With the release of Microsoft Windows 2000 last week commentators have been quick off the mark in assessing the new product.

One of the first is the GartnerGroup (www.gartnergroup.com) whose analysts warned companies they may be forced to pay thousands of dollars in additional licensing fees for the new corporate operating system.

Well that's no news to most of us jaded consumers who are besieged by the latest update and are made to fork out cash every year or two for a product we know is planned for obsolescence.

Windows 2000 is intended as an upgrade to Windows NT, which is designed for operating corporate computer networks. By comparison, most home users use Windows 98 and its earlier version Windows 95. Home users can look forward to dipping into their pockets for what's billed as a minor upgrade to Windows 98, code-named Millennium, due out later this year.

Meanwhile, businesses are having to take a hard look at additonal expenses on upgrading their systems to Windows 2000. The consensus among the various analyst reports and reviews seems to be that Windows 2000 is a good upgrade based on the additional security features it incorporates and the ability to allow notebook users to connect more easily.

However, most advise businesses to proceed slowly on implementation while various bugs and incompatibilities are worked out and the full costs are assessed. For example the GartnerGroup study found that many of the additional fees for Windows 2000 are in the nature of hidden costs, mainly to the client access license. This is a type of key, called a passport, that allows a user at a Windows 2000 desktop to connect to a server. These cost between $5 to $190 in extra expenses per computer, above what the customers pay for Windows 2000.

The GartnerGroup estimates 70 percent of businesses plunging into their pockets for Windows 2000 through to 2001 will pay anywhere from 16 percent less to eight percent more in license fees, compared with buying Windows NT v.4, and up to 80 percent more compared with the Millennium Edition desktop and NT v.4 server.

And 80 percent will save between 23 percent and 40 percent by upgrading Windows 2000 servers with Version Upgrade licenses instead of Upgrade Advantage. For example the standard Win2000 server license, is 15 percent to 24 percent more expensive than the standard NT Server v.4.

For new purchases, the GartnerGroup estimates the price increases will be minor. For upgrades from Windows 98 and 95 the system is expected to cost 16 percent less than an upgrade to Windows NT version 4.

Unfortunately, those companies already using NT v.4 servers, pricing has increased ''significantly and for desktops, Microsoft is effectively removing the option for further upgrades to Win9x technology, forcing a more expensive upgrade to Win2000'' according to the study.

Another move by the master company is the promotion of its "Select'' form of customer licenses, which are valid for two years and lock customers into Windows purchases for 24 months.

So the prognosis is: Business executives had better understand the costs and options available before they get in the hash out room with their information technology specialists.

GartnerGroup reported that most of the businesses surveyed planned to take a conservative approach and wait six to 18 months before wide-scale implementation of Windows 2000.

"GartnerGroup believes that enterprises should follow a conservative plan when deploying Windows 2000 servers,'' the agency stated. ''We recommend that server deployments prior to Service Pack 1 be limited to work-alike production pilots.'' Meanwhile, a reviewer at ZdNet (www.zdnet.com) raved about the new corporate operating system saying that that while Windows 2000 is not for everyone, it deserves accolades for its advanced security features, platform supports, better compatibility for notebook users, and stability.

"For starters, Windows 2000 is practically crash-proof,'' one reviewer at the publishing company boasted. "Really. If you've grown accustomed to rebooting your PC every few hours, whether you need to or not, you'll probably be shocked by smooth operation measured in weeks or months.

"Thanks to memory protection, ill-behaved programs can't lock up the rest of your system, and the dreaded Blue Screen of Death -- a system crash typically caused by a poorly written hardware driver -- is practically an endangered species.'' The downsides are some hardware and software incompatibilities, and again the hidden costs including the need for further training. Another company, The Giga Information Group, estimates that the total cost in a corporate environment could run between $970 and $1,640 per desktop system in the US.

Factor in the Bermuda equation when attempting to get a rough idea of cost on the Island.

Still, businesses look set to eat the cost and move on since the alternatives are sparse. Research company IDC estimates that Microsoft will continue to ''dominate the client operating environment market and come to dominate the server operating environment market'' with Windows 2000.

Unfortunately, these outlooks don't forecast any good for competing systems and especially for Linux, the free, open source operating system that's attempting to challenge the Microsoft dominance.

News to know: Cable & Wireless has started negotiations with the Government of Trinidad and Tobago over moves to dismantle the company's monopoly on the Island nation.

Following Bermuda's example, several Caribbean nations are currently moving to end the company's monopolies in their markets in the hope of driving down the prices. Jamaica terminated the company's exclusive licence for telecommunications last year.

Other very small islands in the eastern Caribbean are preparing a joint approach to Cable and Wireless. The Trinidad negotiations revolve around a dispute over Cable & Wireless' 49 percent stake in local telecommunications provider TSTT.

Cable & Wireless has controlling stakes in eight other English-speaking Caribbean countries, not including the 49 per cent holding in Trinidad.

Forrester consultancy is holding the Business-To-Business Technology Leadership Forum "Inventing Next-Generation eCommerce'' in Scottsdale, Arizona from February 28 to March 1. Go to www.forrester.com for more information.

Tech Tattle deals with topics relating to technology. Contact Ahmed at ahmedelamin y hotmail.com or (01133) 467012599.