Windows 2000 Professional comes with the basic applications to get you started, including a version of Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser.
Like Windows 98, Windows 2000 depends on the browser being an integral part of the operating system, as it is used to handle the system's administration tools as well as web browsing. Windows Explorer uses a web view of the file system, and will display thumbnail views of files as well as directory listings. If you're going through a directory of images, you'll find a small image viewer embedded in Explorer that allows you to zoom into images without having to launch an image-editing program.
By default Windows 2000 Professional doesn't install every available component. If you want to use it as a web server, you'll need to install the web server using the 'Add/Remove Components' control panel. The Professional version of Internet Information Server isn't intended to be used as an internet-facing web server, more as a development tool or workgroup intranet server. If you want full-scale internet services you'll need to use Windows 2000 Server or better.
Dealing with documents
Microsoft is trying to make Windows 2000 Professional a document-centric operating system. Where NT4 and Windows 98 have the 'My Computer' icon at the top of the screen, in Windows 2000 this takes you straight to the default document store. This needn't even be on your PC - it's quite easy for server administrators to set up your documents folder on a central server, which makes backups easier and allows you to move from PC to PC.
The same is true of the Windows Explorer, which has been demoted to the 'Accessories' menu. When opened, this launches straight into My Documents, hopefully keeping users away from the system and application directories.
Windows 2000 will also hide key system and application files from display in Explorer. While power users will probably want to display them, the average user won't even know they're present, so preventing accidental deletion of core DLLs.
Support personnel who are familiar with users trying to delete an application by dragging its desktop icon to the trash can, will be relieved that this action now produces a dialog box that takes them straight to the 'Add/Remove Programs' control panel.
General features and improvements
Other improvements include using the same technology as the Office 2000 smart enus in the Windows Start menu. Applications that aren't regularly used are idden and are only redisplayed by a user action. Microsoft has also put a drop shadow behind the mouse pointer, which is pointless and uses valuable processing power. You can turn it off in the Mouse control panel.
Microsoft has updated the user interfaces of most system components, taking its cue from the web. The first fruits of this appeared in Office 2000, but Windows 2000 Professional takes it several steps further.
The familiar tabbed dialog boxes remain for most of the simpler tools, but more complex control panels have new-look dialog boxes, while others have become MMC (Microsoft Management Console) snap-ins.
The Microsoft Management Console handles all the administration tasks you might find on a workstation. These include local users and groups, as well as a disk defragmenter based on the popular DiskKeeper software.
You can also use a disk cleanup utility that will remove unused components and applications from your drives.
Extended file system
One of the more interesting features of Windows 2000 is its ability to use an extended file system. You can create logical file systems that run on both local and remote machines and can be audited and given more complex security policies than a standard drive. You will need to use Windows 2000 native NTFS5 file system in order to use these.
NTFS drives can also be encrypted, so that only approved users can access the information on them. If you're using Windows 2000 Professional on a laptop, this is very useful as confidential documents can be kept secure if the machine is lost or stolen.
Support for mobile users
One area where Windows 2000 Professional is a distinct improvement over Windows NT4 Workstation is its support for mobile users. It will run on anything from a tiny Toshiba Libretto to a high-end PII Compaq or HP laptop.
It supports PC Cards, though these may be affected by the power management functions. Microsoft has decided not to provide full Plug and Play support for 16bit PC Cards, opting instead for the newer Card Bus 32bit devices.
You'll also be able to use Windows 2000's ACPI support to handle power management, with the OS handling both suspend and hibernate functions.
If a laptop is hibernated, Windows 2000 will save the state as a file and shut down the PC completely, recovering when it is restarted. We also tested Server on a laptop, and found that these functions were supported as well, so you can use a laptop as a demonstration server with no problems - as long as it has enough memory.
If you're a mobile user you'll definitely want to upgrade to Windows 2000 Professional. It's far more stable than Windows 98, and it gives you access to a wide range of power and configuration management tools.
There's also plenty of support for removable PC Cards, and for advanced power management features.
There's not much to worry desktop users either. Most of the applications you regularly use should run under Windows 2000, and the upgrade process is generally smooth. There are some issues over hardware support, as some manufacturers are taking the release as an opportunity to make some older hardware obsolete.
Windows 2000 Server
Windows 2000 Server is the mid-range member of the family, designed to handle the most common tasks given to NT4. Microsoft describes it as a tool for small to medium enterprise deployments.
We installed Windows 2000 Server on a dual-processor Pentium II and found that it performed extremely well. Installation was quick and easy, and led straight into the 'Configure Your Server' display panel.
This web-based panel is where you begin to set up the key functions of your system. You're first asked if you're setting up a sole server or part of a network. Choosing a single server setup takes you straight into the most complex part of any Windows 2000 installation - setting up the Active Directory.
You'll need to have a good idea of what you plan for your network before you start. While a registered internet domain is a good idea, you can create domains that fit into your own naming structure - so you can happily have an active directory for '.smith' or '.office' rather than 'smith.com' or 'office.co.uk'.
Setting up a Windows 2000 Server as an Active Directory server is easy enough - setting up a single server from the 'Configure Your Server' panel handles the initial configuration of your system's directory. You can then use the Active Directory users and the computer's MMC snap-in to set up your users and the computers in your network.
Setting up a new user is deceptively easy. However, you'll find many new tabs, including tools for setting up Terminal Services session settings.
Remote users
If you're going to use Windows 2000 and Terminal Services to manage users and their applications, you can define remote user profiles and home directories for your remote users. This will allow you to control users in a large site a lot more effectively. As this is a directory service as well as an access control system, you can also set up contact information for your users - and this will also be used by Exchange 2000.
