eeks's Full Review: Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional Full Version f...
By now, most people know of Microsoft's new flagship operating system, Windows 2000. There are countless articles permeating every online community reviewing this operating system. Unfortunately, many of these reviews are based on speculation, ignorance, and hearsay. While there are negatives to any product, Windows 2000 really gets blasted for many of the wrong reasons.
First, a bit about my background, both with operating systems in general and Windows 2000 specifically. Like any modern young man, my first experience with computers was a direct result of my interest in the control of pixels with some sort of handheld device (games to the layperson). Most of my games were DOS based, and as such were a pain to configure and play. Throughout the years, Windows 95 and 98 became the operating systems of choice for any gamer, and most home users in general. Unfortunately, as gaming progressed my interest in it waned. I found myself less and less fulfilled by a 14-hour stretch of gaming (fueled only by Coke and dreams of Michelle Kwan). Naturally, I developed new interests. I decided to hate Microsoft and all things Windows (since it's the Cool Thing® to do) and dabble with other operating systems to help support my new agenda. Now a quick search through my... yes, this paragraph is going somewhere, bear with me... CD collection reveals ~6 different distributions of Linux, FreeBSD, Solaris and BeOS. Without tooting my own horn, I'm going to have to proclaim myself GOD OF ALL THAT IS AN OPERATING SYS... *ahem* sorry.
In May of 1999, one of my good friends convinced me to install Windows 2000. As practice for my political career, I figured it would be a good time to throw out my old beliefs and agenda (about Microsoft being the devil) and dedicate a one GB partition to what I thought was the continued evolution of Windows 95. The first version I used was Beta 3. From my first experience with Windows 2000, I have used every major build of Pro, 3 of Server, and two of Advanced Server. I would put down every experience I've had, but that would make for an awkwardly long review, and this is going to be a tough enough read as it is. If you're really uninterested in how the Operating system works, skip down to the section after all the tech BS. It's clearly labeled. =)
The Core Operating System: Microsoft Windows 2000 is built on the core of Windows NT4 (the business Operating System). While NT 4.0 is a good Operating System in it's own right, it lacks many of the features needed to make it popular in the home. It's ugly, doesn't have the latest multimedia enhancements, hard to use, and has relatively (to Windows 9x) limited hardware support. Such hurdles make NT4 a very bad choice for an inexperienced user, unless they have some sort of guru set it up for them. Even with all the downfalls and inadequacies, the foundation for NT is a good one with many benefits:
Preemptive Multitasking: Multitasking is becoming more and more essential in today’s fast paced computer world. There are two major implementations of multi tasking in today's operating systems, preemptive and cooperative. Since Windows 95, Microsoft's operating systems have implemented preemptive multitasking, which just so happens to be the better of the two types. Preemptive multi tasking simply means that the operating system is aggressively in charge of all system resources. It determines which applications get processor time, and how much each gets. Cooperative multitasking leaves resources to the application, and the running application has a virtual monopoly on system resources until it decides to give them up. An errant program in a cooperative multitasking environment can effectively disable any other processes that require computing time.
Windows 95 and 98 implement preemptive multitasking, but these operating systems are not quite as aggressive as they should be when dealing out processor time. NT, and by extension Windows 2000, are very aggressive and allow the user to set processes to higher priorities (Obligatory caveat: Don’t mess with process priorities unless you know what you’re doing). This level of control is nice, and makes for a more pleasant advanced user experience.
Protected Memory: Protected memory is an essential feature with the proliferation of buggy shareware and plug- ins easily available on the internet. An operating system that implements protected memory assigns a certain area of RAM to running applications. If an application tries to write into another application’s RAM section, the operating system kills it before it can cause system wide damage. While it’s annoying to have programs killed, it is better to be safe than sorry. Windows 9x uses a mediocre version of protected memory. It effectively protects programs from each other, but leaves the actual core of the operating system vulnerable. This allows errant processes to bring down the entire system on occasion, forcing a hard reboot. WinNT implements a more robust version of protected memory, not only protecting applications from each other, but also protecting itself from applications. In essence, Windows NT and 2000 are virtually impossible to bring down because of crappy software. (Notice the software point. That is important and will be addressed later.)
Not 2000, but NT 5.0: This is the section where comparisons of NT and 9x begin to make sense. =) The year 2000 designation of what is really NT 5 seems to imply that Windows 2000 is an advance in the Windows 95 line. Fortunately, this is not the case. Microsoft initially planned on combining the plug ‘n play and multimedia capabilities of Windows 95 and 98 with the stability and security of Windows NT. For reasons no one knows, this plan went the way of the Mayans. Although Microsoft still plans on ditching the consumer Windows 95 line, it is not supposed to happen for at least two years. Many consumers will switch to Windows 2000 long before then (as they well should), but Microsoft is not pushing it for home usage.
