Win2K vs WinXp

[TripTych]

Could anyone point me to some good Win2k vs WinXp links?

Specifically I'm interested in gaming benchmark scores between the two, and
if Winxp gives a slight improvement in framerates (ive never used Winxp).
But I am also thinking about self teaching myself and getting an MCSE in the
next year. Am I correct to assume I will need to be on a Win2k network to do
this? I don't know much about what WinXP has and doesn't have in terms of
networking, does it incorporate all the features of Win2k?

Any info would be appreciated: Which is best to learn on? Which is best to
game on?

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Could anyone point me to some good Win2k vs WinXp links?

Specifically I'm interested in gaming benchmark scores between the two, and
if Winxp gives a slight improvement in framerates (ive never used Winxp).
But I am also thinking about self teaching myself and getting an MCSE in the
next year. Am I correct to assume I will need to be on a Win2k network to do
this? I don't know much about what WinXP has and doesn't have in terms of
networking, does it incorporate all the features of Win2k?

Any info would be appreciated: Which is best to learn on? Which is best to
game on?

The obvious place to start:

Windows XP Professional Comparison Guide
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/evaluation/whyupgrade/featurecomp.mspx

For MCSE course work, Win2K is virtually obsolete. It is no longer
generally available, and it's mainstream support is ending in the near
future. You'll do better to learn Windows Server 2003. (Knowledge of
Win2K will remain useful for sometime to come, but I wouldn't seek any
in-depth certificates in it.)

Product Lifecycle Dates - Windows Product Family
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=fh;[ln];LifeWin

As for gaming, WinXP is usually the better choice. Most of WinXP's
enhancements over Win2K are in the realm of multimedia. WinXP also
provides somewhat better compatibility with older games. Remember,
Win2K was designed primarily for the corporate environment, WinXP was
built with both corporate and home users in mind.


--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:



You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on having
both at once. - RAH

 

[Jim Byrd]

Or maybe even better than either of those, Windows Media Center Edition 2005
on a relatively high-end processor?

--
Please respond in the same thread.
Regards, Jim Byrd, MS-MVP



In

Could anyone point me to some good Win2k vs WinXp links?

Specifically I'm interested in gaming benchmark scores between the
two, and if Winxp gives a slight improvement in framerates (ive
never used Winxp). But I am also thinking about self teaching myself
and getting an MCSE in the next year. Am I correct to assume I will
need to be on a Win2k network to do this? I don't know much about
what WinXP has and doesn't have in terms of networking, does it
incorporate all the features of Win2k?

Any info would be appreciated: Which is best to learn on? Which is
best to game on?

The obvious place to start:

Windows XP Professional Comparison Guide
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/evaluation/whyupgrade/featurecomp.mspx

For MCSE course work, Win2K is virtually obsolete. It is no longer
generally available, and it's mainstream support is ending in the near
future. You'll do better to learn Windows Server 2003. (Knowledge of
Win2K will remain useful for sometime to come, but I wouldn't seek any
in-depth certificates in it.)

Product Lifecycle Dates - Windows Product Family
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=fh;[ln];LifeWin

As for gaming, WinXP is usually the better choice. Most of WinXP's
enhancements over Win2K are in the realm of multimedia. WinXP also
provides somewhat better compatibility with older games. Remember,
Win2K was designed primarily for the corporate environment, WinXP was
built with both corporate and home users in mind.

 

[TripTych]

The obvious place to start:

Windows XP Professional Comparison Guide
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/evaluation/whyupgrade/featurecomp.msp
x

For MCSE course work, Win2K is virtually obsolete. It is no longer
generally available, and it's mainstream support is ending in the near
future. You'll do better to learn Windows Server 2003. (Knowledge of
Win2K will remain useful for sometime to come, but I wouldn't seek any
in-depth certificates in it.)

Product Lifecycle Dates - Windows Product Family
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=fh;[ln];LifeWin

As for gaming, WinXP is usually the better choice. Most of WinXP's
enhancements over Win2K are in the realm of multimedia. WinXP also
provides somewhat better compatibility with older games. Remember,
Win2K was designed primarily for the corporate environment, WinXP was
built with both corporate and home users in mind.


--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:

Thanks for the info Bruce... I realize I'm a serious newbie and my questions
will sound silly to most readers in these NGs. But I do plan to start going
down the mcse/mcsa path in the next year, am I correct that step #1 would be
to get a copy of Windows 2003 Server and hope it does the job for my gaming
needs? I need to learn but I'd like to feed my gaming habits How does
Windows 2003 Server compare to the Win2k Pro I use now, in terms of gaming &
FPS & price? (will it even run games? is it thousands of dollars to
purchase?). Or for my purposes will I need both Win2003 Server (learning) &
WinXP (gaming)?

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Thanks for the info Bruce... I realize I'm a serious newbie and my questions
will sound silly to most readers in these NGs. But I do plan to start going
down the mcse/mcsa path in the next year, am I correct that step #1 would be
to get a copy of Windows 2003 Server and hope it does the job for my gaming
needs? I need to learn but I'd like to feed my gaming habits How does
Windows 2003 Server compare to the Win2k Pro I use now, in terms of gaming &
FPS & price? (will it even run games? is it thousands of dollars to
purchase?). Or for my purposes will I need both Win2003 Server (learning) &
WinXP (gaming)?

To get started down the MCSE road, I firmly believe that one actually
should start with a couple years hands-on experience supporting
workstations and users in a networked environment. Also, Windows Server
2003 is no light investment, as well as being designed as a server OS,
which means it should make a poor gaming platform. You'll need to have
both workstation and server OS experience, so should probably start with
WinXP. You should also be able to find an MCSE course that includes a
free evaluation (time-bombed) version of Windows Server 2003.


--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:



You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on having
both at once. - RAH

 

[Kevin McNiel [MSFT]]

You can still download a 180 day evaluation copy of Windows Server 2003 from
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/evaluation/trial/evalkit.mspx.
Please note, I'm in the Support organization and don't know how long this
might be available. The page also has a link to order a DVD with 45 day
evaluation copies of other products including Windows XP, however, that DVD
shows to be out of stock as I type this.

These should give you something to get started with. As for my personal
opinion, and please take it as such, I agreed with Bruce, there is no
substitute for hands-on experience, and lots of it. Best of luck.

Kevin McNiel, MCSE/MCSA
Platform Server Setup Group

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