Windows 2000

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Version of Microsoft Windows
Windows 2000 Logo.png
Microsoft Windows 2000
Codename
Preliminary name
NT 5.0
Kernel version NT 5.0
CPU architecture x86, IA-64
Release date Released
Support end Support terminated on 13 July 2010
Preceded by Windows NT 4.0
Succeeded by Neptune / XP

Windows 2000 (Codename Memphis), also known as Windows NT 5.0, was the last version of the Windows NT line of operating systems which was released for business users only and succeeded Windows NT 4.0. It is still branded with "Based on NT Technology", possibly to prevent confusion with the 9x line (which was also named after the year of release at that time). This was done between Beta 2 and 3 stages, somewhere between builds 1911.1 and 1946.1. Extended support ended in 2010. It is the last version of Windows NT to include NT in its product name.

Editions

Windows 2000 was released in Workstation (Professional) and Server (Advanced Server, Datacenter Server, Server) editions.

Information about each edition borrowed from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Professional

It is the client version of Windows 2000. It offers greater security and stability than many of the previous Windows desktop operating systems. It supports up to two processors and can address up to 4 GB of RAM. The system requirements are a Pentium processor (or equivalent) of 133 MHz or greater, at least 32 MB of RAM, 650 MB of hard drive space, and a CD-ROM drive (recommended: Pentium II, 128 MB of RAM, 2 GB of hard drive space, and CD-ROM drive).

Server

It shares the same user interface with Windows 2000 Professional but contains additional components for the computer to perform server roles and run infrastructure and application software. A significant new component introduced in the server versions is Active Directory, which is an enterprise-wide directory service based on LDAP. Additionally, Microsoft integrated Kerberos network authentication, replacing the often-criticised NTLM authentication system used in previous versions. This also provided a purely transitive-trust relationship between Windows 2000 domains in a forest (a collection of one or more Windows 2000 domains that share a common schema, configuration, and global catalog, being linked with two-way transitive trusts). Furthermore, Windows 2000 introduced a Domain Name Server which allows dynamic registration of IP addresses. Windows Server 2000 supports up to 4 processors, requires 128 MB of RAM and 1 GB hard disk space, however requirements may be higher depending on installed components.

Advanced Server

It is a variant of Windows Server 2000 operating system designed for medium-to-large businesses. It offers clustering infrastructure for high availability and scalability of applications and services, including main memory support of up to 8 gigabytes (GB) on Physical Address Extension (PAE) systems and the ability to do 8-way SMP. It supports TCP/IP load balancing and enhanced two-node server clusters based on the Microsoft Cluster Server (MSCS) in Windows NT Server 4.0 Enterprise Edition. Limited number of copies of an IA-64 version, called Windows Advanced Server 2000, Limited Edition were made available via OEMs. System requirements are similar to those of Windows Server 2000 however, they may need to be higher to scale to larger infrastructure.

Datacenter Server

It is a variant of Windows Server 2000 designed for large businesses that move large quantities of confidential or sensitive data frequently via a central server. Like Advanced Server, it supports clustering, failover and load balancing. Its minimum system requirements are normal, but it was designed to be capable of handling advanced, fault-tolerant and scalable hardware—for instance computers with up to 32 CPUs and 64 GBs RAM, with rigorous system testing and qualification, hardware partitioning, coordinated maintenance and change control. A limited number of copies of an IA-64 version of Windows Server 2000, called Windows Datacenter Server 2000 Limited Edition were made available via OEMs. System requirements are similar to those of Windows Advanced Server 2000 however, they may need to be higher to scale to larger infrastructure.

Service Packs

In all, there were four service packs released for Windows 2000. All are considered as abandonware as of 2013.

Service Pack 1

Service Pack 1 was released on 15 August 2000.

Service Pack 2

Service Pack 2 was released on 16 May 2001.

Service Pack 3

Service Pack 3 was released on 29 August 2002.

Service Pack 4

Service Pack 4 was released on 26 June 2003.

Update Rollup 1

Update Rollup 1 for Service Pack 4 is a collection of hotfixes, mainly for the security-related issues. It is said to contain all the security-related hotfixes and some non-security updates released between SP4 and UR1 for SP4. This rollup has been released instead of Service Pack 5. [1]

Service Pack 5

Microsoft planned to release Service Pack 5, but it was canceled and the Update Rollup 1 for Service Pack 4 was released instead. [2]

Builds

  • No information available
  • Existence doubtful
  • Information or pictures available
  • Leaked or released

Pre-Beta

Beta 1

Interim Developer Release

Beta 2

Beta 3

Release Candidate 1

Release Candidate 2

RTM

Small Business Server Beta

Post-RTM