~~~~~~~~~~ Start Here if You Were Just Skipping the Technical BS~~~~~~~~~~
You may be wondering why people would *not* choose to switch to Windows 2000 right now, and there are a few good reasons.
1) Perhaps the biggest advantage Windows 95 and 98 have over Windows 2000 is backwards compatibility, or legacy support. Win9x supports much of the older hardware that only uses 16 bit drivers. In addition, Win9x allows instances of DOS (16 bit) to run older 16 bit applications. Windows 2000 doesn’t have a lick of 16 bit code in it, instead it is all 32 bit. 16 bit drivers are associated with many stability problems in Win9x, and while it’s good that Win2k does not use them, it still leaves a few users out in the cold. Windows 2000 has limited capabilities when it comes to running 16 bit applications, but instead of actually starting up an instance of DOS, it attempts to emulate DOS. While this works in many cases it is not a reliable means of running old software.
2) Cost. If there is one major complaint I have with Windows 2000, it’s cost. $300 is a hefty chunk of change for an operating system, and is not an option for people on a strict budget.
3) Ease of use. With the added power and functionality of Windows 2000 comes a certain knowledge requirement that many users do not have and do not want to have. Do not be discouraged by the added difficulty though. Anyone with the know how to get to epinions.com will have no trouble with Windows 2000.
4) Hardware requirements. Only a masochist would run Win2k on anything less than a 200mhz system with 64MB of RAM. Minimum specs call for a 133mhz Pentium with 32MB of ram, but I wouldn’t exactly call that optimum operating conditions. The best Windows 2000 experience comes with hardware that is on Microsoft’s HCL (www.microsoft.com/hcl) and up to date drivers.
Specific Good Points: Windows 2000 offers a very pleasant user experience. I’ve divided these into several sub categories below:
Interface: Windows 2000 is visually appealing with it’s blue colors and shadows and such. More importantly, everything is arranged intuitively and the OS adjusts itself based on the user’s habits. Menus hide themselves if they are not used for long periods of time, just like Office 2000 does now. This seems like a feature that novice users would really appreciate, but power users might find annoying. Luckily, you can disable it.
In contrast to WinNT, there is actually a device manager in Win2k. The device manager is an essential tool for trouble shooting, and I can’t stand supporting computers without it. Of all the features Windows 9x offers, the device manager is perhaps the most useful to me. Windows 2000’s implementation is even better, with a nicer looking layout and more options for each device.
The contextual menus (accessible with the right mouse button) are much more robust and thoughtfully put together than their Win9x and NT counterparts. In the course of my programming, I find the need to open single files using many different applications (notepad being a favorite). Before, I could just right click on the file and select “Open With...” then choose the application I want to use. Windows 2000 keeps track of the programs used to access each file type and places them in a nice submenu when you right click. It’s very handy, really…
Plug ‘n Play: Plug ‘n Play in Win2k (groan..) blew me away (please don’t kill me). On startup, after putting in new hardware, the system pops up a window and either installs drivers from the Win2k CD (Provided they’re included) or asks the user for the driver location. It also gives the option of searching MS Windows Update (online) for more up to date drivers. This bit of functionality was introduced in Win98SE and is quickly becoming a feature I cannot live without.
Idiot- Proofing: I’m the type of person who will haphazardly delete files without a thought about what they might be for. Pre Win2k, I deleted essential files which required a reinstall of the operating system. In Win2k, I’ve deleted files, but when I deleted something necessary to the operation of the system, Windows prompted me to put in the Install CD so it could fix my errors. This forced me to get up and run around the room, generally annoying my roommate. This feature is a must have, especially for families with kids who have free reign of the computer.
SMP Support: SMP means symmetric multi- processing, or the ability to utilize multiple processors. With the advent of Abit’s BP6 motherboard (Dual Celeron) Dual CPU solutions have dropped drastically in price. While this is not a good solution for everyone, power users can really milk current systems for all they’re worth and have to find ways to make their systems even more powerful.
Overall, I have had a very good experience with Windows 2000. I have not been able to crash it, unless I was using bad video card drivers, and it gives me all the power of Windows NT with the goodies of Win98. Is it for everyone? No, but MS is making a huge mistake by pushing it for business use only. They should price it more reasonably and push it for the home user. They won’t, mostly because I’m not in charge, but they still should.
A few useful Win2k links:
www.microsoft.com/hcl
www.ntcompatible.cjb.net
www.arstechnica.com
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