What's the general consensus on supporting Windows 2000?

Question

What's the general consensus on supporting Windows 2000 for software distribution? Are people supporting Windows XP SP2+ for new software development or is this too restrictive still?

Answer 1

"OK" is a subjective judgement. You'll need to take a look at your client base and see what they're using.

Having said that, I dropped support for Win2K over a year ago with no negative impact.

Answer 2

A lot of computers at my company use Win2k, so we couldn't really drop support. It all depends on the client base.

Answer 3

With XP being 5/6 years old now, I think most home users will be using it, but many business users may still be using it. all in all, it depends on your target audience. Personally I would regard Windows 2000 support as a bonus rather than a requirement.

Answer 4

This is very subjective, it really depends who you're selling to.

If it's average Joe then Windows 2K owners are going to be at best a percent or two of your target market. If it's the military (who I believe still run 2K on their toughbooks) then you're in trouble.

Answer 5

Stackoverflow should have an "it depends" tag.

Answer 6

Is there an specific feature in Windows XP SP2 that is absent from, say, Windows 2000 SP4 (was that the last one?)

Answer 7

Its fine by me :) The company i work for (mining and construction) with <15k employees and we don't support Wink2k and have not for a while.

Answer 8

@Jon Limjap: The main reason is that .NET 3.5 requires Windows XP SP2+.

Answer 9

I'd say MS have made the decision for you if they themselves wont support it in .NET 3.5.

Answer 10

I would say yes, as most have switched to XP or vista, from what I can tell.

Answer 11

The latest version of WinRAR still supports Windows 95. Think about it, why is that? It's because WinRAR solves a extremely common problem - of unpacking a file. People still use older systems not because they like them, but because they are forced to by the hardware. If you're making a video game, sure, drop support for anything below XP SP2, but if you're making a program that solves a specific task, like converting an RTF to PDF, I don't see a reason not to support other systems.

Answer 12

It is not merely "OK"; it is a good idea. Anything to encourage the laggards to keep current is a good thing.