**********************************************************************
                       "Read First" Release Notes
                  Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional,
                        Windows 2000 Server, and
                      Windows 2000 Advanced Server
                          Release Candidate 3
                             October 1999
**********************************************************************

This document provides late-breaking or other information that
supplements the Microsoft Windows 2000 documentation. There are
several release notes files on your Release Candidate 3 (RC3) compact
disc (CD):

   * Read1st.txt (important preinstallation information, located in
     the Windows 2000 CD root directory)
   * Setup text file series located in the \Setuptxt folder on your
     Windows 2000 CD
   * Readme.doc (compatibility and post-installation notes, located in
     the Windows 2000 CD root directory)

Information in this document, including URL and other Internet Web
site references, is subject to change without notice and is provided
for informational purposes only. The entire risk of the use or results
of the use of this document remains with the user, and Microsoft
Corporation makes no warranties, either express or implied. The
example companies, organizations, products, people, and events
depicted herein are fictitious. No association with any real company,
organization, product, person, or event is intended or should be
inferred. Complying with all applicable copyright laws is the
responsibility of the user. Without limiting the rights under
copyright, no part of this document may be reproduced, stored in or
introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by
any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or
otherwise), or for any purpose, without the express written permission
of Microsoft Corporation.

Microsoft may have patents, patent applications, trademarks,
copyrights, or other intellectual property rights covering subject
matter in this document. Except as expressly provided in any written
license agreement from Microsoft, the furnishing of this document does
not give you any license to these patents, trademarks, copyrights, or
other intellectual property.

(c) 1999 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Microsoft, MS-DOS, NetShow, Windows, Windows Media, and Windows NT are
either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in
the U.S.A. and/or other countries.

This product contains graphics filter software; this software is based
in part on the work of the Independent JPEG Group.

The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the
trademarks of their respective owners.

======================================================================
How to Use This Document
======================================================================

To view Read1st.txt onscreen in Notepad, maximize the Notepad window.

To print Read1st.txt, open it in Notepad or another word processor,
and then on the File menu, click Print.

======================================================================
Read Me First
======================================================================

Welcome to Windows 2000 RC3. This release expires 444 days from the
date of installation.

Print and read this document for critical preinstallation information
concerning this release.

For the most up-to-date list of supported hardware, see the Hardware
Compatibility List at the Microsoft Web site 
(http://www.microsoft.com/).
Your Windows 2000 CD includes a copy of this list (\Support\Hcl.txt)
that was accurate as of the date Windows 2000 was released.

After you install Windows 2000 RC3, print and read the Release Notes
file (Readme.doc), which is located on the Windows 2000 RC3 CD, for
critical usage information.

New features are described in detail in Windows 2000 Help. To view
Windows 2000 Help after you install this release, click Start, and
then click Help.

To get the latest documentation on the Web for Windows 2000
Professional or Windows 2000 Server:

   * View the latest documentation for Windows 2000 Professional by
     visiting the Windows Home Pages on the Microsoft Web site at: 
     http://www.microsoft.com/isapi/redir.dll?prd=Win2000&sbp= 
     Professional&ar=Help&sba=webhelp
     
   * View the latest documentation for Windows 2000 Server by visiting
     the Windows Home Pages on the Microsoft Web site at: 
     http://www.microsoft.com/isapi/redir.dll?prd=Win2000&sbp= 
     Server&ar=Help&sba=webhelp
     
   * Download the latest documentation to your computer from Windows
     Update on the Microsoft Web site at: 
     http://www.windowsupdate.microsoft.com/isapi/redir.dll?prd= 
     windowsupdate
     
For the latest release notes and updates, visit the Windows 2000 Beta
Web site at: http://ntbeta.microsoft.com/

Contents 
1.0 Terminal Services-License Management 
2.0 Microsoft Distributed Transaction Coordinator 
3.0 Upgrades to Windows 2000 with QEMM 97 Installed 
4.0 Upgrading from NetShow(tm) 1.0 Is Not Supported
5.0 Silicon Graphics 320/540 Visual Workstations 
6.0 Future Microsoft Support of the Alpha Processor

======================================================================
1.0 Terminal Services-License Management
======================================================================

Windows 2000 includes new license management functionality for
Terminal Services. Using Terminal Services License Management, you can
manage Terminal Services client access licenses (CALs) and Internet
connection licenses from your license server. To use Terminal Services
in application serving mode in Windows 2000, you must install Terminal
Services Licensing on a Windows 2000 server on your network. To do
this, select Terminal Services Licensing in the Windows Component
wizard. For more information about installing Terminal Services
Licensing, see Windows 2000 Server Help.

