Microsoft Corp says that its forthcoming Windows 2000 operating system will bring eight-way systems to the masses. The company says it has made some changes to the multiprocessing capabilities of the various versions of the OS and addressed the major criticisms raised during the lengthy beta process.
There will now be four different versions of the OS which Microsoft is expecting to release later this year. Windows 2000 Professional is designed to be the desktop and laptop operating system for all types, and will support up to 2 processors. Windows 2000 Server is intended as a network operating system for small businesses, and will support up to 4-way symmetrical multiprocessing (SMP). Windows 2000 Advanced Server is envisaged as the operating system for the new 8-way systems. It will offer integrated clustering and load balancing. Windows 2000 DataCenter Server will be the most powerful server operating system it has ever offered, supporting up to 32-way SMP. Like Windows 2000 Advanced Server, it provides both clustering and load balancing services as standard features.
A spokesperson for Microsoft said that the SMP and packaging changes will not affect the ship date of Windows 2000. The operating system has suffered many delays with nearly a year between the release of beta 1 and beta 2 because of hardware incompatibility problems, However, BetaNews reports that Microsoft is now readying Release Candidate 2 for a September release, with the final RC due in October.
