Windows Server 2003 is more an update of Windows 2000 than a new operating system. This latest version of the base Windows NT technology now expands to support Microsoft's .NET Framework and new security initiatives. This book reflects these changes by expanding our previous book, The Ultimate Windows 2000 System Administrator's Guide.

Windows Server 2003 also represents the first time in the history of Microsoft's NT-based product line that the desktop code has been released separately from the server code. By the time Windows Server 2003 products reach the market, XP will have been available for over a year. To deploy Windows Server 2003, then, you'll need to know how to manage a complex mix of Windows Server 2003 and Windows 2000 and NT servers accessed by any one of a half-dozen Windows clients, not to mention a wide variety of third-party clients.

Windows Vista is the latest and greatest in the illustrious line of Windows operating systems from Microsoft.

You'll find Windows Vista Plain and Simple to be a straightforward, easy-to-read reference tool.

Because Microsoft has always focused on developers, providing high-quality documentation and high-quality development tools has been a high priority for them from the beginning. Visual Studio is the culmination of more than 20 years of development tools.

For some time now, Microsoft Windows (in all its incarnations) has been the dominant desktop operating system for businesses small and large. But in recent years, the platform has also made significant inroads into the server side of the equation.

Windows XP marks the biggest change to the Windows OS since the advent of Windows 95. It combines the stability of the NT/2000 operating system with the user-friendliness and hardware support of the consumer Windows lineand it does so literally because those two operating systems have been combined for the first time in XP.