Windows 2000 Server provides the ease of administration, reliability, and scalability needed by any business. This edition is bundled with the new Internet Information Server (IIS) 5.0 and contains built-in support for up to four CPUs. With a wide variety of new server technologies and tools, this new OS raises the bar for powering applications with Intel hardware, both on and off the Web.

While Windows NT 4.0 certainly won points for ease of administration and a wide range of tools for Web applications, Windows 2000 marks a significant increase in reliability and performance. For one thing, Microsoft has worked hard to reduce the need to reboot this operating system, and with support for plug-and-play, you can change hardware and software settings while keeping your server online.

The technology behind Windows 2000 offers new integration of cutting-edge technologies for today's multitiered Web applications. Under Windows NT, various server-side features were spread out among different tools. Windows 2000 integrates transaction and resource management, message queuing, and distributed objects into its new COM+ standard. The powers of COM+ and the new emphasis on reliability and scalability add up to a Web platform you can entrust with more and more of your business.

Of course, ease of administration is still a strength. Windows 2000 offers both browser-based and stand-alone tools for simplifying Web, software, and hardware administration. A significant new technology here is the Active Directory standard (based in part on LDAP), which can simplify maintaining corporate directories. (For instance, phone numbers for your entire organization can now be stored in a single place.) With some planning, Windows 2000 is ready to reduce your administration TCO, with support for such features as pushing software installations to clients. New policy-based administration makes it a snap to manage accounts and security settings.

Whether you are new to Windows or upgrading from NT, Windows 2000 offers a truly compelling array of technologies and tools for getting more reliability and performance out of Windows and the Intel platform. It's a server-side solution that can do serious work for any business organization--for both its corporate intranet and Internet presence. --Richard Dragan