Everyone has been saying you can use Windows Server 2008 as a speedy alternative to Vista (albeit a more costly alternative). Ronald Barrett has done more than simply tell us it's great, he goes on to show us today as our Guest Blogger of the Day! Ron is author of the books "Administrators Guide to Office 2007 Servers" and "Adminstering Office Communications Server 2007" and we are happy to have his expertise today.
Take it away Ron!...
The angst and sorrow over what users call a “slow, bloated, and difficult operating system” is over, Windows Workstation has arrived to save the day!
You may be thinking, 'but we have not heard about Windows Workstation 2008?' That’s because Windows Workstation 2008 doesn’t exist... but don’t let that stop you.
A workable (and from what I have heard) fast alternative to Windows Vista is available. Now this is not an easy solution, and it may not even be too cheap depends on how you view things. You see, Windows Workstation 2008 is a “mod” version of Windows Server 2008.
Being this is a modified software solution it is not easy, but websites such as win2008workstation.com, offer PDF manuals and forums to help with everything from driver installation to adding the sidebar and themes. All with the thought of bringing the experience you expected to get from Vista.
A better Desktop, OS…at what cost?
These do not come without a price so you should be aware of a few factors that need consideration. First, you need to purchase a retail version of Windows Server 2008; you won’t find a Dell XPS or HP Blackbird 002 with an OEM version of Server 2008. Then again, a copy of Windows Vista Ultimate usually retails for roughly $400.00. Windows Server 2008 retails for about $705.00 for the Standard Server (List Price is 999.99).
A second consideration (mainly for gamers) is that some games will not work with this new OS. Therefore, gamers will want to maintain their XP systems or consider living with their Vista pains.
With a $300 price point difference and the “mod”-ifications needed to make Server become Workstation 2008. It becomes apparent that to make this move you need to be a hard-core hater of Vista. On the other hand, you might be tired of Windows XP and willing to spend.
Obviously, I wouldn’t recommend anyone pays double for an operating system, and for the idea of trying to buy one copy and install it on five systems. CAL’s are only for access to server resources, the licensing agreements from Microsoft will allows only one installation to one physical device that becomes the server, by definition. Server 2008 also offers 1 Virtual Server instance with the purchase of a retail license. I tried to ask someone at Microsoft, if that could be used as a separate Workstation install (since we are forgoing all the “SERVER” features in the stripped-down install).
Do I need to tell you the reply I got? The pre-sales person at Microsoft said its one physical server install and one “virtual” server install on a standard license. No exceptions, maybe it’s because the markets have been doing so badly and Microsoft stock is trading at roughly $29.36 a share today.
So where does this leave us? Spend big or forget it right? Not really. Have you ever heard of 'try it before you buy it'? Microsoft Server 2008 can be downloaded with a 60 day evaluation license which can be extended to 240 days. That gives you nearly 8 months to try to decide if modifying server to be a workstation is worthwhile.
So how does Server become Workstation?
In reading the posts and manuals, it became intriguing to see what it would take to make “server” become “Workstation." So let’s talk about how to go through the conversion. First, choose a full installation of Server 2008. Remember, Server Core doesn’t include the GUI interface.
If it asks for an installation code and you as going to try the evaluation copy simply click no when it asks for an activation key. Then proceed with normal installation.
Most hardware that uses Vista drivers will work on Windows 2008, so simply using Windows updates will find what you need. However, you can manually download the drivers for your system. One neat tool that can help greatly is Lavalys – Everest Ultimate Edition. Everest helps you to see the real name of devices making it much easier to find the drivers for your system.
To create a real client side OS you will need to “tweak a few things” the manual contains directions for making the following changes:
- Create a Standard User account since you do not want to use an Admin account for daily activities. Be sure to give that account shut down permissions in the group policy editor.
- Try the Automatic Login setting, this allows you to choose a user (Standard User) I wouldn’t recommend this for Admin accounts, to login automatically forgoing the username and password screens.
- Disable the CTRL+ALT+DEL prompt for interactive logins in Local Policies.
- Disable Enhanced Internet Explorer security features in the Server manager. This setting is great for a Server it is a nightmare for an end user. If you’re using this system as your workstation, functionality is a key factor.
Some other great suggestions for this “mod” are disabling Password complexity and the shut down the event tracker, enabling sound acceleration and changing the computer name and performance options.
Perhaps one of the coolest changes is the ability to add the Desktop Experience feature. This feature allows you to change Windows Themes, and of course, it has the option for the Windows Aero theme once the feature is installed on your system.
If that doesn’t complete the experience for you, with a little bit of workaround you can even add the Windows Sidebar and complete the Vista look and feel.
Building this machine and going through the experience was really eye opening. Granted I did it virtually, but then again I only created a 30GB hard drive partition and allotted only 1GB of RAM for the project. I used Windows Virtual PC 2007 on my Vista Ultimate box. So to say the least, I did not have a ton of spare resources for the Virtual machine I had built.
However, the system running this way was very quick I was surprised at how well it handled the installation of most of the desktop software I added and how well it was running.
It is a bit nostalgic for me really; it reminds me of a dot com that I was called in to consult for when they're Sys. Admin quit after a month. I walked into his office to find that the desktop was running Windows NT 4.0 Server.
The problem was that along with it being his desktop, he had it running several web apps and server management tools. Therefore, for 3 months it served as my desktop. I have to admit going back to Windows NT Workstation was difficult afterwards. Although the new desktop was twice as fast (with twice the RAM) as the old one. Something about the nature of Server builds tends to ensure that the bloat stays to a minimum and that speed is always of the essence.
Perhaps this little user experiment can become the basis for building Windows 7; after all, I would be content to have a version of Windows for the desktop that had fewer Media-centric features. Fewer bells and whistles (without risking security features), and a whole lot more of what Windows Workstation 2008 offers.... solid, fast, reliable computing."
