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I did not use NT at home, but I occasionally used it at school. For me at that time, the ability to play games had been as strong a requirement as the ability t
by ptero 4y ago
I did not use NT at home, but I occasionally used it at school. For me at that time, the ability to play games had been as strong a requirement as the ability to be stable and run word processing, email clients and VC++. So I would use Win95 and curse its (in)stability and reboot several times per day, but not switch to NT. Also, NT cost an arm and a leg for a student.
Win2k was a huge improvement in every respect. My 2c.
- Wowfunhappy 4y agoDidn't Windows 2000 also cost an arm and a leg?
- ptero 4y agoThis is ancient memory for me, but it definitely didn't feel this way. Some plausible options are: (1) Win2k Home was much cheaper than Win2k Pro. Possibly an upgrade version was cheaper still. (2) I had a bootleg version (3) I started working for real money in 1999 so didn't care that much (4) An OEM CD came with the computer hardware kit.
- Wowfunhappy 4y agoOkay, well fwiw you made me curious enough to look this up: https://www.cnet.com/tech/tech-industry/microsoft-outlines-windows-2000-pricing/ https://www.cnet.com/tech/tech-industry/microsoft-outlines-w... > When it debuts in February, Windows 2000 Professional will sell for an estimated retail price of $319, the same as its predecessor, Windows NT 4 Workstation. Note that there was no "home" edition of Windows 2000. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_2000 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_2000 So it's one of 2, 3, or 4.
- ptero 4y agoThank you for the info! As I said, I definitely remember Win2k, but not how I got it. My guess is OEM CD to be most likely, then bootleg, then full retail. Another option was student bookstore. Microsoft sold its wares at universities at steep discounts. Edit: a sister comment jogged my memory. I bet it was either a giveaway by an EECS dept or a heavily discounted disc from the university bookstore. Which is why I do not remember paying a noticeable sum for it.
- goosedragons 4y agoThere was no such thing as Windows 2000 Home. That would have been 98 or ME at the time. XP is were they consolidated the two.
- wkat4242 4y agoThey had actually planned one but withdrew this at the last moment, replacing it by ME which was a hastily scrambled version of 98 with a 2000 look on it. And extremely unstable, at least at launch. I still wonder how they would have thought this was better in any kind of way. A windows 2000 home release could not possibly have had as many problems as ME.
- BearOso 4y agoI was in a computer science program and the department literally just gave Windows 2000 keys away. They had a booklet with sheets of stickers and just said take whatever you want. It was easy to give to your friends. When Windows XP came out, Microsoft unfortunately made them report every key given out, and the free ride was over.
- ptero 4y agoI bet that was it! I either got a sticker like this or got it at the university store as a free add-on to a 90% discounted VC++.
- goosedragons 4y agoMSRP $319 for 2000 Professional vs. $109 for Windows 98. There was also an upgrade from 95 or 98 for $219.