WINDOWS 2000

Windows 2000

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Windows 2000
Part of the Microsoft Windows family


Screenshot of Windows 2000 Professional
Developer
Microsoft
Website www.microsoft.com/windows2000
Releases
Release date :February 17, 2000 (2000-02-17) (info)
Current version 5.0 SP4 Rollup 1 v2 (5.0.3700.6690) (September 13, 2005 (2005-09-13)) (info)
Source model :Shared source[1]
License :Microsoft EULA
Kernel :Hybrid kernel
Update method :Windows Update
Platform: support IA-32, Itanium
Support status :Extended Support Period until 13 July 2010.[2] Security updates and security-related hotfixes will be provided free of cost. Paid support is still available.

Windows 2000 is a line of operating systems produced by Microsoft for use on business desktops, notebook computers, and servers. Released on February 17, 2000,[3] it was the successor to Windows NT 4.0, and is the final release of Microsoft Windows to display the "Windows NT" designation. It was succeeded by Windows XP for desktop systems in October 2001 and Windows Server 2003 for servers in April 2003.[4]

Four editions of Windows 2000 were released: Professional, Server, Advanced Server, and Datacenter Server.[5] Additionally, Microsoft sold Windows 2000 Advanced Server Limited Edition and Windows 2000 Datacenter Server Limited Edition, which were released in 2001 and run on 64-bit Intel Itanium microprocessors.[6]

While each edition of Windows 2000 was targeted to a different market, they share a core set of features, including many system utilities such as the Microsoft Management Console and standard system administration applications. Support for people with disabilities has been improved over Windows NT 4.0 with a number of new assistive technologies,[7] and Microsoft increased support for different languages[8] and locale information.[9] All versions of the operating system support the Windows NT file system, NTFS 3.0,[10] the Encrypting File System, as well as basic and dynamic disk storage.[11]

The Windows 2000 Server family has additional features,[12] including the ability to provide Active Directory services (a hierarchical framework of resources), Distributed File System (a file system that supports sharing of files) and fault-redundant storage volumes. Windows 2000 can be installed through either a manual or unattended installation.[13] Unattended installations rely on the use of answer files to fill in installation information, and can be performed through a bootable CD using Microsoft Systems Management Server, by the System Preparation Tool.[14]

Microsoft marketed Windows 2000 as the most secure Windows version ever,[15] but it became the target of a number of high-profile virus attacks such as Code Red and Nimda.[16] Over nine years after its release, it continues to receive patches for security vulnerabilities nearly every month.

The main tools that come with Windows 2000 can be found in the Computer Management console (in Administrative Tools in the Control Panel).[64] This contains the Event Viewer—a means of seeing events and the Windows equivalent of a log file,[65] a system information utility, a backup utility, Task Scheduler and management consoles to view open shared folders and shared folder sessions, configure and manage COM+ applications, configure Group Policy,[66] manage all the local users and user groups, and a device manager.[67]

It contains Disk Management and Removable Storage snap-ins,[68] a disk defragmenter as well as a performance diagnostic console, which displays graphs of system performance and configures data logs and alerts. It also contains a service configuration console, which allows users to view all installed services and to stop and start them, as well as configure what those services should do when the computer starts.