With Windows 2000 Professional, Microsoft delivers its most powerful and intuitive user experience to date. And with RUNNING MICROSOFT WINDOWS 2000 PROFESSIONAL, users at all levels of Windows fluency get the answers they need to put this new platform to work-direct from Microsoft's own publishing division. This one-stop reference offers the most answers for the most users-featuring everything from concise, to-the-point procedures to more detailed explanations and extensive cross referencing. This comprehensive information is presented in a format optimized for navigability, so users can find ready answers about specific tasks and functions of this next-generation operating system-including working with Windows Explorer, Active Desktop(tm), and Active Directory(tm) services; setting up peripherals and software; Internet access; easy-administration features; and much more.
Since its first appearance in 1993, Windows NT has been Microsoft's industrial-strength operating system, the version of Windows preferred by developers, network administrators, many power users, and users running mission-critical applications. In return for enhanced reliability and security, however, Windows NT users have, until now, had to forego a certain degree of convenience and versatility. For example, because Windows NT 4 lacked support for the Plug and Play standard, many reasonably regarded it as less easy to use and administer than Windows 98. And because it supported a smaller range of multimedia hardware than Windows 98, it was perceived by many as the less exciting of Microsoft's two major operating systems.
All that changes with Windows 2000. Along with the radical name change, Microsoft has given its industrial-strength operating system a friendly user interface, the easy con-figurability of Windows 98, broader hardware support, superior performance, and much more. In short, Windows 2000 combines the excitement and usability of Windows 98 with the traditional strengths of Windows NT—stability and security.