In memory of Windows 2000, Microsoft's forgotten artwork

20 years ago, Windows 2000 was officially released by Microsoft. Windows 2000 is extremely stable, aimed at business users in place of Windows 98 and Windows Millennium Edition. This version of Windows also paved the way for later consumer versions of Windows, including Windows 10.

A lot of people love Windows 2000 and this is why:

Windows 2000 was developed based on Windows NT and not MS-DOS

Windows 2000 was launched globally on February 17, 2000, codenamed Windows NT 5.0. From this version, Windows will have its own trade name, not the same NT version name as before. Windows NT is Microsoft's professional operating system product line.

Microsoft built Windows NT from scratch in the 1990s to replace MS-DOS-based operating systems such as Windows 3.x. A strategic change from Microsoft.

During the 1990s, Microsoft maintained versions of DOS-based Windows in parallel with NT to cater to users who were still dependent on the old 16-bit MS-DOS Windows software. Microsoft wanted all users to switch to using NT-based Windows operating systems, but at that time most of the users' computers did not meet the minimum configuration of Windows NT.

By the late 1990s, many families owned computers that were powerful enough to run Windows NT. Therefore, they became potential customers of Windows 2000. Microsoft executives hope that Windows 2000 will become a transition point, bringing Windows users to the "NT era". But eventually Microsoft decided to delay the leap until Windows XP came out in 2001.

This makes Windows 2000 users feel good because they enjoy a stable version of Windows first.

Windows 2000 is much more stable than Windows Me

If you've ever used your computer in the late 90's, you're probably familiar with the occasional freeze, hang, and reboot. These are common problems of MS-DOS, Windows 3.x and Windows 9x. The DOS-based ecosystem is a bunch of cards built on patchy, outdated code and running on a variety of different hardware.

As DOS-based Windows became more complex and more functional, many people started to work seriously with computers. And then, problems constantly arise. For example, Windows 98 frequently requires rebooting and reinstalling to fix confusing issues, incompatibilities between software, and the operating system. Windows Me (released in September 2000), the last version of Windows based on DOS, was criticized for being bloated and unstable.

Windows 2000 is different, it runs smoothly on the hardware that users have ever installed Windows 98. At that time, it was really miraculous if a computer could run without problems and without having to boot. again after installing the software. In fact, Microsoft has added Windows 2000 to completely reduce the "Dramatically Reduced Reboot" scenario. This feature attracted customers, which Microsoft promoted strongly on their homepage in 2000.

Windows 2000 has a bunch of useful features

Windows 2000 comes with four different versions: Professional, Server, Advanced Server and Datacenter Server. Windows 2000 Professional is aimed directly at enterprise and office PC models and is the most used version. All versions of Windows 2000 are equipped with new, advanced features that make it an attractive upgrade for both Windows NT 4.0 and Windows 98.

Several interface changes to distinguish between Windows NT and Windows 98 were also introduced by Microsoft in Windows 2000. The new operating system also supports technologies such as Active Desktop, USB, NTFS 3.0 and FAT32. Supporting DirectX also makes Windows 2000 compatible with many modern computer games. Windows 2000 helps Windows NT take a further step in its journey to become a universal operating system, suitable for both business, business and entertainment.

Quite a few important features, considered core components of Windows, were first launched on Windows 2000. They include Windows Installer, providing a unified application installation / uninstall experience; Windows File Protection, which helps protect system files; Microsoft Management Console, supporting users to manage important system functions easily through a unified interface; Recovery Console, restore the system if serious software errors are encountered; Finally, Active Directory provides a way for users to manage a new Windows domain.

When released, Windows 2000 was criticized for not being compatible with some drivers. However, this operating system actually supports more hardware than Windows NT 4.0. With support for both peripherals, sound cards and graphics, Windows 2000 became the first widely compatible version of Windows NT, not only for businesses but also for everyone.

Windows 2000 is almost a free operating system

Although shaped as an operating system for computers in offices and businesses, Windows 2000 Professional is also installed on many home computers. This comes from the fact that Windows 2000 is too stable as well as piracy, widespread installation of pirated Windows. The weak copy protection system based on Microsoft 's serial numbers could not control the situation.

If you buy money, Windows 2000 is quite expensive, the Professional version retails for $ 319 (equivalent to about $ 480 currently). Many people think that Windows 2000 is too expensive because Windows 98 is only priced at 109 USD (about 164 USD currently).

Because Windows 2000 is not pre-installed on computers sold to consumers, if you want to own you will have to spend money to buy. If you want to install pirated, you just need to borrow the Windows 2000 installation disc from someone who bought it.

After years of enduring crashes on Windows 98 and Windows Me, Windows 2000 is like a miracle on a user's computer.

Windows 2000 was used as an alternative to Windows XP

For several years, Windows 2000 was considered an alternative to Windows XP, its successor. When it was first released, Windows XP was tattered as well. Controversial features on Windows XP include an Internet-based copyright activation system that will not work if you change computers. Next, the colorful interface of Windows XP was criticized by some users as a childish toy.

Some users prefer the gray interface of Windows 2000. They think that Windows 2000 looks more professional and can run most Windows XP applications.

Windows 2000 opens the way to the future for Windows

Within Microsoft, Windows 2000 is an important stepping stone in bringing the mature technology platform in terms of technology, system stability to the masses. Windows 2000 proves that a technically advanced Windows operating system can simultaneously have user-friendly interface and user-friendly features with multimedia content.

"If we do not do Windows 2000, we will never be able to do Windows XP. Windows 2000 makes NT-based operating system a consumer operating system with extremely high compatibility" , Says Steven Sinofsky, former vice president of Microsoft's Windows division.

Windows 2000 is an important link in Microsoft's unbroken product chain, starting with Windows NT 3.1 in 1993 and currently Windows 10.

Minimum configuration required to run Windows 2000

At that time, the minimum configuration of a computer to run Windows 2000 Professional was:

In fact, to have a reasonable experience, Windows 2000 needs a more powerful machine than the above configuration.

Technology has evolved a lot in recent years, the hardware power and capabilities of the operating system have all grown tremendously. However, these achievements could not have been achieved without Windows 2000.

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