Microsoft Turns Up The Heat On Windows 2000
Users
Companies that rely on Windows 2000 face tough, end-of-lifecycle
choices as Microsoft pushes upgrades to Windows Vista, 2003, and
Longhorn Server.
By Brian Livingston
InformationWeek
Dec 15, 2006 09:31 AM
With the recent release of Microsoft's newest potential cash cows,
Windows Vista and Office 2007, the company is expecting a wave of
upgrades from users seeking the latest functionality. But what if
you're not looking for new bells and whistles? What if you want to
keep your old operating systems, such as Windows 2000, running as
long as possible?
Microsoft isn't making it easy for you. Office 2007 and the
software for the company's much-hyped Zune music player won't
install on Windows 2000. As other new products emerge from
Microsoft in 2007 and beyond, more and more of them are likely to
leave Windows 2000 out of the party.
Which of these installation restrictions are caused by a real lack
of capabilities in Windows 2000, however? Are any of them merely a
"squeeze play" by Microsoft to convince buyers that it's necessary
to immediately upgrade all PCs to Vista and all servers to Server
2003 or the forthcoming Longhorn Server?
One example of this conundrum is Microsoft's Windows Defender
program. This antispyware program can be downloaded for free, but
it will only install on Windows XP, Server 2003, and higher. The
application won't install on Windows 2000, according to Microsoft's
own product documentation.
Users have reported, however, that this is simply an artificial
rule built into the Installshield package that copies Defender
files to disk.
The installer contains a condition defined as VersionNT > 500.
(Windows 2000 is technically considered version 5.0 of Windows NT.)
Admins who've removed this condition using Orca, an Installshield
editor, say Defender then installs and runs fine on Windows 2000.
(For information on editing Installshield .msi files with Orca, see
Microsoft Knowledge Base article 255905.)
Full article
An even better reason to turn down Microsoft products. 
