CyberGuru - Help Desk - Opinion - Windows 2000 Review

Help Desk - Opinion - Windows 2000 Review

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First Impressions

After just being notified by Big Bill's clan at Microsoft about the purchase of the Microsoft Windows 2000 Corporate Preview Program (CCP), I thought I'd let you know of my first impressions without even getting my hands on the 'beta' (pre-release) copy of it...but now I do have Beta 3 and RC2 (Release Candidate 2).

	Why pay Microsoft for a copy, after all it's their program, shouldn't they be paying me to do their dirty work?
	It only works for three months, so after that you have to fork out more money for the more "complete" version, if your computer wants a double treatment.
	Since it's a pre-release software, there is a great certainty that it could stuff up your computer - make that HUGE certainty with some of the security bugs in Internet Explorer versions nowadays.
	Got Microsoft Internet Explorer? Then you have basically the user interface without the extra bugs.
	Like Windows 98 and Internet Explorer 4.0/5.0, the desktop features are mostly Internet/Network enabled, but not everyone has or wants these built in.

Flavours

Microsoft has decided to bring out four different flavours of Windows 2000. Each has a separate market in mind, and which one you purchase is limited by your needs and your budget. Here is a run-down on what will be for offer.

	Windows 2000 Professional: Microsoft calls it the "easiest Windows yet". As far as I have seen with the medium-sized testing I've done with it for the last few months, this is certainly true.
	Windows 2000 Server: The Server product runs on network servers, funnily enough. Whilst I have done a small amount of testing, I find it has no use to anyone who isn't running a large computer network for small to medium businesses.

	Windows 2000 Advanced Server: I haven't seen this action, but from what I've been told, it revolves around the Internet. It takes items on to the 'net, and makes sure your intranet is always up. Up to you to decide on that one.
	Windows 2000 Datacenter: Datacenter is the 'big daddy' of Windows 2000 now, although it's a new release this time around. The Datacenter claims to support 16 way processing (don't know what it means? don't worry...neither do I!) and up to a whopping 65GB of memory.

Pricing

The official pricing of Windows 2000 has been announced in America, but here in Australia it is still be decided upon.

The pricing structure for Windows 2000 from one major software distributor (as an example) is as follows:

	Windows 2000 Professional: Version Upgrade (needs licenced copy of Windows NT beforehand) - $219
	Windows 2000 Professional: Product Upgrade (needs licenced copy of Windows NT beforehand) - $325
	Windows 2000 Professional: Full Product (needs no licence copy beforehand) - $465

N.B: Prices for Windows 2000 Professional may vary between stores.

If you feel I have misquoted the types of Upgrade product descriptions, please let me know as I have not verified these as yet. Other releases of Windows 2000 (Server, Advanced Server, Datacenter) are not scheduled for release at the same time as Windows 2000 Professional.

I was intending to place the American cost details of Windows 2000 on the CyberGuru Web, but due to copyright restrictions placed I am not going to do so unfortunately. If you would like to check out the American pricing of Windows 2000 Professional, follow this link. For Windows 2000 Server, check here.

The American pricing site also lists qualifications for free upgrades to Windows 2000. However, these could be just promotions in the U.S.A. so be sure to take note of the information carefully.

Ask a question!

I have been using "beta" and "release candidate" (test copies) of Windows 2000 for a number of months now, and now I am able to give first hand advice on the product. And so, I'm willing to answer any queries about Microsoft's newest operating system.

Instead of writing a review for the CyberGuru Web on Windows 2000, I'll answer the questions YOU ask! As a bonus, when I get a sufficient amount of questions, they will be placed on this website for the world to discover, read and learn.

Want to ask a question? All you need to do is send an e-mail to me with your contact name and e-mail address in the contents and "Question about Windows 2000" in the subject line. I will answer your question in most cases within 48 hours, so please be patient.

Last updated: 29 March 2000