Then, complete the following tasks by using the Licensing wizard in
the Terminal Services Licensing administration tool:

   * Activate a Windows 2000 Terminal Services license server.
   * Install client licenses on the license server.

Most Beta 3 customers who are upgrading to RC3 Terminal Services must
reissue any client licenses used during beta testing. Only those
customers participating in the limited Terminal Services License
Management Beta 3 are exempt from this license reissue requirement.
Terminal Services detects non(Terminal Services License Management
client licenses and attempts to replace them with Terminal Services
License Management licenses.

When you use the Licensing wizard to obtain CALs or Internet
connection licenses, you must specify how your company purchases
licenses. Microsoft's volume licensing customers can use the following
licensing information:

   * Select and Enterprise Agreement program customers can use their
     Enrollment agreement number.
   * Open License program customers can use their Authorization Number
     and License Number.

 Note: This is for testing license acquisition processes only. To use
Terminal Services in Windows 2000 RC3, you do not need to purchase
CALs or Internet connections.

Customers who do not purchase Microsoft products through either the
Select, the Enterprise Agreement, or the Open License programs must
obtain a license code. For testing purposes, the RC3 kit includes a
license code for 20 Terminal Services CALs. If your kit does not
contain a license code, you can obtain one from the 
Microsoft Windows 2000 Server Terminal Services Licensing 
Web site at: http://licensecode.one.microsoft.com/


For additional information about Terminal Services Licensing, see the
following resources:

   * Chapter 3, "Planning Your Windows 2000 Server Installation," in
     the Microsoft Windows 2000 Server Getting Started online
     book, which is located in the \Setuptxt folder
   * The white paper titled, "Windows 2000 Terminal Services
     Licensing," on the Microsoft Windows 2000 Server Web site at: 
     http://www.microsoft.com/windows/server/Technical/
     terminal/default.asp
   * Windows 2000 Help

======================================================================
2.0 Microsoft Distributed Transaction Coordinator
======================================================================

This section describes tasks that you must perform before installing
Windows 2000.

----------------------------------------------------------------------
2.1 MTS Application Transactions
----------------------------------------------------------------------

If you used Microsoft Transaction Server on Windows NT(r), Windows 95,
or Windows 98, and if your Microsoft Transaction Server application
updated an Oracle, IBM DB2, Informix, CA Ingres, or Sybase database
under distributed transaction control, you must ensure that no
transactions are in-doubt and require recovery before you install
Windows 2000. This is essential because Microsoft Distributed
Transaction Coordinator (MS DTC) now stores transaction-related
recovery information in a new way. Previously, MS DTC stored
transaction-related recovery information in a separate Dtcxatm.log
file. Transaction-related recovery information is now stored in the
Msdtc.log file, along with all other MS DTC recovery information. The
Dtcxatm.log file has been eliminated.

To ensure that no transactions are in-doubt and require recovery 
   1. Start the Microsoft Transaction Server Explorer, and use the
      Transaction List screen to verify that no in-doubt transactions
      exist on your computer. This ensures that no unresolved in-doubt
      transactions are affecting your Oracle, IBM DB2, Informix, 
      CA Ingres, or Sybase databases. 
   2. Use your Oracle, IBM DB2, Informix, CA Ingres, or Sybase
      database administration tools to verify that no in-doubt
      database transactions exist that originated from 
      Microsoft Transaction Server. 
   3. If any in-doubt transactions exist, you should start MS DTC and
      your database, which allows automatic transaction recovery to
      occur. If in-doubt transactions remain, use your Oracle, IBM
      DB2, Informix, CA Ingres, or Sybase database administration
      tools to resolve them.

For more information, see "Networking and Communications" in
Readme.doc, located in the Windows 2000 CD root directory.