The Active Directory will also manage the machines in your network, allowing you to record details of who manages them, and where they are. It will interrogate them and display details of their OS levels, so you can deal with upgrades and have your finger on essential support information if you need it.
Active Directory will require an NTFS5 system in order to operate. It is possible to convert a FAT or FAT32 file system to NTFS5 using a command-line tool, though this can take some time - especially if you've got a large, full disk! We'd recommend making the move to NTFS5 early in your migration to Windows 2000.
IntelliMirror software
Microsoft refers to the family of technologies headed by Active Directory as IntelliMirror, and these allow you to manage systems and users more effectively. One function of IntelliMirror software is its ability to give your users roaming profiles, so that they can move from one machine to another and find that not only their files, but also their applications, follow them.
By using the new Microsoft installer introduced with Office 2000, a user's profile will also contain information about applications and directories they use. You can force a user's home directory, and their 'My Documents' folder, to be held on a central server so they can access it from anywhere on the network.
Maintenance and administration
System administrators will find that Windows 2000 is easier to maintain than NT4. Not only does it use the MMC technology introduced in the NT4 Option Pack for all its administration tools, but most of the tools can also be accessed from the Control Panel's Administrative Tools section.
We also found the Computer Management MMC snap-in a one-stop shop for all the tools and features you need to control your server. As it's an MMC component you can add any new snap-ins as they're installed on your machine.
Where Windows 2000 Server has an advantage over its predecessors is in its ability to allow the delegation of responsibilities. An NT4 server really requires a single administrator - but that administrator shouldn't be the master of all trades. If you're running a web server you'll want the web master to be able to handle some, if not all, administration tasks.
Delegating responsibility may be risky, but by limiting the functions that are available to your assistants, you'll be able to control what they do.
Internet Information Server
One of the core components of Windows 2000 Server is the latest version of Internet Information Server. IIS 5.0 is a great improvement over previous releases and includes features that make it much more suitable for public-facing internet services. Probably the most important of these is its ability to auto-restart, so you won't need to go round and restart your NT server each time IIS crashes. We also found that it was much faster than IIS 4.0, especially when serving pages created using Microsoft's dynamic ASP technologies.
Windows 2000 Server also makes the Windows NT4 Terminal Server part of the core Windows services. Terminal Services can be used to display your server's desktop on a remote PC, whether it's Windows 2000 Professional, 98, 95, 3.11 or even CE. Client software is included for all these platforms, and it's also ready for use with third-party network computers and terminals.
Terminal Services needn't be used to export the entire desktop, though this is a useful administrative function as you can use it to deliver applications. By exporting an application user interface you don't need to worry about maintaining it on every PC, so you only need to update once. This is ideal if you're rolling out software with a fast replacement cycle.
Advanced Server
All the features of Windows 2000 Server are present in Advanced Server. However, Advanced Server adds support for four-way processors, as well as tools for clustering servers. Two clustering methods are available, either using Windows load balancing to control access to Internet-facing web servers, or a tool for creating clusters that will ensure applications are always available.
Windows load balancing allows you to create farms of web servers with access controlled by how busy each server is. Windows load balancing monitors the performance of the servers, and connects users to the least loaded server - so websites respond quickly and reliably. You can then use COM+ and the server clustering tools to create more reliable application servers, either for web transactions or internal business systems.
Datacentre: thinking big
The Windows 2000 Server family will also include the, as yet unreleased, Datacentre version which is intended for massive multi-processor installations.
With Datacentre you'll be able to work with large arrays of disks and huge amounts of memory. These 32-processor systems with 64Gb of RAM are extremely expensive, and the applications for them are limited to extensive data processing or scientific simulations. Datacentre will also support large numbers of users, so could form the basis of Terminal Services based Application Service Providers capable of servicing tens of thousands of simultaneous users.
The server is designed to make an administrator's life easier. The MMC may take a little time to learn, but it soon becomes invaluable.
However, the most significant features are the Active Directory and the inclusion of Terminal Services as a default. Instead of being a file, print and web services tool, your Windows 2000 Server becomes a crucial part of your business processes. You may not like being forced into this by Active Directory, but you'll need it to get the most out of Windows 2000 - and especially the IntelliMirror systems management tools.
We were also pleased to see a significant improvement in the performance and reliability of the Internet Information Server web server. Advanced Server adds features to allow you to handle more processors, and to cluster your servers together. With a set of Advanced Servers, and applications written to take advantage of the COM+ application server, Windows applications look likely to start to move out into the enterprise. The adoption of the Soap XML-RPC model in Visual Studio 7.0 looks likely to accelerate this, by making Windows 2000 applications able to work with Unix and Java applications without the overheads of complex bridges and interfaces.
Preparation before installation
It is important to remember that implementing a Windows 2000 system isn't a matter of taking the CD out of the box and clicking 'Install'. With features like IntelliMirror and the Active Directory you'll need to familiarise yourself with the new concepts and technologies. We'd recommend spending some time with Microsoft's training materials and planning information before attempting to set up an Active Directory machine. Planning information is available on Microsoft's website, or in the Windows 2000 Evaluation and Deployment Kit CDRoms.
Prices: Windows 2000 Professional £260, Windows 2000 Professional Upgrade from Windows 95 or Windows 98 £170, Windows 2000 Professional Upgrade from Windows NT Workstation £100, Windows 2000 Server with 10 Client Access Licences £950, Windows 2000 Server with 10 Client Access Licences Upgrade from Windows NT Server £450, Windows 2000 Advanced Server with 25 Client Access Licences £3,185, Windows 2000 Advanced Server with 25 Client Access Licences Upgrade from Windows NT Server Enterprise Edition £1,560.
Contact Microsoft 0345 002000
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