Windows 2000 is an operating system developed by Microsoft as part of its Windows NT line of operating systems. It was released on February 17, 2000, succeeding Windows NT 4.0 and was aimed at businesses, offering a more stable, secure, and scalable platform than its predecessor.
The development of Windows 2000 began in the mid-1990s under the codename "Windows NT 5.0". It was initially planned to be a major release that would merge the Windows 9x consumer line with the Windows NT business line. However, this plan was abandoned due to significant architectural differences between the two platforms. Instead, Windows 2000 focused on enhancing the features for enterprise and professional users:
Windows 2000 was released in several editions:
Support for Windows 2000 ended on July 13, 2010, marking the end of security updates, technical support, and hotfixes. Users were encouraged to upgrade to newer operating systems like Windows XP or Windows Server 2003 for continued support.
Despite its end of life, Windows 2000 left a lasting impact on the design of future Microsoft operating systems: