Also, enterprises that haven't deployed Active Directory should wait until they deploy Windows Server 2003, Bittman said.
Gartner expects about 70 percent of Windows Server 2003 business to come from companies migrating from Windows NT4, as Microsoft's support for NT4 ends late next year, Bittman said. Enterprises that still run Windows NT4 would be better off migrating to Windows Server 2003 than going first to Windows 2000. "Otherwise, you will be dealing with a fire, especially as far as security is concerned," he said.
However, there is no compelling reason to migrate from Windows 2000 to Windows Server 2003, unless an enterprise is refreshing its hardware or applications, Bittman said.
As a result, Gartner expects enterprise servers to be running under Windows NT, Windows 2000 and Windows Server 2003 in nearly equal measure by late 2005, he said.
Because of Microsoft's typical "five plus two" support life cycle for its operating systems, under which full support for business and development software is offered for five years, followed by two years of fee-based extended support, Bittman expects support for Windows 2000 to end in March 2007.
