We listened to our customers, our service partners, the MCP community, and vendors. We're confident that this attention will pay off for everyone.

Betting Big on Windows 2000

We listened to our customers, our service partners, the MCP community, and vendors. We're confident that this attention will pay off for everyone.

• By Adam Hecktman
• 04/01/2000

Microsoft is betting the company on Windows 2000. Period. As bold as that may seem, it’s a move born out of extensive research into the needs created by dizzying changes in the business environment.

We recognized that with the Internet, businesses have the opportunity to grow, extend their networks to partners and customers, and develop new and creative ways to bring their products and services to the market. But to do this, businesses need an infrastructure that allows them to quickly respond to market forces. This necessitates high reliability, efficient management, ease of use, and support for the newest devices. Add to that the fact that businesses need to pursue these opportunities without throwing out existing investments in systems they’ve developed and skills they’ve built.

For Microsoft, the direction was clear: Windows 2000 had to be built as a foundation. To that end, the Windows 2000 family spans the full range of computing needs, from laptops and desktops to high-end clustered servers.

To help Internet-enable businesses, the Windows 2000 server family provides comprehensive Web, security, and communication technologies built into the product, along with the scalability and performance to handle the demands of Internet traffic.

Windows 2000 Server will also enable organizations to minimize network interruptions to users, and the costs that go with it. System architecture improvements ensure higher server uptime, fault tolerant and redundant systems for increased availability, and online configuration and maintenance capabilities.

Manageability was another big focus for us in designing the Windows 2000 Server family. The product features improvements that make the system easier to deploy, manage, and use. In addition, powerful centralized administration enabled by the Active Directory service, and a standards-based approach to interoperability with existing systems means that Windows 2000 Server should increase the efficiencies of IT staff, users, and systems.

Windows 2000 Professional offers solid reliability and improved manageability that simplify desktop management. The fact that it provides integrated Web capabilities, unparalleled support for mobile computers, and broad support for hardware devices make it significantly easier for business users to connect to the Internet, and work anytime, anywhere.

Both the Windows 2000 Server family and Windows 2000 Professional support the latest advances in hardware devices. Support hardware such as IEEE 1394, pluggable PCI, hot pluggable storage devices, and high bandwidth and directory-enabled networking equipment ensure the platform takes advantage of the latest technology advances.

The list of improvements and innovations in this product are impressive. But the real credit goes to our customers and partners who provided Microsoft with valuable feedback. That feedback came in large part from the MCP community—those who are the most intimately familiar with Windows NT. We want to thank you for your support. At the same time, let me extend an open invitation to those who will be attending the MCP TechMentor Conference on April 3 and 4 in Chicago to attend a no-cost TechNet Briefing on Sunday, April 2, 2000 at the conference. Jason Leznek, Senior Technology Expert from Microsoft will discuss Windows 2000 Professional Deployment Strategies. More information is at www.techmentorevents.com.