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"Built on NT technology" Key notes Windows 2000 aimed to unify Microsoft’s operating systems for both consumers and professionals. The pricing for Windows 2000 was relatively high at launch. Windows XP succeeded Windows 2000, integrating its stability with a more user-friendly interface. Windows 2000 is now turning 25, and what’s a better time to take a bit of nostalgia train to Microsoft’s operating system of the millennia? At that time, Microsoft wanted to unify its operating system families for both consumers and professionals and cater to the growing demands of enterprise computing. Because there were OS like Windows 98/Windows ME for consumers and Windows NT 4.0 for professionals, and, well, the Redmond tech giant does have a confusing trend when naming their products. A lot of things propelled the Windows 2000 launch. Back in the late 1990s and the early 2000s, we saw a rapid growth in internet adoption. Everybody wanted to make the next best thing, and Windows 2K was that. Built on the Windows NT kernel, it was more stable than the DOS-based Windows like Windows 95/98. But still, Windows 2K was quite pricey at that time. For the “Professional” version, it was around $319 for a full version and $149 for an upgrade. Then, for Windows 2000 Server, it was around $999 while the more robust Datacenter server had a price tag of $3,999. To put more into the context, Windows XP Home Edition was “only” $199 for the full version. And now, we can even get Windows 11 as a free upgrade from Windows 10, but for purchasing new licenses, it’s around $139 for the Home edition. And these are not even an apple-to-apple comparison if we haven’t put inflation into the equation. But, is it fair to call Windows 2000 a commercial suicide, though? Not really. Sure, it did lack some multimedia features popular in Windows 98 and later in Windows ME, but it paved the way for Windows XP, arguably the best Windows there ever was. Windows 2000 was a stable and more secure solution at that time, but was eventually phased out as Windows XP which gave a more unified and professional experience. Mainstream support for Windows 2000 ended in 2005, with extended support continuing until 2010. Source Hope you enjoyed this news post. Thank you for appreciating my time and effort posting news every day for many years. 2023: Over 5,800 news posts | 2024 (till end of November): 5,298 news posts RIP Matrix | Farewell my friend

Microsoft's Windows business was at something of a crossroads near the end of the 20th century in terms of its software development. The company was releasing consumer versions of Windows with its support for legacy MS-DOS apps like Windows 98, while its Windows NT OS platform was made for businesses with its 32-bit Windows NT 4.0 architecture. The original plan was to launch Windows operating systems in 2000 so both the consumer and business versions would be based on the same Windows NT kernel. However, that didn't happen because the consumer Windows team was not able to get that working. As Paul Thurrott wrote on his Supersite for Windows website, then Microsoft president Steve Ballmer announced on April 7, 1999, that Microsoft would release a final consumer Windows that would be an update from Windows 98. That OS would later launch as Windows Millenium Edition, better known as Windows Me, in September of 2000. That meant businesses who wanted a new version of Windows with the NT kernel would be getting an update from Windows NT 4.0, Originally the name of that OS would be Windows NT 5.0. However, Microsoft decided to name it as Windows 2000. That OS launched 24 years ago today, on February 17, 2000. Even though Windows 2000 was made for business users, Microsoft made an effort to add some of the features that were included in the consumer Windows 98 operating system. The archived Microsoft webpage that revealed the features of Windows 2000 Pro showed that it added support for Internet Explorer 5 and later IE 6, along with Windows Media Player, Outlook Express, the Windows Desktop Update feature, and more. It also added Plug and Play support for better access to printers and other accessories. It supported DirectX, which meant that it could run high-end Windows games of that time. Windows 2000, with no legacy MS-DOS support, was also far more stable than the consumer Windows Me. In Microsoft's official press release announcing the launch of Windows 2000 24 years ago today, the company hyped up the reliability of the OS based on tests run by Ziff-Davis Labs: One quick aside: The press release mentions that the launch of Windows 2000 on that date included a presentation from none other than actor Sir Patrick Stewart. Microsoft's press release stated he used a massive 40-foot laptop during the event. We have been unable to find a video of this presentation. If someone out there knows where it is located, please let us know in the comments. The price of Windows 2000 Professional, the desktop version of the OS, was $319 (about $545 in today's dollars). As CNET reported at the time, Microsoft also let people who used the consumer-based Windows 95 or 98 an upgrade path to Windows 2000 for $219, which was a first for the company. There were four versions of Windows 2000 released. The Professional version was the most popular but Microsoft also released Windows 2000 Server and Windows 2000 Advanced Server on Feb 17, 2000. A fourth version, Windows 2000 Datacenter Server, became available several months later on September 26, 2000. Microsoft finally merged their consumer and business Windows operating systems under the NT kernel less than two years after the release of Windows 2000 with Windows XP. However, Windows 2000 was supported with four service packs over the next several years. It reached the end of its support life in July 2010. In the end, it served its purpose as a kind of transition from the Windows NT era to Windows XP and beyond. Source