=== Why Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional? ===


The need is for a computer that will act as a Host (Server).  What 
Operating System will provide the best solution?  Lets investigate:

A very wealthy person could have built for them a computer of any 
hardware design, controlled by a custom written Operating System.  This 
is an impractical solution for most persons, so we need to limit our
choices.  First lets look at hardware:

The computing hardware must be relatively modern.  This is for practical
purposes.  Replacement parts are extremely difficult to find for older 
computers.  Computing hardware must also be relatively common.  Again 
this is for replacement part purposes; but also because common hardware 
is more likely to be supported by vendors of add-on peripherials, and 
because purchasing costs will be cheaper (due to market forces).

By far, the computing hardware that best meets this criteria is a PC 
using an Intel Pentium (or compatible) CPU with PCI Bus.

Now lets turn to the Operating System.  There have been many commercial 
and hobby Operating Sytems written for the PC, so we need to do some 
winnowing.  First, the software must be stable and not require frequent 
rebooting.  Stability also means avoiding Operating Systems that can 
only be installed/re-installed through the Internet, or which requires
a Registration if there is a change to hardware (such as Windows XP).  

Second, the software must have a reasonable support structure.  This is 
so patches can be added to the Operating System to support new 
peripherials, protocols, or discovered vulnerabilities.  Note that this 
does NOT automatically exclude older Operating Systems, but it does 
make them less desirable candidates.


Based on what we have determined so far, our short list consists of:

BeOS, [ver 5+]
FreeBSD (or DragonFly BSD), [ver "recent"]
Linux, [ver "recent"]
MsDOS (or equivalent DOS), [ver 5+ (with 3rd party drivers/utilities)]
MsWindows 2000, [ver Professional]
MsWindows 98, [ver second edition]
NetBSD (or OpenBSD), [ver "recent"]
Warp OS/2, [ver 4+]

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BeOS= At first this seems to be an excellent canditate.  The OS is 
very stable, and it was desgined from the start to handle multi-media. 
Unfortunately, the software is no longer being manufactured, and it is
NOT in the public domain (so it is becomming less and less compatible
with modern PC hardware).  The real killer however, is that the 
directon the manufacturer took was to make BeOS the perfect CLIENT.
There are very few Server software packages available for this OS (with
the exception of one Outstanding streaming audio server package), and
in some cases NO Servers at all for some of the older protocols (no
Gopher Server software for example).  Of all the software on the list, 
this OS has the least support from hobbiest programmers.  

DOS= One normally wouldn't consider a 16-bit OS for a Server host.  
However, due to its being at one time ubiquitous on the PC, there have 
been many Server software packages written for DOS.  Dos still has a 
very active user community, and there are new drivers to support most 
modern hardware peripherials.  Where DOS is the weakest, is in TCP/IP 
support.  Most Server software was written for modem interfacing.  

Windows 98= This Operating System will run many DOS applications, and 
virtually all software written for Window 3.x, Windows 95, and Windows 
ME.  The disadvantage is that many high quality Servers were designed 
to run only under Windows NT, and so they cannot be used with Windows 
98.  Also, Windows 98 is not particularly stable, and it has many 
vulnerabilities, making it -THE- most exploited and virus attacked OS.

-----

This then leaves us with only 3 realistic contenders:

FreeBSD (or Linux, NetBSD, or other Unix-like Operating System)
Warp OS/2
Windows 2000

Each of these Operating Systems would make a good choice, but of the
three, I would pick Windows 2000.  Why?  Of the three Win2k is the 
most compatible with current hardware, and will probably be compatible 
with near future hardware (Win2k is still being fully supported by 
the manufacturer and nearly all hardware vendors).  There is at least 
one Win2k compatible Server software package available for nearly every 
Internet protocol.  Every service technition, no matter where in the 
world they live, is intimately familiar with the GUI.  There is a huge 
support structure of hobbiest and commercial software programmers.  
The software, when properly configured (i.e., with much of the unneeded
bells-and-whistles stripped away), is quite stable.  There are Server 
software packages available that are virtually invulnerable to attack.

Warp may be more stable, and a Unix-like OS may be more customizable;
but for the TYPICAL Server host, Windows 2000 professional (NOT the 
"server" version with its built-in and highly vulnerable Host software)
is an excellent all-around choice.  I would reccomend it for Both a  
Server Host and a primary Client (with the vast availability of 
emulation programs for Win2k, there is hardly any application or gaming 
program that cannot be run on a Windows 2000 client).  

.