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Windows 7 or Windows 8
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So does the 5xxx.
Which you did not mention in your previous post... but yes, I suppose it would.
Since I'm not much of a gamer, I don't really care for dx10/11 compatibility. And should I ever require IE9, I can easily run it in a virtual machine which seamlessly integrates into my operating system (Microsoft is still offering a free Windows 7 VM image, you know, so poor sods like me won't have to pirate it).
Breaching AV license terms would be a hack.
Since I don't use AV, I don't have to "breach" or "hack" anything. But if anyone is interested, there are indeed a few free AV suites which do run on Windows server OSs (e.g. Panda, Commodo). Of course, the main reason why most freebies don't support it, is because they're not suitable for corporate security as the requirements in such an environment are entirely different.anywho, 2003 isn't 7 or 8 so it's not exactly relevant to the thread is it.
No, it isn't but as I said before, if the choice is between 7 and 8 as a desktop operating system, I'd choose 7 any day.
And to put this matter to a rest, I do not advocate anything, as yoyo has already pointed out, using a server OS as a desktop OS is certainly not for everyone... it just works perfectly well for me and as long as it does, I will happily continue using it, whether you like it or not. What others do or choose to use, I could not care less. Everyone to their own, right?0 -
Join Date:Posts: 10280
If it works for you, that's cool. You're not the first person I've seen recommending the use of Windows Server at the desktop (I think Technet subs are the most common source of licences for this sort of thing, or at least they were before the licences were made expirable
).
As a general-audience option, I don't think that Windows Server in general or particularly Windows Server 2003 in particular are a credible or straightforward alternative to Windows 7 or 8. The non-R2 releases are, as far as I can tell, well out of mainstream support and several major revisions out of date (I think extended lifecycle support has another few months in it, but that's about it). The awkwardness & potential cost of a suitable AV solution for those who are minded to use it makes life needlessly awkward, as does the added complication of ensuring that user permissions do not interfere with both security concerns and a usable day-to-day experience. The potential problems due to driver compatibility will depend mainly on whether any unusual hardware is present, although I've seen some entertainment in trying to get Server 2008 to properly install some ATI driver sets (some foolishness in the DirectX support, I think).
Having said all of that, those are aspects of tinkering with Windows Server that I personally have enjoyed, because I find it interesting to learn about why those issues arise and it's generally useful for the day job. Given the grief that some people experience over what I would consider to be very straightforward aspects of desktop Windows OS, I'd be very wary of foisting it on them.
There again, I'm constantly impressed and surprised at the degree to which potentially complex Linux-based solutions for home NAS and media centre systems are enthusiastically adopted by people with little or no experience of Linux or Unix, so to some extent it depends on the end user.0 -
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for good measure we're throwing in depending on some third-party software to handle privilege elevation issues
Some third party software? Not quite, DropMyRights comes from a Microsoft employee named Michael Howard, a specialist in security, working in the Secure Engineering group at Microsoft.
More here, in layman's terms, why every Windows XP user should drop their rights. (As I said, it works just the same in Windows Vista/7, for users who have done away with UAC, whatever their reasons). It is also a handy utility for sysadmins to have, when logged in as administrator. Anyhow, we should really discuss this stuff in a separate thread.I think extended lifecycle support has another few months in it, but that's about it
July 2015, to be precise.
And to be clear, I do not recommend the use of Windows Server on a desktop, much less is it my intention to foist it upon anyone. It is just what I use. As for 2008, it is indeed a lot "bitchier" than 2003 and I never found it as fast and snappy either.0 -
Join Date:Posts: 10280
Some third party software? Not quite, DropMyRights comes from a Microsoft employee named Michael Howard, a specialist in security, working in the Secure Engineering group at Microsoft.
Which may speak well for its provenance, but still doesn't give you any actual support from MS for using it. In which context, it kind of makes sense in an XP environment (where using a normal limited-user account is both tedious and a poor guarantee of safety) but very little sense as an alternative to the native UAC funtionality introduced with Vista.July 2015, to be precise.
Depends on your version, and whether they try to mess you around with the support-for-2-years-after-SP-release. You'd still get an extra year or so out of it than you would with XP, though, since that goes EOL next year.0
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