Here once was a great Windows 2000 archive. No more sadly.

Released worldwide on February 17, 2000, Windows 2000 started as Windows NT 5.0, the latest in the Windows NT line of professional Microsoft operating systems. Microsoft created Windows NT from scratch in the early 1990s as part of a fundamental shift away from MS-DOS-based versions like Windows 3.x.

Throughout the ’90s, Microsoft maintained DOS-based Windows along with NT to serve those who were still dependent on legacy MS-DOS and 16-bit Windows software. Microsoft was eager to transition to NT for all, but the system requirements for a reasonably useful Windows NT machine far exceeded what most consumers had at home.

By the late ’90s, many consumer PCs were finally powerful enough to run Windows NT, so they became ripe targets for potential Windows 2000 installations. Some at Microsoft hoped Windows 2000 would be the transition point for consumer Windows to become NT. However, Microsoft decided to hold off until Windows XP in 2001.

This made many who used Windows 2000 feel that much cooler for getting a taste of a stable Windows operating system ahead of time.