Launch of Microsoft Windows 2000
Trip Report


22 February 2000


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Contents


Overview of Windows 2000

I had the pleasure of attending the Launch of Microsoft Windows 2000 at the America's Mart in downtown Atlanta on 17 February 2000. This report presents an overview of Windows 2000 based on this event, my interpretation of what I heard during the event, and other sources of information available to me (such as the MSDN Library). The event was free, sponsored by Microsoft, its Global Launch Partners, and exhibitors at the local sites. About 100,000 people attended the event at sites in 60 cities world-wide; the official launch, hosted by Patrick Stewart, Bill Gates, with a song by Carlos Santana (at the end) ran from about 12:30 to 2:00pm and originated from San Francisco, being broadcast to the sites by satellite.

This report presents my opinions and understanding at this time and is subject to change. Hypertext links referenced outside the body of this report are not within my control and may be broken at any time.

This event was the launch (official release to the public) of the Microsoft Windows 2000 family of operating systems. At the time of the launch (February 17, 2000), three of the operating systems were released:

Around a dozen more operating systems in the Windows 2000 family, including a version for embedded applications, are set to be released in 2000-2001.

Windows 2000 was developed in collaboration with a large number of users (about 750,000 beta testers in many companies - see the Collaborations section below) to address many challenges in our current industry:

  1. Computational systems must add value to the users
  2. Reduce overall cost and total cost of ownership
  3. Address issues of concern to the existing users

While Windows 2000 Professional can run on any PC, many of the features are directed for small business and enterprise operations, with specific goals of increased reliability and lower Total Cost of Ownership (a part of the issues named above). The user "sees" Windows 2000 through the Windows 2000 Professional operating system on his PC, and the Windows 2000 servers may or may not be operating in the background.

Some of the key features of Windows 2000 Professional are:

  1. Easy to use
  2. Power of Windows NT
  3. Best of Windows 98
  4. Lowest Total Cost of Ownership Desktop

I won't go into more detail at this time. Instead, I refer you to the sections below entitled MSDN Release of Windows 2000 and More Info on Microsoft Windows 2000 .

Numbers

From figures quoted during the presentations, on the news later that night, and on the web, we have the following data (offered without interpretation or further comment):

Collaborations

One of the key themes stressed at this launch was the extensive level of collaboration between Microsoft and its customers to produce a product that fits their needs. This showed itself in two ways:

MSDN Release of Windows 2000

The release of Windows 2000 and developer's support material for Windows 2000 to the Microsoft Developer's Network (MSDN) was timed to coincide with the launch. The MSDN is an outstanding resource for software and documentation on Windows 2000. This section talks about the Universal Subscription to the MSDN. The MSDN Library, a 1.3G byte library of information and sample programs, is a key part of the MSDN; here are four of the screens from the January 2000 release of the MSDN Library:

Sample Screens from the MSDN Library

MSDN Library Home Screen
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From this screen, you can access all the major elements of the MSDN Library. These elements include, but are not limited to:
  • Documentation on all Software Development Kits for all Microsoft Windows Platforms
  • Online Documentation on Microsoft Visual Studio
  • Online Documentation on Microsoft Office
  • Technical reports, presentations, books, and partial books
  • Over 11,000 source code examples

About MSDN and MSDN Online
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The MSDN has not only a CDROM/DVD media distribution, but also an extensive web-based distribution. Added are support by Microsoft Press (over 50 books on Windows 2000 so far, for example), Microsoft help desks, and electronic magazines (e-zines).

Windows 2000 Home Screen
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The MSDN is the principal source for documentation on Windows 2000. The Software Development Kit is extensive. The MSDN Universal Subscription (which I have) is updated monthly and is available on either CDROM (about 200 CDROMs per year have been shipped) or DVD (new in 2000).

Windows 2000 - What's New
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Each new shipment of an MSDN subscription includes a What's New section to help the recurring user keep up with the latest issues. The Microsoft Knowledge Base includes an extensive list of defect reports for all Microsoft products, and it is updated regularly.

Releases can be grouped into three phases (these are DVDs in the Development Platform section of the MSDN Universal subscription):

  1. Before 2000 - three Beta Releases and three Release Candidates, complete with documentation in the MSDN Library (the production release of Windows 2000 was ready in December 1999 but not released to the MSDN subscribers yet)
  2. January 2000 - MSDN Universal Subscription included, but was not limited to:
    • MSDN Library - exhaustive documentation on Windows 2000 and development tools for it
    • DVD 1 - Microsoft Software Development Kits and Tools
      • General Collection (Applies to All Windows Platforms) of Kits and Tools
      • Microsoft Internet Explorer Versions
      • Visual Studio 6.0 Service Packs
    • DVD 4 - Windows 2000 Hardware Compatibility Tests, Version 9.0
    • DVD 5 - System Stress 1.0 for Windows NT 4.0 and Windows 2000
  3. February 2000 - MSDN Universal Subscription included, but was not limited to:
    • DVD 1 - Microsoft Software Development Kits and Tools
      • General Collection (Applies to All Windows Platforms) of Kits and Tools
      • Microsoft Internet Explorer Versions
      • Visual Studio 6.0 Service Packs
    • DVD 2 - skipped (same as the January 2000 MSDN release)
    • DVD 3 - Windows 2000 Professional
    • DVD 4 - Windows 2000 Professional Debugged/Checked Build
    • DVD 5 - Windows 2000 Server
    • DVD 6 - Windows 2000 Advanced Server
    • DVD 7 - Windows 2000 Driver Development Kit
    • DVD 8 - Windows 2000 Customer Support Diagnostics Tools
    • DVD 9 - Microsoft Windows Logo Hardware Compatibility Test Kit
    • DVD 10 - System Stress for Windows NT 4.0 and Windows 2000 version 1.0

More Info on Microsoft Windows 2000

Microsoft TechNet and Selected Presentations/Papers


Microsoft TechNet
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  • CLICK HERE to view and/or download an overview of Windows 2000 Professional by Microsoft.
  • CLICK HERE to view an independent study on the Total Cost of Ownership reduction afforded by Windows 2000.
  • CLICK HERE to go to the Microsoft Windows 2000 Launch website.
  • CLICK HERE to go to the Microsoft TechNet website for the South East United States
  • CLICK HERE to go to the Microsoft home page.

Microsoft Windows 2000 Virtual Conference

The Microsoft Windows 2000 Virtual Conference is a collection of "the best of" presentations delivered at Microsoft technical conferences over the past year. Microsoft gathered the highest rated sessions and recorded them at Microsoft Studios in Redmond, Washington. In these sessions, Microsoft's best program managers, developers, and consultants talk about the technologies they work with, and give you helpful advice on designing and deploying the Microsoft Windows 2000 environment. While the main audience for this version of the Virtual Conference is IT Professionals, developers will also benefit from the detailed technical discussions contained on these six CDROMs.

The sessions are delivered in an HTML browser format, which uses Windows Streaming Media technologies to deliver a video recording of the speaker and a simultaneous view of the PowerPoint slides. Demonstrations automatically appear in a separate window. The Virtual Conference CDs include a complete listing of all the sessions, with abstracts, sorted by subject and by CD number. Below is a listing of the subjects presented in the 6-CD Virtual Conference set.


Microsoft Windows 2000 Virtual Conference
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  • Active Directory
  • Administration
  • Case Studies
  • Embedded Systems
  • Exchange
  • File System
  • Interoperability
  • Networking
  • Security
  • Setup
  • Terminal Services
  • Windows 2000 Professional
  • Windows Management Instrumentation
  • Windows Media