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By Hervey Allen (hervey@oregon.uoregon.edu)
As we go to press, Windows 2000 is expected to be released on February 17, 2000. While it's possible this date may change, the final release of Windows 2000 is imminent.
What will this mean to you? This article attempts to answer that question.
Currently, it's not clear whether Windows 2000 will automatically be installed on new machines shipped in the first half of 2000.
Last fall, Microsoft publicly admitted that Windows 2000 was not designed for the average home user--or even many corporate desktop users. The client version of the product, Windows 2000 Professional, requires a bare minimum of 64MB of RAM and (realistically speaking) a 300 Mhz Pentium II. For all practical purposes, you'll need 128MB of RAM and a Pentium II 450Mhz machine if you want to run new applications like Office 2000.
On the plus side, Windows 2000 does appear to be quite a bit faster and more stable once applications are running.
Advantages for large networked groups. In some cases, you may wish to run Windows 2000 if you belong to a networked workgroup that has a Windows 2000 server.
There are considerable advances in the control, sharing, and access of resources that can be put together for workgroups, or large networks, that take advantage of Windows 2000 Server and Windows 2000 Professional products working together. Much of this relies on a new network directory methodology called "Active Directory" that Microsoft implemented in Windows 2000.
Windows 2000 servers and the UO's networking environment. At the University of Oregon we have a decentralized networking environment that makes it quite difficult to follow the Microsoft model of sharing network resources. To better understand how Windows 2000 will--and will not--mesh with our current networking scheme, Computing Center and departmental support personnel are working together to prepare to use Windows 2000 in the UO's networking environment.
A simpler 'consumer' version? As of December, 1999, Microsoft began public beta testing of their new "consumer" Windows version, currently code-named "Millennium." This product will likely be the upgrade path for most home and corporate users sometime in the next year.
Wait and see. During the course of the year, it should become apparent if Windows 2000 will be the next upgrade path or if most Windows 95/98 users will be upgrading to the Microsoft "Millenium" product first and Windows 200x in the future. Microcomputer Services staff recommends that most users simply wait and see where things fall.
If you have further questions about Windows 2000, feel free to contact Microcomputer Services (346-4412; microhelp@oregon.uoregon.edu). Or, if you prefer, you can stop by Computing Center Room 202 from 9am to 5pm, Monday through Friday.