Editing IPX/SPX (section)

===Windows===
Because of IPX/SPX's prevalence in LANs in the 1990s, Microsoft added support for the protocols into [[Microsoft Windows|Windows]]' networking stack, starting with [[Windows for Workgroups]] and [[Windows NT]]. Microsoft even named their implementation "[[NWLink]]", implying that the inclusion of the layer 3/4 transports provided NetWare connectivity. In reality, the protocols were supported as a native transport for Windows' [[Server Message Block|SMB]]/[[NetBIOS]], and NetWare connectivity required additional installation of an [[NetWare Core Protocol|NCP]] client (Microsoft provided a basic NetWare client with [[Windows 95]] and later, but it was not automatically installed, and initially only supported NetWare bindery mode). NWLink was still provided with Windows (up to and including [[Windows Server 2003]]), but it is neither included with nor supported in [[Windows Vista]]. Its use is strongly discouraged{{By whom|date=November 2023}} because it cannot be used for Windows networking except as a transport for NetBIOS, which is deprecated.

For the most part, Novell's 32-bit Windows client software have eschewed NWLink for an alternative developed by Novell, although some versions permit use of Microsoft's IPX/SPX implementation (with warnings about potential incompatibility).