But if it works for you and you are ready for a total machine meltdown and won't lose sleep because you did online banking, then why worry?
Bob
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Windows 2k's support ended about 3 years ago.
Yet it is still usuable as a modern OS (to some extent) as I prove typing this on a W2K virtual Machine.
I will be comparing everything to the pre-installed software (if there is a pre-installed software that does the same task as the program I am talking about)
Internet Explorer 5
IE5, being preinstalled with Win2K can barely be used
to browse the web, and a lot of websites simply don't work at all. But I have tried to use it and with some common programs. I list whatever thing I found that works with it here: (email, download etc.)
EMAIL:
Gmail in Internet Explorer 5 won't load, but switching to the basic HTML works completely and exactly like it does on a newer browser. I was able to send e-mails, and add attachments without any issues and it worked great.
DOWNLOAD SITES:
Most download sites can at least be accessed and browsed even if they normally don't display correctly at all. I found FileHippo to be the best one because it fully works and I was able to download a browser that can actually use the web today.
Pre-Installed
The MSN homepage does work but it does not display correctly.
Bing is totally messed up but can still (kinda) be used I guess?
ACID TEST
Acid 1 almost redered perfectly
Acid 2 shows the right colors and text but is a garbled mess.
Acid 3 won't load at all.
GOOGLE:
Google works fully and google images loads everything.
Youtube gives you an error saying upgrade your browser though.
Mozilla Firefox 11
Firefox 11 was installed along with an old version of flash and a very old version of Java. Everything loaded perfectly and it got 100/100 with perfect rendering on the Acid3 test!
Acid2 - Check
Acid1 - Check ![]()
Flash player 10 can play all imbedded videos.
But almost all the videos on the site itself will not load. Though there are exception and the comments still work.
DOWNLOADING MODERN APPS
The first thing I tried to install was 7-Zip and it installed the latest version and works perfectly.
Flash player 10 was installed and works.
Java 6 is compatible but a place to download it was not found.
THE FINAL WORD
For browsing the internet and sending emails this works. For playing games (websites and discs alike) this is really bad. I have gotten some games (like Age Of Empires) to run in it because those where released around the time Win2K came out.
Well that was my first post!
What do you think?
Discussion is locked
There's a Few Programs that still can be used Advanced system care 6, Office 2003 need W2k Sp3, Cdburnerxp,
Klite Codec Pack you can find programs For Windows 2000 go to www.oldapps.com they still have a few programs that still work hope this helps.
And I didn't write not to. I only wrote not to expose it and let me be clear here, not to expose it DIRECTLY to the internet because MSFT left it unpatched and the good news is that even behind a router you avoid learning more than you ever wanted to.
Bob
There's a lot you can still do with it. I prefer using Linux, but W2K is a good system, and no activation loops to get stuck into, like I did recently after upgrading my wife's motherboard and processor.
Getting that fixed in XP took longer than doing the hardware. I did load all the drivers before swapping motherboards, but turns out since the system was upgraded to SP3 and IE8, the activation would keep me locked out, but at the same time wouldn't connect to Microsoft for activation. I had to use Linux to go in and delete folders for IE7, IE8 and then run setup again to reinstall IE6 and reset the 30 day timer from the RUN line, before activation would work again. Until that happened even Safe Mode wasn't working. The biggest virus in XP is it's Activation! You can be sure when you are doing the most changes, requiring the utmost care, especially if wanting to keep the system intact as it already is, Microsoft activation will be there to spit in your face and since it's buggy too, it won't even work like it's supposed to after SP3 and IE7 are installed.
W2K can still use Avast Antivirus. Latest Firefox browsers will run in it with current Adobe Flash and other current plugins. Thunderbird email will work in it. Just make sure all 4 service packs and the Rollups are installed too. Internet Explorer through version 6 can be installed, but I'd not use IE at all. Also fairly recent Opera version 11.6 works OK on it. Of course the older Office like 2000 will work in it.
Hidden behind a router and firewall, W2K's biggest threat is from it's operator.
Many of the Linux distros now are at least as capable as W2K, even before beefing them up after installing from a LIVE CD or DVD. If only Windows installation and rescue disk were as versatile as the Linux ones are today. If you have a Linux system that is on the fritz for some rare reason, you can quickly boot from USB or DVD and be up doing what's needed either to fix it, or taking care of business till you can get around to it later on.
For someone who just MUST have a windows system, getting W2K off Ebay for $20 isn't a bad deal, and you never have to deal with activation treating you like a bully keeping you out of your perfectly legal system just because you changed some hardware on your computer.
I have a Dell Pentium 4 w/ 2 GB RAM. I have allocated 1.5 GB for Linux and .5 GB for Windows 2000.
It really is amazing to me how well Windows 2000 is running within Linux!
Well I just resurrected my old 2001 "dinosaur" laptop. its 20GB hard drive was bad so i had 1 extra PATA type 80GB hard drive (the rest i have are SATA),. Installed windows 2000. Since auto updates no longer work due to microsoft dropping support I had to find all the updates on archival websites. Starting with service pack 4 that i had burned to a CD years ago. Then installed the wifi drivers for the PC card wifi device, yea pc card as in PCMCIA. Added on my wifi network. I upgraded IE 5 to IE 6 from an archival website. Installed AVG free 2009 version. Firefox 12 and office 2003. Office 2003 service pack 3. Then the rest of the hot fix updates on archival websites around 300 or so. Downloading each one at a time, yea no mass download option. Then installing them 1 at a time, of course clicking the do not reboot option on the ones that had it.