Way back in the computer Pleistocene era (that is, about ten years ago), PCs were unimpressive creatures, to be sure. Their capacity was limited, their processing was slow, and their interface was all text. Nevertheless, they were great at tasks that were difficult, time-consuming, and boring for humans. In most businesses, PCs rapidly took over the data manipulation, calculation, and word-processing chores that people hated doing. And the more the PC could do, the more was demanded of it. Hardware and software both had to improve rapidly to meet that demand.
In those early and dark ages, the PC’s basic operating system was some version of DOS (Disk Operating System). Like all other operating systems, DOS is software that acts as an internal traffic cop—allotting memory, disk space, and central processing unit (CPU) time to applications, networking software, or peripheral (add-on) equipment. The operating system also keeps track of your files and does all the other behind-the-scenes chores necessary to keep a complicated piece of machinery running.
DOS had weaknesses, including a very limited memory space and a remarkable single-mindedness: Only one small application could run at a time. An early attempt to make the PC friendlier was Microsoft Windows. The less said about the early versions, the better, but Microsoft stuck with it. Windows 3.1 actually worked—most of the time—though at heart, it was still just a dressed-up version of DOS. Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows Me were additional steps toward transcending DOS restrictions.
Right about the time of Windows 3.1, Microsoft embarked on a parallel path to develop an operating system suitable for the more demanding corporate environment: Windows NT. The first version of NT (version 3.1) was also pretty feeble. Few businesses adopted Windows NT until version 3.5, and Windows NT 4 was the first version to be adopted in large numbers for corporate networks.
Microsoft’s operating-system efforts have proceeded along two parallel tracks, because each Windows series is built on a different base of computer code. The tracks can work together and communicate with each other, but their basic kernels are not the same.
Windows 3.0, Windows 3.1, Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows Millennium Edition (Windows Me). Microsoft’s goal in developing what it now considers its “consumer” versions of Windows was to make them as compatible (with games, add-ons, and older programs) as possible. When that design goal interferes with security and stability, compatibility wins. Thousands upon thousands of different programs run on these operating systems.
Windows NT 3.01, Windows NT 3.5 and 3.51, Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000. What Microsoft now describes as its “business” Windows versions are designed for maximum stability and security. When those design goals conflict with compatibility, stability and security win. For example, every version of Windows NT worked with fewer applications than the Windows 95 family. (Fortunately, compatibility is less of an issue in Windows 2000.)
In short, Windows 2000 server is the successor to Windows NT 4 server, and Windows 2000 Professional is the successor to Windows NT 4 Workstation.
Windows 2000 comes in four versions, three of which are designed for use on network servers (central computers that provide services for the ordinary PCs—the workstations—in the company). These more expensive Windows 2000 editions (called Windows 2000 Server, Advanced Server, and Datacenter Server) look almost exactly like Windows 2000 Professional. In fact, you might not even be able to tell the difference when running your favorite programs. However, the Windows 2000 server editions include a large collection of networking features that generally require a professional network administrator to understand, install, set up, and maintain.
The fourth version, Windows 2000 Professional, is the subject of this book. Windows 2000 Pro’s primary role is to operate a workstation on a network—preferably a network served by computers running Windows 2000 Server. Windows 2000 Pro, in other words, is the software that drives the PCs on most employees’ desks.
Windows 2000 Professional also works very well on workstations in a peer-to-peer workgroup (a less complex network that you can set up yourself, without buying a server computer; see Chapter 15). Some people, welcoming its stability, even use Windows 2000 Pro on standalone (non-networked) computers at home or in a business, although the heavy-duty security features of Windows 2000 Pro aren’t usually necessary in a home setting.
To get the most out of Windows with the least frustration, it helps to become familiar with the following concepts and terms. You’ll encounter these words and phrases over and over again—in the built-in Windows help, in computer magazines, and in this book. For example:
Using the Right Mouse Button
One of the most important features of Windows isn’t on the screen—it’s under your hand. The standard mouse has two mouse buttons. You use the left one to click onscreen buttons, highlight text, and drag things around on the screen.
