Windows NT 6.0 was the term Microsoft used to describe the successor of Windows 2000 in 1997, during the latter's development as NT 5.0.
In April 1997, Moshe T. Dunie, then vice president (VP) of Microsoft's Windows Operating Systems Division, said that NT 6.0 would have three versions:
- High-end: Written entirely in 64-bit code that will run on Intel's Merced CPU and will allow the OS to compete with the largest mainframes and date-warehouses. This version would have hierarchical storage management, volume management, and disaster recovery (not just copying data, but the ability to restore and run massive amounts of data effectively)
- Mid-level: Natural upgrade for current NT Server and Workstation 4.0/5.0 users and will cater to the business user
- Low-end: Consumer version that will provide an upgrade path to users of Windows 95 or 98, then codenamed Memphis, with "friendlier" security "because you don't want a child to access and wipe out your files."[1]
During the Professional Developers Conference in September that year, Jim Allchin announced the following:
- First full 64-bit version of NT
- Will ship on Intel and Digital Alphas
- "Simplicity"
- Distributed computing
- More intuitive, information rich, maintenance free
- Seamless communication features ("No networking!" Allchin declared) along with a speech interface.[2]
Paul Thurrott recounts in his retrospective on Windows 2000 that in September 1997, he discovered that NT 6.0 had the codename Millennium, and was expected in 2000 and 2001.[3]
In June 1998, NT 6.0 was still expected to replace 98 four to five years away.[4]
By August 1998, NT 6.0 was codenamed Neptune, and would ship "at least three years away". It would have a consumer version to replace the Windows 9x line. Allchin, by that time Senior VP, said that post-NT 5.0 would have a simpler user interface that was maintenance free.[5] It is not known if Allchin was referring to Activity Centers.
On 7 April 1999, Microsoft announced that Millennium would be the next release in the Windows 9x line, succeeding 98.[3]
References
- ↑ Thurrott, Paul (13 April 1997). Microsoft to release new NT 4 this year and split NT into three versions. IT Pro Today. Retrieved on 18 November 2023.
- ↑ Thurrott, Paul (22 September 1997). Windows NT 5 details emerge. IT Pro Today. Retrieved on 18 November 2023.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Thurrott, Paul (December 1999). The Road to Gold: The development of Windows 2000 Reviewed. Paul Thurrott's SuperSite for Windows. Archived from the original on 16 August 2000. Retrieved on 31 October 2023.
- ↑ Thurrott, Paul (24 June 1998). Windows 98 launches, signals end of the line. Paul Thurrott's SuperSite for Windows. Retrieved on 18 November 2023.
- ↑ Thurrott, Paul (19 August 1998). Microsoft working on NT 5.1 and 6.0. IT Pro Today. Retrieved on 18 November 2023.
