Global InformationWindows 2000 information
| Version of the Windows NT operating system | |
 | |
 Screenshot of Windows 2000 Professional with SP4, showing the Start menu and the Getting Started with Windows window. | |
| Developer | Microsoft |
|---|---|
| OS family | Microsoft Windows |
| Working state | No longer supported |
| Source model |
|
| Released to manufacturing | December 15, 1999[2] |
| General availability | February 17, 2000[3] |
| Final release | Service Pack 4 with Update Rollup (5.0.2195) / September 13, 2005[4] |
| Marketing target | Business and Server |
| Update method | Windows Update |
| Platforms | IA-32 (including PC-98) (Alpha in alpha, beta, and release candidate versions) |
| Kernel type | Hybrid (Windows NT kernel) |
| Userland | Windows API, NTVDM, OS/2 1.x, SFU |
| Default user interface | Windows shell (Graphical) |
| License | Proprietary commercial software |
| Preceded by | Windows NT 4.0 (1996) |
| Succeeded by | Windows XP (2001, client) Windows Server 2003 (2003, servers) |
| Official website | microsoft.com/windows2000/ at the Wayback Machine (archived December 3, 2000) |
| Support status | |
| Mainstream support ended on June 30, 2005 Extended support ended on July 13, 2010[5] | |
Windows 2000 is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft and designed for businesses as the direct successor to Windows NT 4.0. It was released to manufacturing on December 15, 1999,[2] officially released to retail on February 17, 2000, and released on September 26, 2000, for Windows 2000 Datacenter Server. It was Microsoft's business operating system until the introduction of Windows XP Professional in 2001.
Windows 2000 introduces NTFS 3.0,[6] Encrypting File System,[7] and basic and dynamic disk storage.[8] Support for people with disabilities is improved over Windows NT 4.0 with a number of new assistive technologies,[9] and Microsoft increased support for different languages[10] and locale information.[11] The Windows 2000 Server family has additional features, most notably the introduction of Active Directory,[12] which in the years following became a widely used directory service in business environments.
Four editions of Windows 2000 have been released: Professional, Server, Advanced Server, and Datacenter Server;[13] the latter was both released to manufacturing and launched months after the other editions.[14] While each edition of Windows 2000 is targeted at a different market, they share a core set of features, including many system utilities such as the Microsoft Management Console and standard system administration applications.
Microsoft marketed Windows 2000 as the most secure Windows version ever at the time;[15] however, it became the target of a number of high-profile virus attacks such as Code Red[16] and Nimda.[17] For ten years after its release, it continued to receive patches for security vulnerabilities nearly every month until reaching the end of support on July 13, 2010, the same day that support ended for Windows XP SP2.[5]
Windows 2000 and Windows 2000 Server were succeeded by Windows XP and Windows Server 2003, released in 2001 and 2003, respectively.
Windows 2000 is the final version of Windows NT that supports PC-98, i486 and SGI Visual Workstation 320 and 540, as well as Alpha[18] in alpha, beta, and release candidate versions. Its successor, Windows XP, only supports x86, x64 and Itanium processors.
- ^ a b "Microsoft Releases Windows 2000 to Manufacturing". News Center. Microsoft. December 15, 1999. Archived from the original on June 4, 2019. Retrieved February 14, 2017.
- ^ "Gates Ushers in Next Generation of PC Computing With Launch of Windows 2000". News Center. Microsoft. February 17, 2000. Archived from the original on October 3, 2019. Retrieved February 17, 2018.
- ^ "Update Rollup 1 for Windows 2000 SP4 and known issues". Microsoft. Archived from the original on March 2, 2017. Retrieved February 17, 2017.
- ^ a b Cite error: The named reference
Lifecyclewas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "New Capabilities and Features of the NTFS 3.0 File System". Microsoft Support. Microsoft. Archived from the original on October 24, 2007. Retrieved February 14, 2017.
- ^ "Implementing the Encrypting File System in Windows 2000". TechNet. Microsoft. March 24, 2009. Archived from the original on August 26, 2017. Retrieved February 14, 2017.
- ^ "Disk Management". TechNet. Microsoft. July 18, 2012. Archived from the original on December 22, 2016. Retrieved February 14, 2017.
- ^ "Windows 2000 Professional Accessibility Features". Microsoft. Archived from the original on December 17, 2003. Retrieved February 14, 2017.
- ^ "Frequently Asked Questions: Windows Server 2003, Windows XP, and Windows 2000 MUI". MSDN. Microsoft. Archived from the original on February 18, 2017. Retrieved February 17, 2017.
- ^ "Windows 2000 - List of Locale IDs and Language Groups". Global Development and Computing Portal. Microsoft. Archived from the original on February 3, 2003. Retrieved February 14, 2017.
- ^ "Windows 2000 Server Family". TechNet. Microsoft. July 18, 2012. Archived from the original on December 22, 2016. Retrieved February 17, 2017.
- ^ "Microsoft Renames Windows NT 5.0 Product Line to Windows 2000; Signals Evolution of Windows NT Technology Into Mainstream". News Center. Microsoft. October 27, 1998. Archived from the original on January 12, 2009. Retrieved February 14, 2017.
- ^ "Microsoft Announces Final Packaging for Windows 2000". News Center. Microsoft. August 17, 1999. Archived from the original on May 8, 2014. Retrieved February 14, 2017.
- ^ "Microsoft and CyberSafe Extend Windows 2000 Security Across the Enterprise". News Center. Microsoft. January 17, 2000. Archived from the original on February 18, 2017. Retrieved February 17, 2017.
- ^ "'Code Red' Worm Exploiting Buffer Overflow in IIS Indexing Service DLL". CERT Coordination Center. Software Engineering Institute. July 19, 2001. Archived from the original on August 17, 2016. Retrieved May 17, 2019.
- ^ Swartz, Jon (September 25, 2001). "Nimba called most serious Net attack on business". USA Today. Gannett Company. Archived from the original on February 17, 2017. Retrieved February 17, 2017.
- ^ "Update: Microsoft cancels 64-bit Windows 2000 on Alpha". ITPro Today: IT News, How-Tos, Trends, Case Studies, Career Tips, More. August 26, 1999. Retrieved December 12, 2023.