Here it is, another review of W2KAS! I have only used the advanced server for a few months now and can begin to see the advantages shining through. I am not an MS junky and have had experince of most operating systems over the years, i.e. UNIX, OS/400, Linux, NDS, NT, 95, 98 VAX, DECS etc etc on networks of 10 - 3000 users so I am no easy push over when it comes to the crunch. I was disappointed when first installing, the desktop still looks 98. A bit cheap and a bit dated. But, when you get down in the bowels things start to become more warm and fluffy.

Active Directory:
At last! Ask any Novell sysadmin and this is the bit that was always missing from NT. The major advantage of AD is that it uses DNS/DDNS for non-MS clients and LDAP. This means that connections can be made over the internet via the traditional route of name resolution to AD objects. PKI is also integrated here as well embracing the full key management needed for Internet authentication and e-commerce

DNS/DHCP:
This is also integrated into AD. Very clever! Your pools and zone files slip neatly into your partitions so management is easy for locations and groups of users.

Internet Services:
This is where MS will cash in. More good solid integration. LDAP for NetMeeting1,2,3 support is included for multicasting, conference hosting etc. All these up-to-date communication aides are there built in. Needs a bit of fiddling but works well and very fast. Streaming multimedia also. Just bought RealServer 7.0? Never mind! Not so seamless as RealServer but does the job admirably. Who can complain when its bundled with the OS cost? IP telephony (H.323) is supported as standard with the LDAP service. This means any audio enabled workstation can 'phone' another from the directory service. When you have WAN connections, this can save a fortune on comms costs!

File/Print etc.
The traditonal stuff is still there. Easily distributed v
ia AD from anywhere. Load balancing is also bundled for dispersed applications. Internet printing is also supported allowing server-to-server hosting and queue mangement.

There are far to many features to list here. The man complaint with MS has been cost. When you look into the product this feature rich, go out and price up the average alternatives on the market and see how close you can get to the OS price. I could only get a 5:1 ratio in MS favour! Don't knock it unless you can find something more cost effective.