Windows Server 2008 is my Desktop Workstation

Personal, posted: 26-JUL-2008 23:38

After hearing lots of good stuffs about this new SERVER product from Microsoft called Windows Server 2008, I took the decision to move from Windows Vista Ultimate to Windows Server 2008 Enterprise Edition

The good thing is, Windows Server 2008 can be configured as a fully featured desktop workstation. Your one stop guide for completing this ‘awesome’ task is here

Below is my laptop configuration:

1) Apple Macbook 2.4 GHz

2) 4 GB RAM

I have Windows Server 2008 Enterprise x86 Edition installed

Below is the list of software installed:

1) Apple Bootcamp

2) Microsoft Office 2007

3) Microsoft Visio 2007

4) Mozilla Firefox

5) Skype

6) Apple Quicktime

7) Apple iTunes

8 ) Windows Live

Live Writer
Live Messenger
Live Photo Gallery

9) Foxit PDF Reader

10) Flashget Download Manager

11) Virtual PC

12) Kaspersky Internet Security

13) tWhirl

14) Windows Mobile Device Center 6.1

This server is Fast, Sleek, and Customizable (in Features and Roles). That’s a huge benefit over Vista where many services get started no matter you use them.

I have also moved my development stuffs to a virtual environment now and virtual machines run quite fast than in Vista here. Yes, I am quite happy with Virtual PC 2007 and I don’t think I would install x64 version just for Hyper-V. The application support for x64 sucks!

Everything works good in my setup including sleep,shutdown and hibernate

So far, my experience of having Windows Server 2008 as my main desktop workstation is good and I think I will continue to stay on this for a long, long time until Windows 7 comes out

Tag(s): personal

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Comment by chiefie, on 27-JUL-2008 01:05

Interesting! As I have been pondering on whether Bootcamp can support Windows Server 2003/2008 or not.

More interestingly, Windows Server 2008 only comes on x64, so does the new (updated) Bootcamp support 64-bit-ness in Windows x64??

Comment by chiefie, on 27-JUL-2008 01:07

Oh.. why Windows Server 2008 Enterprise, and not just Standard? And why not Server Core (bare minimum) with Hyper-V and run VM-Windows?

Comment by Zach, on 27-JUL-2008 01:14

Looks like quite a bit of work, what made it worthwhile?

You have bootcamp, I would've kept iTunes to OS X. Foobar FTW.

Tip: Open the latest iTunes installer (7.7) in winrar to see what other installers* the "iTunes" installer includes. This way you can choose what you install.

*
AppleMobileDeviceSupport.msi
AppleSoftwareUpdate.msi
Bonjour.msi
iTunes.msi
QuickTime.msi

Comment by freitasm, on 27-JUL-2008 07:31

@chieife Windows Server 2008 comes in 32 and 64 bit.

@Chaks what about games?

Comment by chiefie, on 27-JUL-2008 09:39

@freitasm I thought Windows Server 2008 is only in 64-bit only (for production and support)?

Author's note by chakkaradeep, on 27-JUL-2008 10:52

@chiefie: Windows Server 2008 comes both in 32 bit and 64 bit versions. I chose 32 bit version for good app support and driver support. The Apple 64 bit bootcamp is slightly buggy with Windows Server x64 version. And I am happy using Virtual PC 2007 with this 4GB of RAM. I might look to install Windows Server 2008 x64 + Hyper-V in a desktop system than a laptop system. Choosing Enterprise was a choice so that I can get everything possible

@freitasm: I dont play Games a lot..so, cant really test on those

@Zach: Well, I cant keep booting into OSX everytime I want to use my iPod

Comment by chiefie, on 27-JUL-2008 11:29

Is Hyper-V not available in x86?

Comment by freitasm, on 27-JUL-2008 11:29

@Chiefie... You are thinking of Hyper V and Exchange Server 2007. Windows Server comes in both and both are supported.

Author's note by chakkaradeep, on 27-JUL-2008 12:11

@Chiefie: Hyper-V is only available with x64 and works only with hardware assisted virtualization (Intel VT or AMD-V)

My current Macbook can be used for Hyper-V, but I tried once and was having problems with Apple Bootcamp and also with some of the apps. So, thought x86 + Virtual PC would be a good choice for me.

Comment by chiefie, on 27-JUL-2008 13:27

Oh... I do like the idea of Hyper-V and seeing how VMware ESX3i will be available free... so this open up the baremetal virtualisation option a lot...

I know Bootcamp 64bit works in Mac Pro, but MacIntel are also 64-bit compatible, and the 64-bits drivers are available in Mac Pro (at one stage, the Bootcamp-64 was made available online)... Just wondering if anyone successfully attempted x64 Vista/Windows Server on Bootcamp.

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Chakkaradeep Chandran
Wellington
New Zealand

Windows Server 2008 is my Desktop Workstation

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