I concede

[IcePick88]

To be honest, my mobo that was in the work pc is not really a well known Intel board. hahaha! So perhaps you can make it work on a better known mobo. I would love to give Server 08 a try on my home pc. I think it will rock.

Click HERE for nice threads on what does work and what does not work. But seeing as you are into 08 that much, you probably have read all of it.

[shiv]

To be honest, my mobo that was in the work pc is not really a well known Intel board. hahaha! So perhaps you can make it work on a better known mobo. I would love to give Server 08 a try on my home pc. I think it will rock.

Click HERE for nice threads on what does work and what does not work. But seeing as you are into 08 that much, you probably have read all of it.

I haven't come across this site.
Will try the converter definitely!!!
Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Stuart]

May I have your permission to go slightly off topic to ask a question of all Vista users. I have a friend who seems to be having some issue with the licensing files on his Vista installation. Here's what happens. Windows Vista is activated and recognised as genuine. Every five or six reboots, however, he is told that he must reactivate Windows. Internet activation doesn't work, but telephone activation works fine, just through the automated system. It's gotten to the point now where he has just written down the confirmation code and enters it without even contacting Microsoft every time this happens. The first time after a reactivation he is told, on the desktop, that his version of Windows is not genuine, but a reboot takes that message away. Windows then works fine for a while, but after a few reboots the process repeats itself.

So today he finally contact MS support, and they told him: (1) An issue with licensing files; (2) a driver issue; or (3) a virus. I'm fairly certain it's not a virus, and somewhat certain it's not a driver issue. Anyway, there is a point to this story. Even though the "not genuine" message is gone from the desktop, the MS tech support tells him that Windows is still not recognising a fully legitimate copy because ... wait for it ... if he right clicks on Computer and selects Properties, there is a little blue "Ask for genuine Microsoft software" badge in the bottom right hand corner. That badge supposedly tells him that it is not a genuine version of Windows. This from MS tech support.

But BOTH my machines have that badge, and BOTH my machines have a genuine version of Windows. A third machine at the office also displays that badge, and also has a genuine version of Vista. Is this just a Stuart anomaly, or does everyone running Vista have that badge? If so, why does MS tech support think that the badge indicates a non-genuine version of Windows? What's up with that?

[hamin_aus]

The MS tech is an idiot.

[ryanrich]

The MS tech is an idiot.

+1

[Stuart]

The MS tech is an idiot.

Should that surprise me?

[capanno]

I don't get why people say vista is good. It just isn't.

[hamin_aus]

I don't get why people say vista is good. It just isn't.

People are just too easy to please - as long as it looks nice and doesn't crash - people seem happy to sing it's praises.

[ryanrich]

I'm happy with my Vista install, but I don't think it's revolutionary or particularly 'good'...

I think Windows 7 is going to be very good though.

[shiv]

@ Shiv

Dude, when running Server 2008 with the "Workstation" converter, it's awesome. I agree fully. Windows Server 2008 is like Vista, but without all tha crap. VMWare FTW.

BUT, and here it comes....have you ever tried Server 2008 installed as a normal OS on a machine? Not VM? Let me tell you know, getting drivers for it is a biaatch! I installed it on a work pc to play around with. Display card installes fine, NIC installs fine. Everything is fine, except the audio. No matter what I tried, nothing worked.

I have WSUS running at work, and it reports my Windows 2008 as Vista. So I tried all the vista drivers, no luck. I eventually got so fed up, I uninstalled it and went back to XP.

What I'm trying to say is, yes Server 2008 is great, but it's in that stage where Vista was a while ago. New OS, no drivers. If you do get all your hardware running on it, great! But from my experience, it sucks right now.

So yeah, XP for me until Windows 7 comes along thank you!

It seems that 95% of my apps install and work great.
The other 5% don't install cos the stupid installer detects a server OS - damn!!
The apps could very well work, if the installers allowed it to.

Does anyone know of a way to change some setting or patch a file in Windows, so that it is detected as another OS??? There must be a way...

[Hex_Rated]

I don't get why people say vista is good. It just isn't.

It's easy to use once you get used to it and it doesn't crash. Ever. At least not on my PC. It uses all 4 of my cores efficiently and games run well.

What more do you want? Saying it sucks proves either:

a) You're a fanboy
b) You don't know what you're talking about

Yes there were problems when it came out. Get over yourself. Most of those problems weren't anything to do with Microsoft they were 3rd party. As of now, I'd rather work on a Vista machine than an XP machine. As long as the Vista Machine is 2.4Ghz+ C2D you won't have any issues. I stayed away from it until SP1 and then upgraded and the only problem was I couldn't find 64 bit Vista drivers for my wifi USB dongle which I quickly found a workaround for. As long as your PC has the power, there's no reason to go back to using XP.

