Editing Windows 2000 (section)

===Shell===
Windows 2000 introduces layered windows that allow for transparency, translucency and various transition effects like shadows, gradient fills and alpha-blended GUI elements to top-level windows.<ref>{{Cite web |date=June 30, 2010 |title=Layered Windows: MSDN |url=http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms997507.aspx |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111126235959/http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms997507.aspx |archive-date=November 26, 2011 |access-date=November 13, 2011 |website=Msdn.microsoft.com}}</ref> Menus support a new ''Fade'' transition effect.
[[Image:Windows 2000 Explorer.png|thumb|Improvements in [[Windows Explorer]]: "Web-style" folders, media preview and customizable toolbars]]

The [[Start menu]] in Windows 2000 introduces ''personalized menus'', expandable [[special folder]]s and the ability to launch multiple programs without closing the menu by holding down the <code>SHIFT</code> key. A ''Re-sort'' button forces the entire Start Menu to be sorted by name. The [[Taskbar]] introduces support for balloon notifications which can also be used by application developers. Windows 2000 Explorer introduces customizable Windows Explorer toolbars, auto-complete in Windows Explorer address bar and Run box, advanced file type association features, displaying comments in shortcuts as tooltips, extensible columns in Details view (IColumnProvider interface), icon overlays, integrated search pane in Windows Explorer, sort by name function for menus, and ''Places bar'' in common dialogs for ''Open'' and ''Save''.

[[Windows Explorer]] has been enhanced in several ways in Windows 2000. It is the first [[Windows NT]] release to include [[Active Desktop]], first introduced as a part of [[Internet Explorer 4.0]] (specifically [[Windows Desktop Update]]), and only pre-installed in [[Windows 98]] by that time.<ref name="ActiveDesktop">{{Cite web |last=Esposito |first=Dino |date=June 2000 |title=More Windows 2000 UI Goodies: Extending Explorer Views by Customizing Hypertext Template Files |url=http://msdn.microsoft.com/msdnmag/issues/0600/w2kui2/ |url-status=dead |publisher=MSDN Magazine |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070824221802/http://msdn.microsoft.com/msdnmag/issues/0600/w2kui2/ |archive-date=August 24, 2007 |access-date=August 26, 2007 |df=mdy-all}}</ref> It allowed users to customize the way folders look and behave by using [[HTML]] templates, having the [[file extension]] <code>HTT</code>. This feature was abused by [[computer virus]]es that employed malicious scripts, [[Java (programming language)|Java]] applets, or [[ActiveX]] controls in folder template files as their infection vector. Two such viruses are VBS/Roor-C<ref name="VBS/Roor-C">''[[Sophos]]'', [http://www.sophos.com/security/analyses/vbsroorc.html VBS/Roor-C threat analysis] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071130063527/http://www.sophos.com/security/analyses/vbsroorc.html |date=November 30, 2007 }}. Retrieved August 26, 2007.</ref> and VBS.Redlof.a.<ref name="VBS.Redlof.a">{{Cite web |date=January 15, 2004 |title=Virus.VBS.Redlof.a |url=http://www.viruslist.com/viruses/encyclopedia?virusid=25409 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071028171026/http://www.viruslist.com/viruses/encyclopedia?virusid=25409 |archive-date=October 28, 2007 |access-date=August 26, 2007 |website=Viruslist.com}}</ref>

