Windows 2003 Server

DemonOfTheFall

Hey, I have a ccess to a legit licence for Windows 2003 Server. I'm thinking of running it on my own pc because I hear a lot about it being a bit more stable and speedy. I already disable themes and windows sounds and all that junk, so I don't think I stand to lose much.

I'd be using a 32bit build because I don't want hassle with device support with the 64bit version. Although I may try a 64-bit dual boot at some stage.

Does anyone have experience with using windows 2003 on their own home pc / workstation ? How about games/Direct X. I know that everything should in theory work fine, but want to make sure before I spend a few hours installing it, finding that nothing works then reinstalling xp.

Thanks

Hal1

Xp is fine, windows server starts a load of services on boot that you wont need. But you could fine tune it.

DemonOfTheFall

Yeah, I realise it would need a lot of slimming down. I'd probably rip a lot out with nlite before even installing.

Maybe XP-64 would be a bit less of a waste of time to try out...

WizZard

Check this out.
Although I'd go for XP-64 myself to be honest...

shoegirl

DemonOfTheFall wrote:

Hey, I have a ccess to a legit licence for Windows 2003 Server. I'm thinking of running it on my own pc because I hear a lot about it being a bit more stable and speedy. I already disable themes and windows sounds and all that junk, so I don't think I stand to lose much.

I'd be using a 32bit build because I don't want hassle with device support with the 64bit version. Although I may try a 64-bit dual boot at some stage.

Does anyone have experience with using windows 2003 on their own home pc / workstation ? How about games/Direct X. I know that everything should in theory work fine, but want to make sure before I spend a few hours installing it, finding that nothing works then reinstalling xp.

Thanks

I wouldn't recommend running the server version on a home computer that you play games on. The home edition of XP is optimised for this kind of use and also you'll need to disable many services. The whole point of running the server version is to enable file sharing, print servers, or whatever other servers that are required - there is little point in using it for home use except for this purpose.

kippy

I wouldnt go near it on a "Home PC"
Even by disabling services etc its not going to be faster than XP Pro or XP home.

DemonOfTheFall

Thanks for the advice guys. I reckon I'll just go with XP-64 since that has the 2003 codebase anyway, right?

WizZard

Yes.

NutJob

One of my fellow office workers runs windows2003 server x64 as a workstation(yes licenced).

Looks nastey to be honest youd need a day to make it comfortable + you have the browser protedtion crap which was designed to stop people using a web browser on servers.

After 6 months of that hes moving back to xp

seamus

Yeah, it's geared towards a server environment and not an interactive one. Save if you're settings up a Terminal Services server, 2k3 would be pointless as a desktop/home machine.