by The Executive Software Team



As we close in on the long-awaited release, two major events are occurring
which will be essential to anyone planning on upgrading to Windows 2000.
Plus, a virus alert about fraudulent Microsoft Y2K e-mail.

1

Windows 2000 Beta 3 Release Candidate 2 (RC2) has now been shipped and,
according to at least one Microsoft spokesman, it should be the last major
Beta release.  A third Release Candidate is possible, but any fixes
resulting from it should be minor.  Reports on RC2 from Beta sites have been
good, and many feel that the OS version is stable enough to implement
broadly. 

As we close in on the long-awaited release, two major events are occurring
which will be essential to anyone planning on upgrading to Windows 2000.

First, Microsoft has announced strong support by the developer community
worldwide.  More than 2,200 independent software vendors (ISVs) building
more than 4,600 applications are participating in the Microsoft Developer's
Network (MSDN) Windows 2000 Readiness Program.  Over 1,000 of these ISVs are
ready to ship their products concurrent with the release of Windows 2000.
In addition, the Windows 2000 Developer Center on MSDN Online has become the
fastest-growing MSDN Online feature ever, with more than 50,000 developers
having visited the site in the last month alone.  To meet the demand from
the developer community and to support developers as they build applications
for the Windows 2000 platform, Microsoft recently launched several new and
enhanced resources, include Visual Studio development system 6.0 with the
Windows 2000 Readiness Kit and the Visual Studio Solutions Center for
Windows 2000.  In addition, the MSDN Library is making dramatic changes to
licensing policies in an effort to make Windows 2000 development information
more widely available to developers around the world.  Developers will be
able to take advantage of the new and existing resources for optimizing
Windows 2000 and can obtain more information by visiting one of these Web
sites:

- Visual Studio Solutions Center for Windows 2000
http://www.msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/win2000/

- MSDN Windows 2000 Developer Center
http://msdn.microsoft.com/windows2000/

- MSDN Library
http://msdn.microsoft.com/subscriptions/

- Windows 2000 READY Products:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows2000/ready/

Second, Microsoft has announced the Microsoft Windows 2000 certification
track for Microsoft Certified Systems Engineers (MCSEs).  The premier
credential includes the core skill set necessary to design, develop and
manage medium-sized to very large computing environments using Windows 2000
and the BackOffice family of integrated server products.  The new track is
the latest move by Microsoft to continue raising the standards of
certification by including performance-based exams, adaptive testing
techniques and emphasizing troubleshooting.  Candidates with at least one
year of experience implementing and administering a network operating system
will likely be most successful in passing the exams.  More details about the
Windows 2000 certification courses can be found at
http://www.microsoft.com/mcp/certstep/mcse.htm

2

Virus Alert:  Fraudulent Microsoft Y2K E-mail

Microsoft is warning customers to be suspicious of e-mail appearing to come
from Microsoft with Y2K as the subject.  An e-mail message containing an
executable known as Y2Kcount.exe falsely appears to be coming from
Support@microsoft.com and has already been maliciously distributed to
Microsoft customers through e-mail.  Officials at Microsoft warn
unsuspecting customers who open the e-mail message and execute the
attachment that their computer system may be susceptible to a virus.  This
e-mail attachment should not be opened, but deleted immediately.

Microsoft advises anyone looking for Microsoft-specific Y2K information to
visit Microsoft's Y2K Web site at http://www.microsoft.com/y2k/  If
Microsoft does send e-mail messages to its customers regarding Y2K updates
or security patches, it is solely to inform them that they are available and
will only provide links to the Microsoft download sites.  Microsoft never
attaches the software itself to the respective e-mail.

As many as eight different versions of the e-mail messages are thought to be
in circulation.  For security and protection purposes, consumers who receive
e-mail with software attached should delete it from their systems.

@Macarlo, Inc.
@Macarlo's Shareware & Web
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