SEATTLE -- CIOs and IT managers say they will stay away from Windows 2000, Microsoft's new operating system, until the bugs are worked out.
Depending on the stability of the new beta coming out next month, the world's largest software company hopes to release the software formerly known as NT 5 later this year, though a firm release date is still up in the air. Microsoft refers to the product as Windows 2000 Professional to differentiate it from the Windows 98 package for consumers that is currently available.
Dataquest operating-systems analyst Chris LeTocq says businesses should wait for the first bug-fix release before diving into Windows 2000.
"[Businesses will] be a little bit wary because this has seen substantial delays," he said. "By all accounts it's a complete rewrite. We'll see a very significant trial period."
Windows 2000 finally enters its third beta version after problems with stability and compatibility with 32-bit programs held up the programs' release.
"We thought NT would have been ready in 1998," said Nabisco vice president Buddy Fiume. The company is testing the server program and has a task force planning an eventual Windows 2000 migration.
Still, Fiume said he doesn't expect that to happen until a few months after Microsoft issues its first service pack of post-release bug fixes. The exec said the company chose NT 4 over Windows 95, expecting an earlier upgrade.
"I have kind of a bitter feeling about how the whole thing went," Fiume said. "We had to put a lot more energy going to NT [4] than we would have going to 95."
Windows 2000 is important in Microsoft's plans to gain ground in the corporate and enterprise market. It is also an important lead-in to the as-yet-unnamed successor to Windows 98, which also will be based on the NT kernel.
