According to a study by Sunbelt Software, which regularly surveys the IT community about Windows NT, Microsoft's latest operating system is its most reliable yet. The independent study concludes that Windows 2000 is twice as reliable as Windows NT 4.0 and three times as reliable as Windows 98. The findings refer to the desktop version of each operating system, Windows 2000 Professional and Windows NT 4.0 Workstation.
In the survey, Sunbelt polled over 1000 customers at corporations that had evaluated release candidate builds of Windows 2000 Professional. Over 90% of the participants responded that Windows 2000 was more reliable than Windows 98, while more than 75% agreed that Windows 2000 was more reliable than Windows NT 4.0.
"Customers equate desktop operating system reliability with the ability to do more stuff, more of the time. This leads to greater overall productivity and helps organizations realize better bottom-line benefits," said Stu Sjouwerman, the president of Sunbelt Software. "The more than 1,000 customers that responded to the survey overwhelmingly felt that Windows 2000 Professional was more reliable than earlier versions of Windows - proof that Microsoft is clearly delivering reliability for customers."
Improved reliability was always one of the key goals of Windows 2000, according to Microsoft. New features such as System File Protection (SFP), driver certification, Microsoft Software Installer (MSI), Plug and Play, as well as a 70% reduction of the number of actions that require reboots combine to make Windows 2000 more reliable than its predecessors.
"Customers have told us that reliability is the most important requirement for a business operating system. It can mean the difference between achieving business goals or losing business if systems aren't performing at the levels customers expect," said Deborah Willingham, Microsoft's vice president of Windows Marketing. "With Windows 2000, Microsoft has set a new bar in the area of reliability by addressing our customers' reliability needs and, at the same time, lowering total cost of ownership. The operating system allows customers to achieve their business productivity goals by providing a stable platform that enhances desktop productivity and decreases service disruptions when operating servers.