Touted as a mixture of Windows NT 4 and Windows 98 Second Edition, with the stability of the former and the graphical interface of the latter, it replaces Windows NT 4 Workstation in the product line, many years late, as is Microsoft's habit. Better late than never, but the name is confusing to consumers who might assume it's an upgrade to Windows 98. It is, rather, an upgrade to NT 4. This is a professional operating system. It has the familiar look and feel of the Win95/98 product lines, as the NT product has since NT 4. This tendency of the Windows interfaces to look so much alike has been a mixed blessing, however, because when you move from one to another there are enough subtle differences to drive you crazy. Managing a desktop has become simpler with Windows 2000. Most management functions have been converted to snap-ins, which plug into a framework called Microsoft Management Console. Snap-ins are tools written by various vendors for managing functions, while the MMC provides a framework to manage snap-ins and other types of administrative tools. All MMC tools have a similar look and feel, easing the learning curve. Several are provided and can be customized for specific tasks. Microsoft may be the only major OS vendor that changes user interface elements, seemingly on a whim. The desktop has been given an overhaul, visual and otherwise. The icons have been redone; the Recycle Bin now looks like an oval garbage pail. Network Neighborhood is now called My Network Places and computers in the work group are listed as Computers Near Me. Overall, it's a simpler interface but all the renamed, merged or moved components will take getting used to. Large organizations will be interested in the new Active Directory feature, but be warned that implementing it requires a lot of planning. This is Microsoft's opening salvo in the directory services war and is key in fully utilizing a Windows 2000 network. For instance, Windows 2000 servers will not enable Domain Controllers without Active Directory in use. Active Directory allows users to locate such resources as computers, printers and shared folders, using search criteria stored in the directory. To use Active Directory, the Windows 2000 version of NT file system must be used. Installation is very simple. There are no options in choosing software, even the standard Microsoft games are installed. This operating system is gargantuan, consuming 750 megabytes. Additional components may be chosen when the system is running, slurping up another 30 MB. Upgrading from another Microsoft OS was almost perfect, although, in one instance, some fiddling was necessary to properly set up a network card. Playing nice with other MS platforms turns out to be better in theory than in practice. While Windows 2000 will supposedly co-exist with other MS operating systems, things must be done in a very specific sequence; one test installation managed to corrupt a working copy of Windows NT 4 on another partition. Installing legacy software is usually, but not always, problem-free with Windows 2000. A CD mastering program that had previously worked fine wouldn't work until it was uninstalled and re-installed again after a patch was downloaded. Some programs (notably PCAnywhere 9 -- a desktop remote-control program) will need to be completely updated or upgraded before use. There are, as yet, few Windows-2000-certified applications. Help is presented in a familiar, Web-like, interface. Topics and search tools are presented in one window while text is presented in a second window. One can browse viewed topics back and forth, although under certain circumstances the viewed list resets and going back is no longer possible. For example, if you go to any of the "see" references, the program forgets where it was and cannot return. This is a major annoyance and reeks of bad planning. For those making the transition from Windows 95/98/NT, one help screen lists and describes all the moved or renamed components. Microsoft recommends 64 MB of random access memory on a Pentium 133 or better processor to use Windows 2000. It will run with 32 MB but multiple root canals are faster and less painful. On a heftier system (say, a Pentium 350 with 128 MB RAM), it performs on par with previous NT products. One of the often-quoted goals for this OS has been improved stability. Microsoft may finally have hit the mark with Windows 2000. Testing on three different machines has yet to cause a crash resulting in NT's infamous Blue Screen of Death. Stability does not necessarily imply free of bugs or quirks, however. In one instance, perusing a network directory folder froze when shutting down the NT 4 station it was on. Several applications froze during testing and required calling up the Task Manager to close them. The Task Manager seems to be one of the few unchanged features from NT 4, including its minor irritant of obscuring all other windows. Reviewer's rating: 3.75 / 5 Comments: Microsoft may have finally gotten it right. Windows 2000 works well and recovers well when it encounters problems. Checking or waiting for software patches or upgrades is problematic, but if you experience constant lockups with Windows NT or 98 this is worth a look, despite the outrageous price tag. New computers should definitely choose this variant if they going with a Windows OS. System requirements: 64 MB RAM, Pentium 133 processor or better, 750 MB free on hard drive. More info: http://www.microsoft.com Price: $235 US, $430 Canadian Upgrade $155 US, $285 Canadian   
| |
|||||||||||||||||||||||
Adding RAM is easy, 