Welcome to Windows 2000

Especially if you skipped NT

When Microsoft announced that it was renaming Windows NT 5.0 and calling it Windows 2000 (Win2K), I warned that this move would create confusion. Users of Windows 9x would think that Win2K was the upgrade for home use and experience shock when they tried to implement Win2K. Well, apparently not everyone who skipped NT and went directly to Win2K was unhappy about the move.

From Win98 to Win2K
Many of you have written about your experience with the Windows 2000 Professional (Win2K Pro) beta. You thought you would just try it but ended up using it as your main system. The most fascinating letters have come from readers who are completely new to Win2K. One reader didn't know that Win2K was a new version of NT. In fact, this reader, John Hallowell, had never used NT:

"Before trying Win2K Pro, I thought it wise to get Windows 2000 Magazine and look into this new OS a little. Reading the magazine gave me confidence, so I upgraded from Win98 to Win2K Pro. (Actually, I set up a dual-boot system with a FAT32 file structure.) The install last night went more smoothly than I thought it would.

"We have four computers at home using one cable modem for Internet access (peer-to-peer with Internet connection sharing). One of those four computers belongs to my 14-year-old, Matt, whose bandwidth-sucking-Starcraft game makes my network switch light up like a railroad crossing. Windows 98 Second Edition (Win98SE) barely keeps up. Kathie (my wife) is a former graphic artist and makes CorelDRAW 7 jump through hoops. I'm hoping I won't have to deal with runtime heap errors (which we constantly have with Win98) when her labels or a calligraphy design is ready to print. I hope Win2K will be a step up with these compute-intensive home applications!

"If I can work out the few problems that remain after the install, I'll definitely jump to Win2K from Win98 without ever having used NT. So far, Kathie is using CorelDRAW 7 and WordPerfect 7 under Win2K Pro, and Matt is sharing the cable modem as always. Who knows, maybe I'll become a regular reader of your magazine now (or at least 20 percent of it)."

And here's another letter from a reader, Peter Foster in London, who decided to switch to Win2K. Here's what Peter writes:

"I bought the November 1999 issue of Windows NT/Windows 2000 Magazine and found it informative. Unfortunately, the February 2000 issue of Windows 2000 Magazine has only 20 percent Win2K coverage, which I find annoying. I'm running Win2K Release Candidate 2 (RC2). I used NT 4.0 for a while, but I scrapped it completely after it trashed itself a couple of times--­I found it entirely without merit or resilience. RC2 is infinitely more stable. Generally, I use Sun Solaris and Linux."

Responsive to Readers
Thanks for the feedback, Peter and John, I'm happy to learn that your experiences with Win2K are going well. To other readers who are new to Win2K and this magazine, welcome. You'll find the magazine to be the most extensive hands-on Win2K resource available. Although we're committed to maintaining our NT coverage for our longtime NT readership, we're also determined to increase Win2K coverage as readers demand. We take great pride in being extremely responsive to our readers' needs.

Win2K Resources Galore!
As we did last year, we'll produce 14 issues this year, and the two bonus issues (in June and November) will focus entirely on Win2K Pro. Also, our Web site, http://www.win2000mag.com, provides a wealth of Win2K information. You can search our magazine article archive (231 articles came up when I searched, entering the keyword Windows 2000) and check out our Web-exclusive Win2K coverage (e.g., Zubair Ahmad's weekly online column, "Windows 2000 Ready"; our Win2K Pro forum; our Windows 2000 Experience Web site at http://www.windows2000experience.com). In addition, you can subscribe to our free weekly email newsletter, Windows 2000 Pro UPDATE, by John Ruley.

Please continue sending me your Win2K experiences, good and bad. Let me know when it's time to increase our Win2K coverage, and I'll keep you informed about what's happening in the market.