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  Windows 2000
       
           (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 Windows
          95 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 hard
          disk 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.
       
          http://www.microsoft.com/windows2000/)" rel="nofollow">Home (http://www.microsoft.com/windows2000/).
       
          Usenet newsgroups: (news:microsoft.public.windows2000),
          (news:comp.os.ms-windows).
       
          (2002-01-28)