Windows 2000

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Windows 2000

Windows 2000 (also referred to as Win2K, W2K or Windows NT 5.0) is a 32-bit graphical business-oriented operating system that is part of the Microsoft Windows NT line of operating systems. It was released on February 17, 2000 and has so far had four service packs, and there is an update rollup in the works (not released as of March, 2005).

Windows 2000 originally descended from the Microsoft Windows NT operating system product line. Originally called Windows NT 5, Microsoft changed the name to Windows 2000 on October 27, 1998. It was also the first Windows version that was released without a code name. The first beta for Windows 2000 was released on September 27, 1997 and several further betas were released until Beta 3 which was released on April 29, 1999. From here Microsoft issued three release candidates from between July to November 1999 and finally released the operating system to partners on December 15, 1999. The public received the full version of Windows 2000 on February 17, 2000 and the press immediately hailed it as the most stable operating system Microsoft had ever released. Novell, however, was not so impressed with Microsoft's new directory service architecture as they found it to be less scalable or reliable than their own Novell Directory Services (NDS) technology. On September 29, 2000, Microsoft released Windows 2000 Datacenter.

Windows 2000 has since been superceded by newer Microsoft operating systems. Microsoft has replaced Windows 2000 Server products with Windows Server 2003, and Windows 2000 Professional with Windows XP Professional. Windows Neptune started development in 1999, and was supposed to be the home-user edition of Windows 2000. However, the project lagged in production time - and only one alpha release was built. Windows ME was released as a substitute, and the Neptune project was forwarded to the production of Whistler (Windows XP). The only elements of the Windows project which were included in Windows 2000 were the ability to upgrade from Windows 95 or Windows 98, and support for the FAT32 subsystem.

Versions

Microsoft released various versions of Windows 2000 to cater to different markets and business needs. It released Windows 2000 Professional, Windows 2000 Server, Windows 2000 Advanced Server and Windows Datacenter Server:

• Windows 2000 Professional is designed as a desktop operating system in business environments. It offers greater security and stability than previous Windows desktop operating systems.

• Windows 2000 Server products share the same user interface with Windows 2000 Professional, but contain additional components for running infrastructure and application software.

• Windows 2000 Advanced Server is a variant of Windows 2000 Server operating system designed for medium-to-large businesses.

• Windows 2000 Datacenter Server is a variant of the Windows 2000 Server that is designed for large businesses that move large quantites of confidential or sensitive data frequently via a central server.