The myth of Windows Workstation 2008
section: windows, for your questions: KezNews forum, 17.7.2008
Tip: Click here to update all your PC's outdated driversFor a few months now I’ve been hearing stories from people who claim to be getting a much better Windows experience by ditching Windows Vista and adopting Windows Server 2008 as a desktop operating system.
But are there any benefits to throwing your copy of Vista into the bin and running Windows Server 2008?
Windows Server 2008For a few weeks now I’ve been experimenting with Windows Server 2008 as a “Workstation” OS on a few virtual and physical systems and I’m not so convinced that it’s as workable as some people suggest.
The first gotcha is price. While Windows Vista isn’t cheap by any stretch of the imagination, Windows Server 2008 commands an enterprise-level price tag. Just compare the list prices:
* Windows Vista Ultimate (system builder): $239.99
* Windows Server 2008 Standard (system builder): $999.99
Do you think it’s a drawback that Windows Server 2008 costs as much (if not more) than a really nice desktop PC? I do.
OK, but let’s put the price on one side (after all, what does a thousand bucks buy you these days, a few tanks of gas …) and assume that you have a generous employer, money to burn, a fairy godmother, access to MSDN/TechNet or just want to experiment with a trial version (which you could legally run for 240 days), does the reality of Windows “Workstation” 2008 live up to the hype/myth?
A note about costs: Consider that money that you spend of Windows Server 2008 as a first installment of your membership dues to the Windows “Workstation” 2008 club. Get used to consumer anti-virus and backup tools not working on Windows Server 2008 and having to pay over the odds for server versions of those products. Windows Server ownership doesn’t come cheap - I know this from personal experience.
The short answer is not really. Since I know you’re not going to be happy with the short answer, here’s the longer version of the answer.
The problem with using Windows Server 2008 as a desktop OS is that setting it up isn’t a matter of installing the OS, getting the drivers loaded, doing a few tweaks and then you’re done. No, the problem I found with the Windows “Workstation” 2008 model is that you are forever fighting the fact that you are running a server OS that’s just not designed to be a desktop OS, and which other software you try to run looks at as being weird at best, or just not supported at worst. Sure, you can, with time and effort, make Windows Server 2008 look and feel a lot like Windows Vista (loads of information on how to do this here), and most problems that you encounter are fixable given time and effort, but there are no end to these issues and after you fix one issue you’re onto the next.
source:
blogs.zdnet.com
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Comments(11)
it seems as though microsoft is starting to get worried that their server os might
actually perform better than vista sp1 does. i wonder how much microsoft paid zdnet to put
that story on the internet?
personal experience does tell me that server 2008 is
faster than vista, and the biggest reason i believe that is the case is because there is
no drm garbage in server 2008 and that makes microsoft a little edgy because they don't
have the control over their windows users like they do when people use vista.
what better way to try to regain some of that control than to try to say that server 2008
isn't good to use as a desktop os?
nice try microsoft, but i'm sticking with
my server 2008 enterprise that i have converted over to a workstation. it is faster than
vista, and i have a little more say over what i want to install as far as microsoft
software goes!
vista may have many fancy features but windows server 2008 get the job done. sure, you
have to spend some time tweaking it but in return you get performance and reliability. i
use it for business, so in everyday, windows server 2008 is better than vista, except in
incompatibility challenges. i don't have to stand all the stupid slowdown and crashes in
vista.
i've been using server 2008 for a while now, due to problems i had with vista, i find
that server 2008 is more responsive than vista, but pretty much everything that you have
in vista, you have in server 2008 aswell, dx10, sp1 although you have to do some tweaking
to have it look like vista. also some games have certain requirements, in order for them
to run, all the games i have run just as good as they would in vista. yup vista is too
bulky, and requires to much high end hardware to work well.
anyone heard of bittorrent? a little bird told me that if you look around on the
bittorrent circuit, you might find a copy of server 2008 for free! save $999.99 folks!
this story is crap, server 2008 takes app. 40 min extra to configure and maybe 2 reboots
(if you know what to do).
for the compatibility, i can't find any program
that doesn't work:
adobe suite (complete)
av (nod32, symantec, etc)
office
all browsers (opera, firefox, safari)
and more...
these all
work!
server 2008 is faster, more stable and provides much more options (and
no drm slowdown). it yust more pro than vista.. and, as said before; you can download it
via bittorent for free!
bah, microsoft must have sponsored this story!
after running several vista versions, right from te beta's i finally find the vista that
is right for me : windows server 2008 :) very stable, eats a lot less resources, no
software problems, no driver problems, no problems at all, tweaking the server edition in
to a desktop edition takes about half an hour and i don't mind to format my pc every 240
days :) like i allways say to visitors when they look at my pc : ceci n'est pas une vista
:)
cons:
no real crack but from vista
too mamy tweaks
lack of drivers
less attracted for apps
pros:
run fast and requires less resources
i haven't found a driver yet that works with vista, that won't work with server 2008
(32-bit), except for setpoint drivers, and even then you can use win2k drivers (i think
3.01 if i remember correctly).
i also havent found any vista drivers that havent work with x64 server 2008
contrary to all those "drivers" and "compatibility" issues, i find that win2k8 faster
than vista sp1, which i have installed on my partition 1 with win2k8 on partition 2.
well instead of tweaking all to look like vista, there is a program that will do it for
you
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Is Microsoft Worried?
By DragonOne on 17.07.2008 - 23:07