April 28 - May 5

Windows 2000 Professional by Alessandro Cancian Initially I was a bit concerned. This is a feeling I get every time my curiousity brings me to install a new software, especially if its a new OS. I had read so much about the various incompatibility of Windows 2000, that the idea of reformatting my disk had no appeal. A compatible PC was my first guinea pig, 300 MHz processor, 128 MB RAM, Windows 98. A quick Internet search certified the need for an upgrade of the BIOS. Some minutes later the installation process was underway, a definitely long process (about 1 hour and a half) but with no problems whatsoever. The settings were simplified and made much more user-friendly, especially in regards to network connections, thanks to some really clear wizard panels. However, trouble began at this point: in fact, the system did not recognize the network card. Unfortunately the computer I was working on had no modem, so I had to use a laptop to download the necessary drivers from the Internet. When everything seemed OK and the PC had finally been connected to a network, it was the sound cards turn. Unfortunately, in this case my search for the drivers was less successful, and after an hour I gave up and replaced the card with a spanking new one from Creative. Now a month has passed, during which Win 2000 only crashed a couple of times: once with network problems, another with fonts problems. I can therefore guarantee that Bill Gates latest product is by far the most stable OS turned out by the Redmond-based giant. The overall speed of the system I tested is not much different from the performance of the same machine running Win NT; on the contrary in some tasks Win 2000 proved slightly slower. From a software point of view, some of my applications required an update, others stubbornly refused to work. Forget your favourite games. Not totally satisfied, I tested Win 2000 on a laptop, and on this occasion I happened to be using one of the latest models from Dell. Installation proceeded smoothly also in this case, but trouble began immediately thereafter. A BIOS update was needed, but the DVD unit still refuses to work. Plug & play should be one of Win 2000s main characteristics, but in my test USB ports failed to recognize some devices, such as external Zip drives. The laptops 500 MHz processor proved how the system speed has improved when the machine is equipped with a really powerful heart. In order to exploit the full potential of this OS, an environment completely based on Win 2000, in its different flavours (Server, Professional, etc.) is needed. This can lead to significant costs even for companies with a robust budget. Although not perfect, Win 2000 represents a step forward, from a quality point of view, compared to other products still sold by Microsoft. My advice is to wait a little bit before upgrading to allow enough time for the number of compatible drivers and applications to increase. If you wish to proceed at once, test the system on a sample computer equipped with the applications youre interested in. For further information you can visit the site www.microsoft.com.

 

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