The view through Windows 2000

We asked our online editor, Jeff Jones, to road-test Release Candidate 2 of the Y2K Windows operating system.

With the latest edition of Microsoft's Windows package about to hit the shelves, what will users be expected to learn about this integral piece of software? Is there anything to fear or will we be smoothly ushered into the driving seat of the "Y2K PC"?

At first glimpse it will come as a great relief to many that Windows 2000 "looks and feels" very similar to its 1998 counterpart. The icons are a little rounder maybe, but they're in the same place and can be manipulated in the same way. Similarly, the toolbars and the program files reside in their familiar positions on the desktop, and are just as accessible, although there was the addition of a "My Network Places" icon, so that Windows could be more accessible for local network applications. The help section had presumably been updated, however users were informed of all changes.

The impression given is that there is very little new about Windows 2000. Many would find it hard to argue that Windows 95 was a jump up from 3.1, and Windows 98 maybe a smaller step. Is it an indication that we are approaching an asymptote in terms of user friendliness in the Windows software, or has Microsoft just run out of ideas?

Personally, I find Windows 98 and 2000 very easy to use, mainly in regard to help, searching for files, installing programs and creating icons and shortcuts to run them from the desktop. One quibble is the "My Documents" and "My Pictures" folders which I can never seem to find a use for, however many people use them as ready made repositories for data. As soon as these files build up, a directory structure needs to be introduced and it makes sense to do this elsewhere.

There are issues that need to be addressed before it is ready for the general community

With respect to technical problems and bugs, there were a few with the previewed version. Some difficulties came from program crashes, which were not specific to a particular application. This was apparent with non-Microsoft programs such as Netscape, which refused to run at all on many occasions ("Netscape has generated internal errors and will be shut down"). Sometimes, this caused the rest of the applications that were open to crash, and often Windows itself. When this happened, Windows was extremely difficult to shut down/restart, and fairly drastic measures needed to be employed to do so. The restart process could take several attempts.

The other main problem was, curiously, the lack of compatibility between Windows 98 applications and Windows 2000. Several programs we wished to use that were written for 95/98/NT, would not run on 2000 - a fairly major concern for most users. For example, the Nokia Data Suite, which allows users to connect to the net via their (Nokia) mobile phone, was not compatible with Windows 2000. When we inquired, we were informed that Nokia "couldn't even consider it, until Windows 2000 came out". This is obviously not an isolated case, but one that could case major headaches for many.

In summary, while the overall look and feel of Windows 2000 is similar to its 98 counterpart, there are issues that need to be addressed before it is ready for the general community to sink their claws into it. Backwards compatibility and robustness are the main concerns, otherwise I would recommend staying with Windows 98. The last millennium was not that long ago.