Also called "Win2K" and "W2K," Windows 2000 was a major upgrade to Windows NT 4, launched in early 2000. Available in one client and three server versions, Windows 2000 added support for Plug and Play. It used the same interface as Windows 95/98, but added considerably more features.
From NT Domains to Active Directory
Windows 2000 supported Active Directory, which replaced NT's domain system and made network administration simpler. This was a major redesign of the directory structure for companies. More stable than NT, Win 2000 was designed to eliminate erroneous replacement of DLLs when applications were installed (see
DLL hell).
Versions
Windows 2000 Advanced Server was similar to Windows NT Server, Enterprise Edition, which supported clustering and automatic failover in the event of a system failure. Windows 2000 DataCenter Server supported more advanced clustering and was the top server offering. Windows 2000 Professional was the client version. See
Windows,
Windows Server 2003,
Windows NT,
Windows XP,
Active Directory and
Plug and Play.
Windows 2000 SMP
Version Use Support RAM
Professional Client 2GB
Server Server 4-way 2GB
Advanced Server* Server 8-way 8GB
DataCenter Server* Server 32-way 64GB
*Supports clustering, failover
and load balancing