Windows 2001
By Bob Trott and Ed Scannell
A YEAR AFTER ITS much-anticipated launch, Microsoft's Windows 2000 is in a place that might surprise some people -- right where the industry expected it to be: on the brink of big things but not quite there yet.
In 2000, application support for Windows 2000 lagged behind the client/server operating system, as many Microsoft critics predicted. Now, however, that support is strong and getting stronger, as Microsoft predicted. Many analysts urged large companies to hold off big deployments of Windows 2000 because of issues such as application support and new technologies such as Active Directory. Many enterprises took that advice, but Microsoft also secured several high-profile adopters who say there was no reason to wait.
The overall picture points to strong, if not outrageous, success for the software giant's core product, one on which executive after executive said they would "bet the company." And many see more success in the immediate future. According to Framingham, Mass.-based IDC, Windows 2000 is on the verge of surpassing its predecessor, Windows NT, as Microsoft's leading server platform and could do so as early as July. "Windows 2000 isn't overwhelming the world just yet," says IDC Program Director Dan Kusnetzky, "but it is now growing faster than our conservative projections."
The only operating system other than Windows 2000 for which IDC saw an increase in its market share last year was Linux, the open-source software that Microsoft says is giving it fits. President and Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer has proclaimed for months that Linux is Public Enemy No. 1 at the Redmond, Wash., campus, but company officials also have a laundry list of reasons why Linux won't beat Windows -- in the back office or on the desktop. The debate will only pick up in 2001, as both Windows and Linux gain momentum.
Familiar concerns
With Windows 2000, Microsoft officials have made much of their tackling the "abilities" -reliability, scalability, usability among them. The company says Windows 2000 is the best Windows it has ever built and is pushing its enhanced "abilities" as a key focus for corporate America heading into post-New Economy waters.
"Some of the failures of dot-coms are centered on the companies not being fiscally responsible," says Bob O'Brien, group product manager for Windows 2000 Server. "They go out and buy what they consider to be the Cadillac of technology but then couldn't deploy it fast enough to get a return on investment." O'Brien contrasts that scenario with the Windows 2000 experience of the St. Petersburg, Fla.-based Home Shopping Network (HSN), which built, in 45 days, a Web site that automatically determines whether a user is a business partner or a customer and offers relevant business-to-business or business-to-consumer information instantly.
HSN's experience
Symantec Backup Exec 12 and Backup Exec System Recovery 8 deliver industry leading Windows data protection and system recovery. Download this whitepaper to find out the top reasons to upgrade and how to get continuous data protection and complete system recovery.
Data and system loss — from a hard drive failure, malicious attack, natural disaster, or simple human error — can happen anytime. Don’t leave your business vulnerable. Make sure you have a secure recovery strategy in place. Symantec's latest backup and system recovery technology can efficiently restore critical applications, individual emails and documents and even restore your entire system in minutes in the event of a loss.
Businesses face a growing challenge to ensure that the IT environment is properly protected. Backup Exec 12 integrates with other applications in the Symantec family of products, to complement your current data protection strategy, keep your data securely backed up and make it recoverable when you need it most.
