What's Up with Windows 2000?

Microsoft's Allchin emphasizes reliability in the next-generation operating system.

By Sharon Gaudin

Computerworld, 08/03/99

Jim Allchin, whose job is to get Windows 2000 out the door at Microsoft, sat down with Computerworld last week and talked about the trade-offs Microsoft made in developing Windows 2000 and customer migration issues.

Q: A lot of analysts are advising clients not to migrate to Win 2000 until one or two service packs are released. Are you expecting orders will be slow in the first six months?

A: We're not looking at a service pack any time soon. You can look at the initial release of Windows 2000 as more reliable than NT 4.0 with any service pack, even the most current one. [RC1] of Windows 2000 can handle more stress than anything NT can take. ... I think [analysts] are doing a disservice to their clients. They're putting up with reboots and other weirdness, and they don't have to.

Q: You've talked quite a bit about weighing increasing reliability with compatibility between NT 4.0 and Windows 2000. Did you sacrifice compatibility for reliability?

A: Reliability is one of the core problems we haven't been hardcore about. And with Windows 2000, I'm trying to be... We're still struggling with it. It's a hard trade-off, but corporate people say [sacrificing compatibility for stability is] the right thing.

Q: What are some of the things you've done to increase reliability?

A: We've really attacked the issue of rebooting. There will be significantly less of that... And we're going to vendors and saying, "You've got a problem with leaking memory, and you've got to fix it." Leaking memory and drivers are a big problem. And when an application crashes because it's got problems, we're still blamed... We're getting drivers tested and certified.

Q: Corporate users have told us they're concerned about the number of migration tools they'll need, adding to costs and complexity.

A: People do not have to buy additional tools unless they want to. Everything needed will be available with the purchase price. We have some tools coming. If it's not on the CD, they can get it on the Web. We will have as few tools as possible. I don't like lots of tools.

Q: What changes did you make after the release of Beta 3?

A: We tweaked the user interface, and we're trying to get as many drivers on as possible. And it's just been bugs, bugs, bugs... Between Beta 3 and RC1, we fixed 11,000 bugs.

Q: Will you offer a new pricing package for Windows 2000?

A: We've improved the packaging... We'll be talking about it fairly soon.

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