The "Web-style" folders view, with the left Explorer pane displaying details for the object currently selected, is turned on by default in Windows 2000. For certain file types, such as pictures and media files, the preview is also displayed in the left pane.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Managing Files, Folders, and Search Methods: Microsoft TechNet |url=http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/windows2000serv/reskit/prork/prde_ffs_sleq.mspx?mfr=true |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090112123850/http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/windows2000serv/reskit/prork/prde_ffs_sleq.mspx?mfr=true |archive-date=January 12, 2009 |access-date=November 13, 2011 |website=Microsoft.com |df=mdy-all}}</ref> Until the dedicated interactive preview pane appeared in [[Windows Vista]], Windows 2000 had been the only Windows release to feature an interactive media player as the previewer for sound and video files, enabled by default. However, such a previewer can be enabled in previous versions of Windows with the [[Windows Desktop Update]] installed through the use of folder customization templates.<ref>{{Cite web |date=January 31, 2000 |title=How to Enable Preview for Multimedia Files |url=http://support.microsoft.com/kb/191242 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121117013423/http://support.microsoft.com/kb/191242 |archive-date=November 17, 2012 |access-date=March 29, 2012 |publisher=Microsoft}}</ref> The default file tooltip displays file title, author, subject and comments;<ref name="ToolTipHandlers">{{Cite journal |date=November 2000 |title=Windows 2000 Registry: Latest Features and APIs Provide the Power to Customize and Extend Your Apps |url=http://msdn.microsoft.com/msdnmag/issues/1100/Registry/ |url-status=dead |journal=MSDN Magazine |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030415200916/http://msdn.microsoft.com/msdnmag/issues/1100/Registry/ |archive-date=April 15, 2003 |access-date=August 26, 2007 |df=mdy-all}}</ref> this metadata may be read from a special [[NTFS]] stream, if the file is on an NTFS volume, or from an OLE [[COM Structured Storage|structured storage]] stream, if the file is a structured storage document. All [[Microsoft Office]] documents since Office 4.0<ref name="OLEStructuredStorage">{{Cite web |last=Kindel |first=Charlie |date=August 27, 1993 |title=OLE Property Sets Exposed |url=http://msdn.microsoft.com/archive/en-us/dnarolegen/html/msdn_propset.asp?frame=true |access-date=August 26, 2007 |website=MSDN Magazine}} {{dead link|date=June 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> make use of [[COM Structured Storage|structured storage]], so their metadata is displayable in the Windows 2000 Explorer default [[tooltip]]. [[Computer shortcut|File shortcuts]] can also store comments which are displayed as a tooltip when the mouse hovers over the shortcut. The shell introduces extensibility support through metadata handlers, icon overlay handlers and column handlers in Explorer ''Details view''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Windows 2000 UI Innovations: MSDN Magazine |url=http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/dvdarchive/cc748674.aspx |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090605191715/http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/dvdarchive/cc748674.aspx |archive-date=June 5, 2009 |access-date=November 13, 2011 |website=Msdn.microsoft.com |df=mdy-all}}</ref>

The right pane of Windows 2000 Explorer, which usually just lists files and folders, can also be customized. For example, the contents of the system folders aren't displayed by default, instead showing in the right pane a warning to the user that modifying the contents of the system folders could harm their computer. It's possible to define additional Explorer panes by using [[Div (HTML tag)|DIV]] elements in folder template files.<ref name="ActiveDesktop" /> This degree of customizability is new to Windows 2000; neither Windows 98 nor the Desktop Update could provide it.<ref name="WindowsShellExtensions">{{Cite web |date=June 2000 |title=Figure 1 Windows Shell Extensions |url=http://msdn.microsoft.com/msdnmag/issues/0300/w2kui/w2kuifigs.asp |publisher=MSDN Magazine |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040831153932/http://msdn.microsoft.com/msdnmag/issues/0300/w2kui/w2kuifigs.asp |archive-date=August 31, 2004 |access-date=August 26, 2007}}</ref> The new DHTML-based search pane is integrated into Windows 2000 Explorer, unlike the separate search dialog found in all previous Explorer versions. The [[Windows Indexing Service|Indexing Service]] has also been integrated into the operating system and the search pane built into Explorer allows searching files indexed by its database.<ref>{{Cite web |date=November 6, 2009 |title=What is Indexing Service?: MSDN |url=http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms689718.aspx |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110101192618/http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms689718.aspx |archive-date=January 1, 2011 |access-date=November 13, 2011 |website=Msdn.microsoft.com}}</ref>