When you click the right button, however, a shortcut menu appears on the screen, like the ones shown in Figure 1-1. Get into the habit of right-clicking things—icons, folders, disks, text in your word processor, buttons on your menu bar, pictures on a Web page, and so on. The commands that appear on the shortcut menu will make you much more productive and lead you to discover handy functions whose existence you may never even have suspected.
Tip
If you’re left-handed, you can swap the functions of the right and left mouse buttons easily enough. Click Start→Settings→Control Panel. Then double-click the Mouse icon.
When the Mouse Properties dialog box opens, click the Basics tab, and where it says “Select the mouse button you want to use for most tasks,” click Right, then click OK. Windows automatically assumes that you therefore want to use the left mouse button as the one that produces shortcut menus.
There’s More than One Way To Do Everything
No matter what setting you want to adjust, no matter what program you want to open, Microsoft has provided five or six different ways to do it. To delete a file, for example, you can press the Delete key, choose Delete from the menu at the top of a window, use the DEL command at the Command Prompt, drag the icon onto the Recycle Bin, or right-click the icon and choose Delete from the shortcut menu.
Optimists point out that this abundance of approaches means that almost everyone will find, and settle on, a satisfying method for each task. Pessimists grumble that there are too many paths to every destination, making it much more difficult to learn Windows. Whenever you find a task has become irksome, remember you have other options.
Windows Wizards Smooth the Way
A wizard is a series of screens that walks you through the task you’re trying to complete. Wizards make configuration and installation tasks easier by breaking them down into smaller, more easily digested steps. Figure 1-2 shows an example.
To the joy of the powerful Computer Keyboard lobby, you can manipulate almost every element of a Windows dialog box by pressing keys on the keyboard. If you’re among those who feel that using the mouse takes longer to do something, you’re in luck.
The rule for navigating a dialog box is simple: Press Tab to jump from one set of options to another, or Shift+Tab to move backward. (If the dialog box has multiple tabs, like the one shown here, press Ctrl+Tab to “click” the next tab, or Ctrl+Shift+Tab to “click” the previous one.)
Each time you press Tab, you shift the PC’s focus to a different control or set of controls. Windows shows you what element has the focus using text highlighting (if it’s a text box or drop-down menu) or a dotted-line outline (if it’s a button). You can shift the focus in your Web browser or on the desktop, too.
Once you’ve highlighted a button or checkbox, you can press the Space bar or Enter key to “click” it. If you’ve highlighted a drop-down menu or set of mutually exclusive radio buttons (like the Orientation buttons in the Print dialog box), press the up or down arrow key.
You Could Spend a Lifetime Changing Properties
You can change almost every aspect of the way Windows looks and works. For example, you can replace the gray backdrop of the screen with your favorite photograph, change the typeface used for the names of your icons, or set up a particular program to launch automatically every time you turn on the PC.
When you want to change some general behavior of your computer, such as how it connects to the Internet, how soon the screen goes black to save power, and how quickly a letter repeats on the screen when you hold down a key, you use the Control Panel window (see Chapter 8).
Many other times, however, you may want to adjust the settings of only one particular element of the machine, such as the hard drive, the Recycle Bin, or a particular application. In those cases, you right-click the corresponding icon. In the resulting shortcut menu, you’ll often find a command called Properties. When you click it, a dialog box appears containing settings or information displays about that object, as shown in Figure 1-3.
Every Piece of Hardware Requires Software
A driver is the software that translates between your PC’s brain and the equipment attached to it. Windows requires a driver for anything you might attach to, or install inside, your computer—the mouse, keyboard, screen, floppy drive, CD-ROM drive, networking circuitry, modem, scanner, digital camera, and PalmPilot, among others. Without the driver software, the corresponding piece of equipment doesn’t work at all.
You can read much more about drivers in Chapter 16. For now, it’s worth noting that unlike Windows NT, Windows 2000 uses Plug and Play, a system that lets you connect a snew gadget to your PC without even having to think about the driver software. In most cases, Windows locates and installs the appropriate software driver automatically.
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