Source : Free On-Line Dictionary of Computing

Windows 2000
     
         (Win2k, W2k, NT5, Windows NT 5.0) An
        {operating system} developed by {Microsoft Corporation} for
        {PCs} and {servers}, as the successor to {Windows NT 4}.0.
        Early {beta} versions were referred to as "Windows NT 5.0".
        Windows 2000 was officially released on 2000-02-17.
     
        Windows 2000 is most commonly used on {Intel} {x86} and
        {Pentium} processors, with a {DEC Alpha} version rumoured.
        Unlike Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000 is not available for
        {PowerPC} or {MIPS}.
     
        Windows 2000's {user interface} is very similar to {Windows
        95} or Windows NT 4.0 with integrated {Internet Explorer}, or
        to {Windows 98}.
     
        It is available in four flavours:
     
        - Professional: the {client} version, meant for desktop
        {workstations}, successor to Windows NT Workstation.
     
        - Server: "entry-level" server, designed for small
        deployments, and departmental file, print, or {intranet}
        servers.
     
        - Advanced Server: high throughput, larger scale servers
        and applications, and small to medium scale {web sites}.
     
        - Data Center Server: software for large-scale server
        {clusters} (in development as of 2000-03-14).
     
        New features in Windows 2000 include:
     
        - {Active Directory}.
     
        - Greatly improved built-in security mechanisms, including
        {Kerberos}-based {authentication}, {public key} support, an
        {encrypting} {file system}, and {IPsec} support.
     
        - Integrated {web browser} - {Internet Explorer} 5.0.
     
        - Integrated {web server} - {IIS} 5.0
     
        - Terminal services for displaying application interfaces on
        remote computers (similar to {X-Windows}).
     
        - File protection that prevents user programs from
        accidentally deleting or overwriting critical system files.
     
        - Improved hardware support, including {Plug-and-Play}, {DVD},
        {IEEE-1394} (FireWire), {USB}, {infra-red}, {PCMCIA}, {ACPI},
        {laptop computers}.
     
        - Improved user interface, including a single point to control
        the entire system.
     
        - Improved management tools, including remote administration.
     
        Minimum system requirements, according to Microsoft, are
        {Pentium}-133 {MHz} {CPU}, 64 {MB} {RAM}, 650 {MB} of {hard
        disk} space.  These are for W2K Professional, others require
        more.
     
        Many {operating systems} compete with Windows 2000, including
        the {Apple} {MacOS}, {Linux}, {FreeBSD}, {OpenBSD}, {NetBSD},
        {Sun} {Solaris}, {IBM} {AIX}, {Hewlett-Packard} {HP-UX}, {SGI}
        {Irix}.  Novell's NDS also provides a service similar to
        Active Directory.
     
        Windows 2000 will be followed by {Windows XP} Professional and
        {Windows 2002}.
     
        {Home (http://www.microsoft.com/windows2000/)}.
     
        {Usenet} newsgroups: {(news:microsoft.public.windows2000)},
        {(news:comp.os.ms-windows)}.
     
        (2002-01-28)