Server 2k8 in Workstation OS

[EduTech]

Right so some of you might think i am crazy but here goes,

 

In the next few days i will be trimming down windows server 2008 standard so that it can be used as a workstation OS just like i did with server 2003 a while ago.

 

I have been using windows server 2003 as a workstation OS for about 2 years now and have never had any problems at all and it works great!

 

So now its time to do it with windows server 2008, there are many more people out there that have done this so i will be following there steps on how to do it.. seems pretty cool.

 

Apparently turning windows server 2008 into workstation OS is basically likea windows vista counterpart!

 

Will let you know what it turns out like.. =]

 

Will Post the guide i am using tomorrow.

 

James.

 

Edit:

 

Guide: The Way I See It : Using Windows Server 2008 as a SUPER workstation OS

Edited December 8, 2008 by EduTech

[FN-GM]

why are you doing it?

[EduTech]

why are you doing it?

 

There is no actual reason for doing it i be honest with you

 

Just finished installing all my programmes and that on there, no problems yet what so ever.. and runs much much faster then vista!!

[FN-GM]

Seems pointless to be as you would pay more for licensing. Also there is no point as such of you do some rimming it will be like XP anyway

 

If you want a fast OS why not use Mac

[EduTech]

lol, well i havent exactly trimmed anything away.. i think i used the wrong words in my first post (u know my english/grammer are bad lol)

 

and i knew u would say that!!

[DrPerceptron]

I was messing around with Server 2003 and Server 2008 a few days ago and they are leaps and bounds more responsive than their workstation counter-parts.

 

In server 2008's case, the file copying performance is awesome... by comparison to that of Vista.

 

 

I just wish I could activate my copy of Server 2008

[jcollings]

 

In server 2008's case, the file copying performance is awesome... by comparison to that of Vista.

 

 

I just wish I could activate my copy of Server 2008

 

Windows 3.1 file copying is awesome compared to Vista file copy!

[DMcCoy]

I was messing around with Server 2003 and Server 2008 a few days ago and they are leaps and bounds more responsive than their workstation counter-parts.

 

In server 2008's case, the file copying performance is awesome... by comparison to that of Vista.

 

 

I just wish I could activate my copy of Server 2008

 

2008 via rdp cannot be described as anywhere near "responsive". 2003 is very quick with rdp. I've actually aborted all my plans to move to 2008 server because it's so annoying while giving very few new features. I'm only using it for DCs as those are the useful features.

[EduTech]

Yes that is one major thing i have found, copying files between locations is so much faster then vista, the performance in the operating system is just so much quicker and smoother then windows vista.

 

I have a full 280 days i belive so i have a while.

 

I know that there will be programmes out there that wont install on server 2008, but to be honest with you out of all the software i install on my computer the only one that failed was "windows live messenger beta" i had to install MSN Messenger 8.0.

 

Will post some screenshots if i get chance. (Posted)

 

James.

Edited December 8, 2008 by EduTech

[EduTech]

So i have finished installing all my software, drivers are all up to date and the hardware i have externally installed. i have had no probems with drivers what so ever ever worked from the start.

 

Left4Dead played much better on this then it did on Windows Vista which i have installed before hand .

 

No software issue's bar windows messenger but thats does not bother me, i just instaled 8.0 which will do me fine.

 

Overall, if you want to get the features from Windows Vista but hate the OS with a passion, why not try 2k8 lol.

 

i know some of you might think it was useless, but this was just something to bypass the sunday afternoon =]

[kingswood]

It's not stupid- I have been doing this for nearly a year using one of my Technet licenses for 2008 Server! It's a fantastic desktop operating systems. Stable, very quick, and you can still have aero and all the themes etc from Vista that you want. If it weren't for Technet though I wouldn't be doing it- too expensive compared to Vista.

 

Have fun!

Edited December 8, 2008 by kingswood
stupid errors

[Diello]

The big bonus is having Hyper-V if you go that way. I like the MSFN instructions personally How to convert your Windows Server 2008... to a Workstation!

[pete]

Unless you really need it, don't turn on Hyper-V or your graphics performance will take a large hit.

[CyberNerd]

01:20 AM

So i have finished installing all my software, drivers are all up to date and the hardware i have externally installed. i have had no probems with drivers what so ever ever worked from the start.

