David Gillett wrote: > On 28 Nov 2006 at 14:03, billhorn wrote: > > > I just have been handed down a couple of laptop computers. They are Compaq > > Evo N600c’s. They have Windows 2000 Professional as the operating system and > > I don’t have any experience with this OS. My guess is Windows 2000 Pro is > > probably a “business orientated” operating system. I have a couple of > > desktop computers with XP Home and I have some experience with different > > versions of Windows 98. My question is-----is this operating system worth > > keeping or should I look into upgrading them to XP. I checked and it looks > > like I’d have to go with Windows Xp Professional to take the upgrade path > > and that looks to cost about $100. What will I be missing without going to > > XP? Will I have to buy special Windows 2000 software or will XP software run > > on 2000? > > Windows 2000 was the mid step between NT and XP. The vast majority of XP > software will also run on it, although some applications originally built > for 95/98/ME will work better on XP than on 2000. I don't believe Microsoft > is still issuing security patches for 2000, so that could motivate an > upgrade to XP. In Microsoft's last monthly security briefing to IT professionals (12/13/06), it stated that security patch support would extend through 2010 for the general public. On a related note, Microsoft no longer provides security patch support to the general public for for Windows 98/98SE, Windows Me or Windows NT. For the specific lifecycle support timeline for Windows 2000 Professional: http://support.microsoft.com/lifecycle/?LN=en-us&x=16&y=9&p1=3071 (Extended support retired includes security patches) For finding the lifecyle timeline for any particular Microsoft product: http://support.microsoft.com/gp/lifeselect Hope that helps. mjp -- Matt Perry PCSOFT's List Owner's: Bob Wright<[log in to unmask]> Drew Dunn<[log in to unmask]>