Released publicly in February 2000, Windows 2000 was the next version of the NT-based version of Windows. On the whole, I really like this version back in the day. While it still used the same Explorer interface, visual enhancements and a much nicer color scheme made Win2k much more appealing. However, under the hood, Win2k was a vast improvement over NT 4. While I have installed NT 4 plenty of times, both on virtual machines and real hardware, I can tell you that NT 4 was still quite limited hardware support compared to Win95, and I've encountered machines where drivers for NT 4 were hard to come by. On unsupported hardware, NT 4 could have been a real b*sstard.
However, Win2k had much wider hardware support, even though it wasn't as much as Win9x. But between this and NT 4, Win2k was far more forgiving. Also, there was now DirectX support on an NT-based OS. DirectX was unofficially supported on NT 4, but again, with the limited hardware support, NT 4 generally didn't play well with games. On Win2k, there was still a probable hit-or-miss depending on the hardware configuration, but generally, as with hardware, Win2k was a what more forgiving when it came to game compatibility than compared to NT 4.0. Home users wasn't still the primary audience for this OS, even though it was much more improved. It was intended for power users on powerful workstations and servers, and in this regard, Win2k does not disappoint. However, there is this OS that has a penguin mascot that is rapidly catching up. But that silly Linux nonsense is just a passing fad, right?
Windows 2000 also introduced Active Directory, a feature that I've used countless of times. Domains are so much fun! (right?). The Microsoft Management Console is also something that I'm familiar with, for better or for worse.
On the whole, this OS was a breath of fresh air as compared to Win9x, plagued by stability issues. While Win9x could be seen as "good enough" for home users, the power users and workstation administrators needed stability, and Win2k could deliver it. It had a visually appearing UI as well. It was basically NT 4, but much improved. Now we can get it on with Windows 2000, based on New Technology Technology. (NT Technology acronym expanded fully)
Note: To change the BIOS splash screen in VirtualBox, execute the following commands (make sure that you are using a 256-color palate BMP saved at 640 by 480 pixels)
cd %programfiles%\Oracle\VirtualBox
VBoxManage modifyvm "Windows NT 4.0 Workstation" --bioslogoimagepath "F:\VirtualBox VMs\Windows NT 4.0 Workstation\dell.bmp"
VBoxManage modifyvm "Windows NT 4.0 Workstation" --bioslogodisplaytime 11000
VirtualBox is virtualizing a x86 workstation with a single core allocated to it (host is a AMD Ryzen 5 5500 6-Core Processor running at 4.2GHz), 128MB's of RAM, along with a VESA Compatible Display Adapter, AMD PCnet Ethernet NIC, AC'97 Sound Adapter. Windows is running at the screen resolution of 1152 by 864, 32-bit color depth. Also installed is a ATAPI-Compatible CD-ROM drive, 16GB hard-disk image, along with a 4GB on for file transfer.
Songs Used:
Happy Sixth By
Freedom Trail Studio
RU-vid Audio Library
Software Used:
Recorded With OBS Studio
Composed In Kdenlive
Hardware Used:
PC equipped with a
AMD Ryzen 5 5500 CPU
6 Cores Running At 4.2GHz
AMD Radeon RX570 GPU
Windows 11
6 сен 2024
