week.
Microsoft customers praise SQL Server 6.0, the latest release of the database server, for its ease of use and flexibility, both features that Microsoft attributes partially to its tight integration with the underlying Windows NT operating system. But many database buyers still perceive the database's availability only on NT as a liability.
One user, for...