Windows 2000

operating system (Win2k, W2k, NT5, Windows NT 5.0) An

operating system developed by Microsoft Corporation for

PCs and servers, as the successor to Windows NT 4.0.

Early beta versions were referred to as "Windows NT 5.0".

Windows 2000 was officially released on 2000-02-17.

Windows 2000 is most commonly used on Intel x86 and

Pentium processors, with a DEC Alpha version rumoured.

Unlike Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000 is not available for

PowerPC or MIPS.

Windows 2000's user interface is very similar to Windows95 or Windows NT 4.0 with integrated Internet Explorer, or

to Windows 98.

It is available in four flavours:

- Professional: the client version, meant for desktop

workstations, successor to Windows NT Workstation.

- Server: "entry-level" server, designed for small

deployments, and departmental file, print, or intranet

servers.

- Advanced Server: high throughput, larger scale servers

and applications, and small to medium scale web sites.

- Data Center Server: software for large-scale server

clusters (in development as of 2000-03-14).

New features in Windows 2000 include:

- Active Directory.

- Greatly improved built-in security mechanisms, including

Kerberos-based authentication, public key support, an

encrypting file system, and IPsec support.

- Integrated web browser - Internet Explorer 5.0.

- Integrated web server - IIS 5.0

- Terminal services for displaying application interfaces on

remote computers (similar to X-Windows).

- File protection that prevents user programs from

accidentally deleting or overwriting critical system files.

- Improved hardware support, including Plug-and-Play, DVD,

IEEE-1394 (FireWire), USB, infra-red, PCMCIA, ACPI,

laptop computers.

- Improved user interface, including a single point to control

the entire system.

- Improved management tools, including remote administration.

Minimum system requirements, according to Microsoft, are

Pentium-133 MHz CPU, 64 MB RAM, 650 MB of harddisk space. These are for W2K Professional, others require

more.

Many operating systems compete with Windows 2000, including

the Apple MacOS, Linux, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, NetBSD,

Sun Solaris, IBM AIX, Hewlett-Packard HP-UX, SGI

Irix. Novell's NDS also provides a service similar to

Active Directory.

Windows 2000 will be followed by Windows XP Professional and

Windows 2002.

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(2002-01-28)