Microsoft has been working on its Windows operating system for several decades. There are several versions and editions that we have been able to see over the years until reaching the current Windows 11. It has just been 22 years since the arrival of the mythical Windows 2000 , let’s see the functions that appeared then and are still in use.
How could it be otherwise and over time, the Redmond firm has adapted this operating system to current times and user needs. But with everything and with it there are certain characteristics and functionalities that are maintained . It is true that for many of them they receive constant improvements and there are many others that are added. But we must bear in mind that the arrival of Windows 2000 was an important advance in this particular sector of software.
To say that this was the version of Windows that went from being based on the mythical MS-DOS to making a totally independent operating system. Now, after 22 years, we can celebrate its appearance while recalling some of its main features that we can still benefit from. We must bear in mind that despite all that the Windows system has advanced, some of its basic elements and functions have been with us for a long time .
This is something that becomes especially clear if we consider that Windows 2000 has been one of the most important versions released by Microsoft.
Functions that appeared with Windows 2000 and remain
It is more than likely that many of you are more than familiar with some of the features that initially came to light in the mythical version of the system.
- Hibernate mode : Here we got our first look at the new Hibernate mode for our PC that greatly improved the existing Sleep mode . Basically this is because the current state of the computer is saved on the hard drive.
- Native USB Support – Here we first saw native USB 1.1 support which was eventually upgraded to support USB 2.0.
- User accounts : this is an extremely important element and considered basic in the most recent versions of the system. But you have to know that it wasn’t until Windows 2000 that we were able to activate multiple users independently in the software with their own settings and documents. In addition, here we already had the possibility of establishing independent permissions for each of these accounts.
- DirectX : here we find an extremely important element in everything related to the graphic section in the Microsoft system. Windows 2000 included it natively for the first time in order to improve its multimedia capabilities and the use of video games. It included DirectX 7.0 upgradable to version 9.0c which was later integrated into Windows XP.
- Group Policies: Group Policies also appeared to control, allow or block configurations and system functionalities when on a network. With all this, it was possible to make the system more efficient in terms of performance and security.
- File Compression and Encryption – Using NT’s legacy NTFS file system, the system offered encryption and compression capabilities. For all this, the SHA-1 encryption algorithm was used in order to protect important files against theft or data leakage.