Appendix B -- Logging On and Logging Off

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Microsoft Windows 2000 is designed to be a secure operating system. One requirement of a secure operating system is that each person who uses the computer must have an existing user account, must log on, and must be authorized by the operating system before he or she can do anything useful with the computer. This is quite a departure from Microsoft Windows 98 and its predecessors, which allow anyone to log on—using an existing account name, by creating a new account, or by using no account at all. In fact, most computers running Windows 98 and earlier versions are set up so that users never need to log on at all, so this process might be new to you even if you're a longtime Windows user.