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:
- Windows 2000 Professional - for desktop PCs, notebook PCs,
and other single-user PCs with or without a network connection
- Windows 2000 Server - for small-to-medium size business, this
member of the family runs only on the server computers
- Windows 2000 Advanced Server - for enterprise-size business,
this member of the family runs only on top-of-the-line
server computers
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:
- Computational systems must add value to the users
- Allow users to be more productive in several situations:
mobile, work-from-home, global, web
- Ensure the highest level of security for user data
- Deliver the functionality necessary for a new generation
of applications
- Reduce overall cost and total cost of ownership
- Deliver standardized desktops quickly in multiple situations
- Reduce the number of "touches" to the desktop by systems
administration personnel (desktops can be updated with new
software and can have old software removed efficiently)
- Decrease the number of crashes and reboots
- Address issues of concern to the existing users
- Installation and control of applications must be made easier
- The User Interface must be made more simple, requiring less
training
- Workforce is going mobile, so users need to move to the
same environment from site to site while data synchronization
needs to be as automatic as possible
- Problems with Dynamic Linked Libraries need to be removed
- Helpdesk is overburdened - we need to reduce the load on it
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:
- Easy to use
- Simpler, more intelligent user interface
- Easier to configure for different needs
- Power of Windows NT
- Industrial strength reliability
- Standards-based security
- Faster overall performance
- Best of Windows 98
- State-of-the-art mobile support
- Support for next generation hardware
- Lowest Total Cost of Ownership Desktop
- Faster deployment options
- Easier to support and manage
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):
- Total cost of development: $2 BILLION (with a B)
- Size (lines of code): 30,000,000
- Size of development team: More than
5,000 software developers, managers,
and support personnel
- Extensive collaboration with many major companies: 750,000
beta testers in those companies
- Known defects at this time: 65,000
(most of these are what I
would call "minor" defects, and the defects are
documented in the Microsoft
Knowledge Base part of the
MSDN Release of Windows 2000
)
- Emphasis on improving reliability through a separate
Reliability Initiative
- 500 person years of effort for the Reliability Initiative alone
- $160 MILLION (with an M) cost of the Reliability Initiative
alone
(included in the $2 BILLION total cost)
- Rapid Deployment Program (an extensive collaboration to have
Windows 2000 in place and operating in several companies by the
time of this Launch): 100's of companies participated
- Third-Party Developer participation: 8,000 applications have
been shown to run under Windows 2000 (formally and informally),
and 1,000 of those have been certified by Microsoft as being
Windows 2000 compliant by the date of the Launch Event
- 120,000,000 PCs running some version of Microsoft Windows
were purchased in 1999 - industry is running at a 15% annual
growth rate
- Launch Event
- Consisted of local presentations and exhibits at event sites
all over the world followed by a simultaneous satellite broadcast
to an estimated 100,000 people (at all event sites)
from 12:30pm to 2:15pm EST
- The Atlanta Launch Event site was attended by from 3,000-4,000
people
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:
- Collaborations with computer industry product vendors -
Microsoft launched Windows 2000 in conjunction with its Global
Launch Partners:
|
- Adobe - builds software solutions for Web and print publishing
(such as Adobe Acrobat and Reader)
- Cisco - builds network communications equipment
- Commerce One - provides electronic commerce solutions that
dynamically link buying and supplying organizations into real-time
electronic trading communities
- Compaq - the second largest computer company in the world
and the largest global supplier of computer systems
- Dell - designs, manufactures, and customizes computer
products and services
- EMC2 - an enterprise-wide solutions provider
specializing in distributed computing environments
- Hewlett-Packard - a leading PC hardware vendor, particularly
devices such as laser printers and scanners
- I2 - creates eBusiness solutions for maximizing customer
service and profitability over the Internet
- IBM - the largest computer company in the world
- Intel - the largest microprocessor manufacturer in the world
- SAP - inter-enterprise software solution provider
- Toshiba - one of the world's leading computer
notebook, desktop, and
server manufacturers
- Unisys - leading provider of electronic business solutions
|
- Early adoption of Microsoft Windows 2000 - the following
organizations have announced their adoption of Windows 2000
enterprise-wide
- Boeing - 180,000 PCs
- Continental Airlines - PC count not disclosed
- Department of Defense (United States) - 100,000 PCs
- General Motors - 125,000 PCs
- IBM - 300,000 PCs
- Microsoft - 70,000 PCs
- Siemens - 400,000 employees (PC count not disclosed)
- Early Awards - Windows 2000 has already won the following
awards
- PC Week Labs "Analyst's Choice Award"
- Popular Mechanics "Design and Engineering Award"
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
Click the Image to Enlarge, then Click the
BACK Button to Return to This Web Page
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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
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About MSDN and MSDN Online
Click the Image to Enlarge, then Click the
BACK Button to Return to This Web Page
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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).
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Windows 2000 Home Screen
Click the Image to Enlarge, then Click the
BACK Button to Return to This Web Page
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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).
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Windows 2000 - What's New
Click the Image to Enlarge, then Click the
BACK Button to Return to This Web Page
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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.
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Releases can be grouped into three phases
(these are DVDs in the Development Platform section of the MSDN
Universal subscription):
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.