Using Windows Server 2008 as a SUPER workstation OS
By Steven Parker, 14 February 2008 - 18:25 60 comments
Vijayshinva Karnure, a IIS, ASP and ASP.NET troubleshooter as well as a consultant for developers and system admins of Microsoft India is so cool! He has published an article on how you, yes, you can turn Microsofts latest Windows Server release into a SUPER FAST workstation complete with Hyper-V (hardware virtualization capabilities). Well he beat me to the punch, and this probably has a lot more merit than the Server 2003 as a Workstation guide that we published here shortly after the release of Server 2008's predecessor, due to the addition of Hyper-V which does not ship -even with Vista Ultimate.
His article begins below.
Windows Server 2008 is the best OS to be released till date from Microsoft's stable. And the moment I got hold of the RTM build I could not resist installing it on my workstation. Due to the nature of my work I always prefer running a Server OS on my main workstation... I have been running Windows 2003 disguised as XP (with all the themes and stuff) all these days.
So here is my tale of how I went about setting up Windows Server 2008 to look and fell like its desktop counterpart Windows Vista.
1. Enable Hardware Virtualization
My workstation is a x64 machine with hardware virtualization capabilities. This means I can run Hyper-V on my machine. Even if your machine's hardware supports virtualization it is most likely not going to be enabled by default. You have to enable it via your BIOS setup.
2. Install the latest Graphics and Audio drivers
Being a server OS Windows 2008 carries with it basic graphics and audio drivers. To utilize the full strength of your hardware ensure you install the latest drivers for both graphics and audio hardware. Only with the proper graphics drivers will you be able to enable the "Aero" experience on Windows 2008.
Link: Continue Reading: Using Windows Server 2008 as a SUPER workstation OS Link: Neowin Forum Discussion - Thanks Chadbr
Comments (60)
getmeawhopper - 14 February 2008 - 18:32
I thought Hyper-V wasn't out yet
Neobond - 14 February 2008 - 18:33
It is beta on Server 2008 and it needs to be manually enabled (probably because it's beta), I have no idea when it comes out of beta, so I declined to mention it :P
It is mentioned at the source however.
Mocosoft - 14 February 2008 - 18:48
ill still stick to xp anyways .. sp3 is coming! GYEA!!
Lasker - 14 February 2008 - 18:49
Does anyone know how stable is compare to Vista Ultimate? Does do the constant annoy hard disk activity like Vista?
Joe USer - 14 February 2008 - 18:58
If you follow the directions in the article, you'll have a $900 copy of Vista. So, yes.
HawkMan - 14 February 2008 - 20:14
As if any of the poeple who follow this article actually bought their copy to start with.
rm20010 - 14 February 2008 - 20:26
As if any of the poeple who follow this article actually bought their copy to start with.
I could swear at one point I had access to Server 2003 Enterprise through MSDNAA. After the winter term started they took them off. Hopefully they'll get Server 2008 up on MSDNAA.
ObiWanToby - 14 February 2008 - 20:27
As if any of the poeple who follow this article actually bought their copy to start with.
That's what gets me, who can actually afford that, unless they get MSDN from their university, or from work.... that is the only way I can "afford" it.
The2 - 14 February 2008 - 18:51
are there any speed tests? compared to XP?
n_K - 14 February 2008 - 23:42
Come on, my Windows 98SE box would beat this ANYDAY
cork1958 - 14 February 2008 - 18:54
Well,
I guess if that's the nature of your work, more power to you. Not the nature of mine, and sounds like going through unnecessary changes for anything else, so, I'll stick with X Pro also.
avidracer - 14 February 2008 - 20:02
another +1 for XP w/ SP2.
The support for vista was so bad from 3rd party application dev's: that made me to switch back to trusted old xp. Vista in itself was okay, but unlike linux it does not comes pack with applications. All the 3rd party application developers were simple left clueless when confronted with numerous mysterious errors under vista.
HawkMan - 14 February 2008 - 20:16
what numerous mysterius errors ?
I've not seen numerous errors, what errors app devs may seem certainly aren't mysterius.
and the majority of problems is that app devs are quite simply bad coders, and they kept coding stuff that requires admin access when they didn't have to and when not doing so even requires less resources, coding and hassle.
+Shadrack - 14 February 2008 - 23:33
which 3rd party applications were you having problems with, specifically?
SleeStak - 15 February 2008 - 01:13
what specific errors exactly are you talking about???
avidracer - 15 February 2008 - 17:18
well lets start with an app that is free so you can try it yourself. there is this app call MEGUI an media encoder. it will not run on vista for no good reason. the dev broke his head and it wasnt weeks until that it was discovered that under vista while MS groove is installed (part of office suite), the app wont run for reasons only MS know. uninstall groove and it works fine (with admin privileges). Under XP, it doesnt matter. You can have MS goorve isntalled, but the app works fine. Try this yourself and then give an explanation to convince a dev.
raskren - 14 February 2008 - 20:15
Time to fire up your Torrent applications kids.
Now you can be more elite than your buddies running Server 2003 as a workstation FOR NO GOOD REASON other than to be elite.
ecotrojan - 14 February 2008 - 20:33
Now you can be more elite than your buddies running Server 2003 as a workstation FOR NO GOOD REASON other than to be elite.
is that ELITE or L33T
Magallanes - 14 February 2008 - 20:51
is that ELITE or L33T :laugh:
Currently, l33t slang is used only for script kiddies and wannabes.
ir0nw0lf - 15 February 2008 - 02:49
Currently, l33t slang is used only for script kiddies and wannabes.
And wannabe script kiddies lol.