“Chief among the new versions is the Data Center version which
is… targeted at the heart of corporate computing, but also
unashamedly targeted at the ballooning Internet market where Sun
Microsystems’ Solaris is currently dominant and where IBM, Compaq
and Hewlett-Packard are fighting for attention. The Data Center
version is scheduled to be released 120 days after the initial
release of the standard server version. The essence of this version
is availability, manageability and scalability and it will quickly
climb the hardware ladder from 8-way to 16-way to 32-way
capability.”
“Another version of Windows 2000 which will attract interest is
the embedded version. Microsoft has not drawn much
attention to this version yet, but it has a very interesting
underlying structure. Ed Muth regards it as one of the most
impressive engineering products of the Windows 2000 program. It
is aimed at the new devices market, which is now coming
alive in earnest, and it allows a device manufacturer to
configure a unique version of Windows NT to suit a specific
device. Thus beyond the irreducible kernel, it can include or
exclude the Windows routines, virtual memory, the disk subsystem
and so on. In effect the manufacturer can create a unique and
specific version and this, in theory, will be upgradeable. It will
also, of course, integrate well within Windows NT networks.”