Windows 2000

Windows 2000 (also referred to as Win2K, W2K or Windows NT 5.0) is a preemptible and interruptible, graphical, business-oriented operating system that was designed to work with either uniprocessor or symmetric multi-processor (SMP) 32-bit Intel x86 computers. It is part of the Microsoft Windows NT line of operating systems and was released on February 17, 2000. Windows 2000 comes in four versions: Professional, Server, Advanced Server, and Datacenter Server. Additionally, Microsoft offers Windows 2000 Advanced Server- Limited Edition, which released in 2001 and runs on 64-bit Intel Itanium microprocessors. Windows 2000 is classified as a hybrid-kernel operating system and its architecture is divided into two modes: user mode and kernel mode. The kernel mode provides unrestricted access to system resources and facilitates the user mode, which is heavily restricted and designed for most applications.

Related Topics:
Preemptible - Operating system - Uniprocessor - Symmetric multi-processor - Intel - X86 - Microsoft - Windows NT - February 17 - 2000 - 2001 - Itanium - Microprocessor

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All versions of Windows 2000 have common functionality, including many system utilities such as the Microsoft Management Console (MMC) and standard system management applications such as a disk defragmentation utility. Support for people with disabilities has also been improved by Microsoft across their Windows 2000 line, and they have included increased support for different languages and locale information. All versions of the operating system support the Windows NT filesystem, NTFS 5, the Encrypted File System (EFS), as well as basic and dynamic disk storage. Dynamic disk storage allows different types of volumes to be used. The Windows 2000 Server family has enhanced functionality, including the ability to provide Active Directory services (a hierarchical framework of resources), Distributed file system (a file system that supports sharing of files) and fault-redundant storage volumes.

Related Topics:
NTFS - Active Directory - Distributed file system

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Windows 2000 can be installed and deployed to an enterprise through either an attended or unattended installation. Unattended installations rely on the use of answer files to fill in installation information, and can be performed through a bootable CD using Microsoft Systems Management Server (SMS), by the System Preparation Tool (Sysprep).

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