----------------------------------------------------------------------
2.2 Ensuring That No In-Doubt MS DTC Transactions Exist Before
    Installing Windows 2000
----------------------------------------------------------------------

If you used Microsoft Transaction Server on Windows 95 or Windows 98,
you must ensure that no in-doubt MS DTC transactions exist on the
Windows 95 or Windows 98 operating system before you install Windows
2000. This is essential because installing Windows 2000 on a Windows
95 or Windows 98 operating system changes the identity of MS DTC on
that system. Other MS DTC systems are no longer able to communicate
with MS DTC using its previous identity.

To ensure that no in-doubt MS DTC transactions exist on the Windows 95
or Windows 98 operating system 
   1. Start the Microsoft Transaction Server Explorer, and use the
      Transaction List screen to verify that no in-doubt 
      transactions exist on your computer. 
   2. If any in-doubt transactions exist, you must resolve them using
      the procedure for "Resolving MTS Transactions," which is 
      described in the Microsoft Transaction Server 
      Administrator's Guide. This guide is available on the 
      Microsoft Transaction Server CD.

For more information, see "Networking and Communications" in
Readme.doc, located in the Windows 2000 CD root directory.

======================================================================
3.0 Upgrades to Windows 2000 with QEMM 97 Installed
======================================================================

After you install QEMM 97 on computers running Windows 95 or Windows
98, the application makes changes to the Autoexec.bat and Config.sys
files, which limits memory in the system. If you attempt to upgrade to
Windows 2000 with these memory limitations, on some systems a message
appears indicating that not enough memory is available to upgrade to
Windows 2000. This message appears even though the system may have
more than 32 MB of physical memory, which is the minimum requirement
to install Windows 2000.

As a workaround, before you upgrade to Windows 2000, ensure that
enough memory is available on the system by using either of the
methods described below.

Method 1 
   1. Disable any lines in the Autoexec.bat and Config.sys related to
      QEMM 97. 
   2. Restart the computer. 
   3. In Control Panel, check the System properties to verify that the
      correct amount of memory is reported. 
   4. Attempt to upgrade to Windows 2000 again.

Method 2 
   1. Rename Autoexec.bat to Autoexec.xxx. 
   2. Rename Config.sys to Config.xxx. 
   3. In Control Panel, check the System properties to verify that the
      correct amount of memory is reported. 
   4. Attempt to upgrade to Windows 2000 again.

======================================================================
4.0 Upgrading from NetShow 1.0 Is Not Supported
======================================================================

Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 Enterprise Edition includes NetShow On-Demand
Server and Administrative Tools version 1.0 as part of the default
installation. Therefore, you may have installed NetShow 1.0 on your
computer during Windows NT 4.0 installation. You cannot upgrade from
NetShow 1.0 to Windows Media(tm) Services 4.0. If you attempt this
upgrade, an error message appears.

Before you upgrade to Windows 2000, if you want to install Windows
Media Services, you must uninstall NetShow 1.0 from your computer. To
uninstall NetShow 1.0, use the Remove NetShow On-Demand Server and
Administrative Tools link in the NetShow program group. After you
uninstall NetShow 1.0, you can install Windows Media Services.

======================================================================
5.0 Silicon Graphics 320/540 Visual Workstations
======================================================================

To install Windows 2000, Silicon Graphics (SGI) 320/540 visual
workstations require a programmable read-only memory (PROM) upgrade.
In Silicon Graphics 320/540 visual workstations, the PROM is similar
to a BIOS. If you are not running version 1.1000 or later of the PROM,
Windows 2000 Setup stops and displays a message indicating that your
PROM is an older version and that you must upgrade the PROM before you
can continue with Windows 2000 Setup. If necessary, you can restart
your computer, and choose the previous installation of Windows NT 4.0
rather than the default Windows 2000 Setup startup option.

SGI also provides additional recommended drivers and software for use
with Windows 2000. To obtain the PROM upgrade, the additional
recommended drivers and software, and more detailed instructions,
visit the SGI customer support Web site, called "Supportfolio Online,"
at: http://support.sgi.com/nt/

Note: Web addresses can change, so you may be unable to connect to
the Web site mentioned here.

======================================================================
6.0 Future Microsoft Support of the Alpha Processor
======================================================================

For information about support for the Compaq Alpha processor, visit
the Microsoft Windows NT Server Web site at: 
http://www.microsoft.com/ntserver/nts/news/msnw/compaq.asp


 

