Few apps likely to be deemed Win 2K optimized soon

by Sharon Gaudin

December 22, 2000 —

Don't expect too many products to carry the optimized-for-Windows-2000 logo when the new operating system starts shipping, a Microsoft official said yesterday.

While there will be a lot of applications that are compatible with Windows 2000 when it ships -- meaning they will run on the operating system -- relatively few will be deemed tuned to take full advantage of Win 2K features such as its revamped directory.

Yesterday, Microsoft announced a new program that will certify applications are optimally tuned for Windows 2000, along with some third-party testing tools to put it into practice.

"Customers said this needs to be a hard-core specification," Craig Beilinson, Microsoft product manager for Windows NT, said yesterday. The company has been criticized for past certification programs by users who felt such programs were too easy to meet, he said.

The Win 2K certification program is "more technically rigorous than anything we have posted before. We have really raised the bar on this one," Beilinson said. "If we get to RTM [release to manufacturing] and there are thousands and thousands of applications with the certified logo, then we've made the certified logo to easy to attain."

Beilinson wouldn't estimate how many applications might pass the process before the operating system ships, saying only it should be "a relatively small number."

Computer World