 

It took you until 1am to patch and install drivers on a server. Thats quite funny. Completely pointless, but quite funny

[EduTech]

It took you until 1am to patch and install drivers on a server. Thats quite funny. Completely pointless, but quite funny

 

 

No you see, i got distracted half way through doing it.. so it was sitting at the login screen after installing windows for about 2hrs.

 

and when i posted, it was about 1hr after i had finished as i played left 4 dead for 1hr to see how it run.

 

[gregctaylor]

I use this at work. We are testing Windows Hyper-V and you can only RDP to Server 2008 using Vista or another server2008. As we are all XP (and staying that way) then I tried the server2008 as a PC route. Performance is amazing on a single 3GHz processor and 1GB RAM. I applied the latest graphics card driver and now have it running the full Aero desktop with little apparent speed difference. I gather that Windows 7 is supposed to be close to the performance of server2008 - let's hope so.

Greg

[PiqueABoo]

We are testing Windows Hyper-V and you can only RDP to Server 2008 using Vista or another server2008

 

Eh? I have RDP'd to a 2k8 server from the XP laptop I'm using now.

 

That might require the RDP client update (think that's in XP SP3, but I'd already installed it to play with 2K8 RC Remote Apps etc.).

[bizzel]

RDP on Windows server doesn't send images of the screen over the connection anymore if Aero is enabled. Instead, the server sends information that tells the client what to draw and where and the rendering is all done client-side; it's a much neater way of doing things.

[DrPerceptron]

RDP also depends on what level of RDP thingy you choose I think.

 

I only had XP working with the Less Secure option...

[gregctaylor]

There are a couple of recent posts which also suggest you can service pack and hotfix to solve the problem. This is a useful blog:

John Howard - Hyper-V and virtualization blog : Controlling Hyper-V VMs in Virtual Machine Connection over TS/Remote Desktop without a mouse

 

I should have said that the issue was the mouse.

 

Server 2008 was so impressive that I gave up looking to see if there was a fix. Perhaps MS should have released a desktop licence? In normal circumstances it is stupid to pay more for the licence than for the PC or laptop!

[matt40k]

Sorry, I must be missing something.

 

Firstly, yes, Server 2008 is more stable out of the box. It's tweaked to run background services much better then applications, thus the file copying.

 

The only thing that I think will cause a problem is AVG Free (or such) that does not allow to be installed on server. Windows 2008 is basically the vista kernel modded.

 

My final comment, and please can someone explain the logical reason for this, that Windows 2008 server, as in the OS Microsoft wants me to install on my DNS server, includes Aero as an option to install?!? I'm sure there must be one, I mean why would you put such a bloat feature on a stable OS?

 

I believe KB952155 would fix the XP > 2008 TS issue.

[PiqueABoo]

please can someone explain the logical reason for this

 

It's another ticked box in the flexible OS features list that costs MS nothing (or very little), and having gifted Core to the command-line warriors they needed something to keep the GUI-bound desktop icon arrangers happy?

 

I used to run NT3.5x & 2K server, but I wanted one for server relevant s/w dev etc. VMs were wonderful, but not as convenient then as they are now.

 

Aside: SysInternals pretty much made their name exploring how NT workstation could be persuaded to morph into NT server, and what MS did to prevent you fiddling

[gregctaylor]

That it a very interesting point. I can only see a reason to install Aero as a PC. Did MS think it might be a solution to Vista bloatware? If I were setting up a PC as a domain controller and DNS only then I would set up server core and install server core configurator. (Windows Server Core - CoreConfigurator to the rescue - Windowmaker's blog)

[matt40k]

I actually liked the sound of no-gui. I mean I can now redirect my console over serial and use Serial over IP. Much better then a KVM setup. You could actually do it over a 56k (or slower) modem!!

 

Don't like the idea of learn more commands tho lol!!!

[SYNACK]

I mean why would you put such a bloat feature on a stable OS?

 

Why is everyone so against Aero?, if anything it is one of the better things that was included in Vista. It is not just for flashy graphics but it is a completly new way for the OS to render its GUI. It is finally a replacment for the aged and overburdened GDI+ that has codebase trailing all the way back to Windows 3.1. It finally provides a window system that can cope with a crashed window without leaving a perminant video error on the screen till the GDI module is restarted and renders each window individually so that they can be moved without lag. The old way draws the screen as a whole rather than each window and has that many limitations with stuff like threading that it makes it a joke.

 

For a normal server this is largely unnessisary but for a terminal server this system should be much better at handling stuff like remote applications.