Windows 2000
personal computer operating system by Microsoft / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Windows 2000 (also known as Win2K, W2K, Win2000 or Windows 2K) is an operating system for computers that have either single or multiple processors. It was made for 32-bit Intel x86 computers. It is part of the Microsoft Windows NT line of operating systems, and was released on February 17, 2000. Windows 2000 comes in four versions: Professional, Server, Advanced Server, and Datacenter Server. Additionally, Microsoft offers Windows 2000 Advanced Server - Limited Edition and Datacenter Server - Limited Edition, which were released in 2001 and run on 64-bit Intel Itanium processors. Windows 2000 was designed for businesses, but it was also popular with home users.
Developer | Microsoft |
---|---|
OS family | Microsoft Windows |
Source model | Shared source[1] |
Released to manufacturing | December 15, 1999 |
General availability | February 17, 2000 |
Latest release | 5.0 SP4 Rollup 1 v2 (5.0.3700.6690) / September 13, 2005; 18 years ago (2005-09-13)[2][3] |
Kernel type | Hybrid kernel |
License | Microsoft EULA |
Preceded by | Windows 98 (1998) |
Succeeded by | Windows ME (2000) |
Official website | www |
Support status | |
Mainstream support ended on June 30, 2005. Extended support ended on July 13, 2010. |
Windows 2000 uses two 'modes' - a 'User Mode' and a 'Kernel Mode'. The Kernel Mode is specially for hardware drivers (drivers tell the computer how to 'speak' to something) and allows drivers to 'speak' to things in the computer. The User Mode is for computer programs to run in without fear of causing harm to the computer.
All versions of Windows 2000 have things in common, including many system utilities such as the Microsoft Management Console (MMC) and standard system management applications such as a disk defragmentation utility. There is lots of support for different languages and for people with disabilities. Windows 2000 supports the Windows NT file system NTFS 5, the Encrypted File System (EFS), as well as basic and dynamic disk storage. Dynamic disk storage allows different types of volumes to be used (a volume is an area of storage on a hard disk that has been formatted with its own file system structure). The Windows 2000 Server version has many more features, including the ability to provide Active Directory services (a way of organising resources such as printers, users and group), a distributed file system (a file system that supports sharing of files) and fault-redundant storage volumes.
Windows 2000 can be installed and deployed to an enterprise through either an attended or unattended installation. 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 (SMS), by the System Preparation Tool (Sysprep).
Minimum | Recommended | |
---|---|---|
CPU | Pentium 133 MHz | Pentium II 300 MHz |
Memory | 32 MB (128 MB for
Windows 2000 Server) |
128 MB (256 MB for
Windows 2000 Server) |
Free space | 1 GB (2 GB for
Windows 2000 Server) |
5 GB |
Graphics hardware | 800×600 VGA or
better monitor |
1024×768 VGA or
better monitor |
Input devices | Keyboard and/or Mouse |