Windows 2000 Professional-How is it?

[sindows]

I'm thinking of picking up a copy for my pc in the hopes that I can have a more snappy day to day experience. Is there any reason to stay away from it?

 

[George P Burdell]

What are you running right now?

 

[cparker]

I have similar computers (a64 at 2.4 ghz) running XP, Vista, and 2000 Professional. The 2000 Professional machine seems to be a lot more "snappier" on the user interface level. But if you get it you'll want to get it updated with the service packs which can be downloaded from the ms site. Once they are installed you can put windows update on automatic. There will be some limitations as to software, no office 2007, for example. I don't think .net 3.5 will work on w2k. But overall, I really like the "lean mean" quality of the os.

 

[ultra laser]

It's much more responsive than vista.

 

[VinDSL]

Originally posted by: ultra laser
It's much more responsive than vista.

Yep!

I run W2K Pro most of the time - running it right now...

Look at my system rig, and you'll see what I got - basically an OC'ed P4EE with 1GB RAM and WindowBlinds - and it runs circles around Vista with 4GB RAM. Really!

I like Vista too!

Vista is perfect for multimedia lappys - the best there is - but for daily drivers, I still prefer W2K Pro, fully patched, and skinned with WindowsBlinds.

IMHO, W2K Pro is one of the best OSs Microsoft ever made - and I'm NOT alone in that opinion!

 

[Nothinman]

Win2K can't differentiate between CPU sockets and cores and it only supports 2 processors so you're stuck at dual-core. It won't really affect anything performance-wise in a dual-core setup but if you ever get more than 2 cores the rest will sit idle.

 

[stash]

2000 is a security nightmare out of the box. There are tons of vulnerabilities that are rated moderate or lower on XP that are rated critical on 2000. Even locked down, it is nowhere near as secure as XP SP2+ or Vista.

 

[seemingly random]

Originally posted by: stash
2000 is a security nightmare out of the box. There are tons of vulnerabilities that are rated moderate or lower on XP that are rated critical on 2000. Even locked down, it is nowhere near as secure as XP SP2+ or Vista.

Not sure if it matters what the rating is... The big question is: are the bugs still being fixed?

w2k can run on pentium 3 and 4 pc's (that came with w98, w00). xp or vista will mostly overwhelm these 'marginal' pc's.

---

I know it's been discussed many times but for current w2k users, what firewall (other than the router) are you using?

 

[programmer]

According to the wiki page, "All Windows 2000 support including security updates will be terminated on July 13, 2010." So you'll keep getting critical updates for included components until then, but no new components are being backported to 2000 (e.g. IE 7, etc.). See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W...ws_2000#Current_status

 

[postmortemIA]

problem is that some software and hardware won't work on 2000 anymore.

 

[Fox5]

Not all software even works on 2000 anymore. 2000 does offer a pretty low end OS though. It's lacking in many areas, but that's not a big deal when you can just get 3rd party apps like Firefox. I personally keep a copy of Win2000 around to use as a virtualized windows OS on my linux installs.

That said, anyone considering 2000 at this point should really consider going Linux (say, Ubuntu). The user experience is actually on par with a modern OS, along with the included apps, far more secure, and with Wine the application support is nearly at the level of windows 98/2000, and with virtualization it can be at the level of 2000 (minus 3d apps). Better hardware support too.

 

[VinDSL]

Originally posted by: stash
2000 is a security nightmare out of the box...

Agreed!

@OP: Make sure to run AutoPatcher 2000 right out of the chute. Then back it up with WU just to make sure.

That will take care of the OS!

After that, install Secunia PSI and patch your proggies. This can be a biatch, but it's necessary if you favor security!

Lastly, install some AV software, your choice - none of the work worth a damn, IMHO, so freebies will be fine.

The important part is patching W2K and any third party software that's sitting on your machine - regardless or whether you use them or not!

Do that, and you'll be fine...

