Written By:
Date Posted: September 5, 2001

I know there are many of you who are running Windows 9x, and are looking at installing something a little more robust. Windows 2000 was released by Microsoft last year as a much needed update to Windows NT. Who runs Windows NT? Corporations, workstation professionals, and power users. This is exactly the market Microsoft targeted with the 4 versions of Windows 2000 (Professional, Server, Advanced Server, Datacenter), whereas home consumers were saddled with Windows Millenium. For those who don't know, corporations are the big ticket for MS, and the home user really is a drop in the bucket. Windows 2000 was designed on the NT kernal, and it's considerably more expensive than Windows ME, which is just a rehash of Windows 98/95. Targeting the business, they had an opportunity to cash in on the deep pockets of system administrators and IT managers. Over a year has passed, and this hasn't exactly happened. IT managers fear change. Why change something when it ain't broke? True enough, but Windows 2000 has features to kill for, and in time, it will dominate where Windows NT 4.0 once did.

Where does it leave the home user? Well, they can fuddle by with Windows 9x, or snag themselves a copy of Windows 2000. Why Windows 2000? In a nutshell, it kicks ass compared to Windows 98. It has dual processor support, which Windows 98 does not. Sure, it may seem like no big deal, but many said that about home IDE RAID. Other features are a revised TCP/IP stack, NTFS security, a true 32-bit environment, and better memory management. There's a lot more, but basically your PC will be more stable, and more secure.

All this doesn't come without cost though. On average, a copy of Windows 2000 will run about 100$ more than a copy of Windows 98. Windows 2000 also has a significant incompatibility issues with older hardware and software. Where Windows 98 would be 100% compatible with everything, Windows 2000 is maybe at 90%. Sounds close on paper, but it's a question if YOUR software or hardware is compatible. For the gamers, Direct X based games tend to run a little slower on a Windows 2000 rig than they do on a Windows 98 machine, but that really is driver dependant. And speaking of PCs, ideally, you'll want at least a Pentium II, and 128MB of ram (more is better).

Another problem with Windows 2000 is the fact that it is more confusing to use. I mentioned it's more secure than Windows 98, but it's really only as secure as a user decides to make it. A hard drive must be formatted with NTFS (NT File System), and you still need to set permissions. What permissions are is exactly how it sounds. In a file sharing environment (with a default install), you will allow everyone access to your computer unless YOU specify not. On the plus side, you can't get into a Windows 2000 PC through the log on screen if you don't have a valid user name and password. Other confusing areas of Windows 2000 for 98 or even NT users is that Microsoft basically renamed or moved many tools we're used to. There's a bit of a learning curve for sure, but the results are rewarding if you take the time to learn how the OS operates.

If I haven't scared you away, you'll find Windows 2000 to be a great OS for home use. It really isn't hard to install, but it can be daunting for a beginner. This is a simple guide for people who want to install Windows 2000 in place of whatever OS they currently run. I'm already going to assume you already know some of the basics, like backing up your stuff, and making a DOS boot disk. I'm not going to dig into the complex areas, tweaking, or beefing up security too much. Perhaps at a later date, but you can find resources all over the 'net. Some good guides can be found at , , , and . This guide is written for NEW installations of Windows 2000 Professional, and assumes the copy you have is the full version, and not the upgrade.

Ok, let's cut the crap and get started...

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