Most people, including myself were under the impression that Win 2000 was replacing both NT and 98 as an all in OS for both business and multimedia. As far as I know this is false, it is only a NT replacement for business and server systems.
Microsoft are releasing an OEM (not sure if it will be retail as well) Windows 98 release 2 soon thought, this being built around the much more stable (from my personal experience) IE 5 not IE 4 and utilising any new technologies intorduced since the original release.
I think there is a bit of a fudge here.
Microsoft was adamant that Windows 2000 was the complete replacement of Win90 and NT. What has happened that as Uncle Bill calles it "the greatest development the human race has ever undertaken" as most of these undertakings is LATE, so the real king of spin decides to change the tune a bit.
Long term IF Win2000 ever gets out there and works MS will need to move the market over to it. But when is another question.
I remember telling Uncle Bill that I was going to go out and develop the most important software application ever developed. He Laughed and told me that that was rediculous. Then I told him the application was a system that could reliably tell you when the application you were developing was going to be finished.
He said he'd have his BIG checkbook ready for that one.
John Ferrick
Win2000 is still going to be the coming together of all the Microsoft Windows Operating Systems. It's just that Uncle Bill has moved the goal-posts a bit.
There will now be a 98 revision B later this year, and there will be a version C later still. This time though you can upgrade from A to B and C, and there will be cost of course.
Microsoft are just buying time because Win2000 is so late. Otherwise we all might get board if we didn't have something new to play with and start installing Linux or something...