The Look and Feel of Server 2008

When you take your first look at Windows Server 2008, you'll find that many of the traditional tools that graced Server 2003 are still around: the Computer Management console; the System Information utility; the Services console; and so forth. Administrative Tools are still in a Start menu folder named "Administrative Tools," and you can start feeling fairly comfortable with the GUI if you have background with prior versions of Windows.

If you have logged some flight time with Windows Vista, things will look even more familiar. Windows Server 2008 has the look and feel of Windows Vista. (Which makes sense, when you consider that both products were developed under the "Longhorn" moniker, and share many megabytes of code.) The new collapsible Startmenu, the Vista-style search facilities, as well as some of the tools (such as Windows Firewall with Advanced Security) look just as they do in the Vista GUI.

Where things change a bit is in the Server Manager console (ServerManager.msc, typically under C:\Windows\System32), which is really the "nerve center" of Server 2008. Parts of this console are simply convenient pointers to other administrative tools. However, the "Roles" and "Features" nodes may be unfamiliar to you. I'll explore both of these aspects of Server 2008 and more in future blog posts.