 

[nordloewelabs]

i've been running Win2000 for 8 years. only program not compatible with it so far was Paint.NET version 2.73 and above. the OS, once updated with its Service Pack 4 and subsequent updates, is very fast and safe. reagrding drivers, i dont know.... my hardware isnt cutting edge. what i have works flawlessly.

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: VinDSL

Originally posted by: stash
2000 is a security nightmare out of the box...

Agreed!

@OP: Make sure to run AutoPatcher 2000 right out of the chute. Then back it up with WU just to make sure.

That will take care of the OS!

After that, install Secunia PSI and patch your proggies. This can be a biatch, but it's necessary if you favor security!

Lastly, install some AV software, your choice - none of the work worth a damn, IMHO, so freebies will be fine.

The important part is patching W2K and any third party software that's sitting on your machine - regardless or whether you use them or not!

Do that, and you'll be fine...

I'd further suggest setting up & using a non-Administrator user account (called a "Restricted User" account in Win2000), and vetting the system with Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer if there's still a version of MBSA that works on Win2000 anymore.

 

[NicColt]

Originally posted by: postmortemIA
problem is that some software and hardware won't work on 2000 anymore.

true, after 2 hours of updates on a clean install of 2K I couldn't even install the basic video driver on an Asus M2A-VM board. it was stuck on 640x480 rez nothing would fix it.

Technically I could run 2K on that system but only at 640x480 - no thanks.

 

[seemingly random]

ati discontinued w2k support with (iirc) x1xxx series.
nvidia supports at least 7xxx series - haven't tried 8xxx or 9xxx. This means 6150 igp is supported - haven't tried 7050 igp yet.
don't know about about intel igp support.

ms mouse driver supports w2k - logitech latest setpoint does not.

 

[Dravic]

I?m currently still running 2 boxes with win2k pro. Well now 1 Host OS and 1 virtualized.

Just converted my Secondary Gamer/ Image processing box to a VM image on my linux workstation. My only issue with that computer was Nvidia?s refusal to patch the nforce 3 chipset network driver in there 5.11 builds. Moving all my image process and web development to linux, and the kids are getting an 3800+ x2 win xp box with 2GB of ram and a 6800nu out of it.

The second box is my Office/bills PC that is on older Athlon XP hardware. It?s been rock solid, and will probably stay on 2k pro until support ceases and I upgrade my computer, and pass down newer hardware.

I wouldn?t install it new now, but I?ve had no issues with it. One of my fav windows versions as far as performance and stability were concerned. Nice non cluttered interface, not of lot of uneeded services started automatically.

 

[VinDSL]

Originally posted by: nordloewelabs
I've been running Win2000 for 8 years...

Regarding drivers, I don't know...

Speaking of drivers...

I ran NT before W2K Pro. Gawd what a pain that was!

NT was a great OS compared to Win9x (especially for servers) - very stable - but crippled because it didn't support hardly any modern hardware.

I remember having to run a 1X proprietary CD reader - ancient hardware, even in those days - because it was the only one I owned that NT supported.

Funny, really, when you think about it...

Microsoft fell into the same trap when Vista came out - no drivers.

Guess they didn't learn their lesson with NT!

Anyway, W2K Pro is still being patched on a near-monthly basis - mostly security updates these days - but I wouldn't worry about it until 2010 and beyond - dittos for Office 2000.

 

[mrizvi66]

Originally posted by: VinDSL

Originally posted by: ultra laser
It's much more responsive than vista.

Yep!

I run W2K Pro most of the time - running it right now...

Look at my system rig, and you'll see what I got - basically an OC'ed P4EE with 1GB RAM and WindowBlinds - and it runs circles around Vista with 4GB RAM. Really!

I like Vista too!

Vista is perfect for multimedia lappys - the best there is - but for daily drivers, I still prefer W2K Pro, fully patched, and skinned with WindowsBlinds.

IMHO, W2K Pro is one of the best OSs Microsoft ever made - and I'm NOT alone in that opinion!

we're still using it where I work...approx. 3500 users. The plan is to move to Vista but that has been delay about 6 times (3 times since sp1 was released)...so i think we're still going to be running it for the near future...