[Tribble]

I don't get why people say vista is good. It just isn't.

YAY - a sensible guy.

[Tribble]

I'm happy with my Vista install, but I don't think it's revolutionary or particularly 'good'...

I think Windows 7 is going to be very good though.

I hope so - but will bide my time

[ryanrich]

I don't get why people say vista is good. It just isn't.

YAY - a sensible guy.

Quite the contrary. As Hex_Rated so elequently put it...

[Hex_Rated]

If you're happy with XP then you should stay on XP. XP is very mature and has a lot of things going for it. But to say there's something wrong with Vista is just being crazy. The issues have been ironed out long ago.

They said the exact same thing about XP and it had almost the exact same problems that plagued Vista. (For those of you with short memories )

[Prime]

I don't get why people say vista is good. It just isn't.

It's easy to use once you get used to it and it doesn't crash. Ever. At least not on my PC. It uses all 4 of my cores efficiently and games run well.

What more do you want? Saying it sucks proves either:

a) You're a fanboy
b) You don't know what you're talking about

Yes there were problems when it came out. Get over yourself. Most of those problems weren't anything to do with Microsoft they were 3rd party. As of now, I'd rather work on a Vista machine than an XP machine. As long as the Vista Machine is 2.4Ghz+ C2D you won't have any issues. I stayed away from it until SP1 and then upgraded and the only problem was I couldn't find 64 bit Vista drivers for my wifi USB dongle which I quickly found a workaround for. As long as your PC has the power, there's no reason to go back to using XP.

Its insanely fast! Our XP machine which is similarly specced runs much slower... And come to think of it, i have never had to push reset on my vista PC

I had problems with my ibust modem but you just run it through the network port.

its just some of the old games i'm battling to get to run.

[Bladerunner]

I was also anti-Vista once, but after installing it on my own PC a week ago I must say I'm very pleased with it.

I love the interface, performance is fast and smooth, and so far I have not experienced a single issue with drivers or apps.

I'm very happy with it and in future will first try an OS myself instead of listening to destructive comments from sub-humans who obviously don't know much about it either...

[Augur]

Hmmmm....

XP fan here.

I've been running Vista since day one and tried all the releases. It's easy enough to disable most of the little anoyances in the OS. I have major gripes with the networking though. Why does it insist on not seeing the gateway half the time, always assume you're sitting on a park bench and usually doesn't work the way it should?

[shiv]

@ Shiv

Dude, when running Server 2008 with the "Workstation" converter, it's awesome. I agree fully. Windows Server 2008 is like Vista, but without all tha crap. VMWare FTW.

BUT, and here it comes....have you ever tried Server 2008 installed as a normal OS on a machine? Not VM? Let me tell you know, getting drivers for it is a biaatch! I installed it on a work pc to play around with. Display card installes fine, NIC installs fine. Everything is fine, except the audio. No matter what I tried, nothing worked.

I have WSUS running at work, and it reports my Windows 2008 as Vista. So I tried all the vista drivers, no luck. I eventually got so fed up, I uninstalled it and went back to XP.

What I'm trying to say is, yes Server 2008 is great, but it's in that stage where Vista was a while ago. New OS, no drivers. If you do get all your hardware running on it, great! But from my experience, it sucks right now.

So yeah, XP for me until Windows 7 comes along thank you!

It seems that 95% of my apps install and work great.
The other 5% don't install cos the stupid installer detects a server OS - damn!!
The apps could very well work, if the installers allowed it to.

Does anyone know of a way to change some setting or patch a file in Windows, so that it is detected as another OS??? There must be a way...

Anyone??

[hamin_aus]

The downside of using a server OS - which I am sure you have no doubt realised, is that a lot of your desktop software wont work. Antivirus, to name but one.

shiv, you are unlikely to get an answer to this question here as what you are looking to is illegal.

Maybe some helpful crook will PM you...

[Hex_Rated]

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The downside of using a server OS - which I am sure you have no doubt realised, is that a lot of your desktop software wont work. Antivirus, to name but one.

shiv, you are unlikely to get an answer to this question here as what you are looking to is illegal.

Maybe some helpful crook will PM you...

Why are games locked out of server OS's? Is it EULA BS??? Because violating EULA's is not technically illegal unless it's a signed document, unless they've changed that (but I don't want to get into a debate about that - if that's the reason, let it be). Or are you suggesting that his copy of the software is pirated?

[hamin_aus]

No, I am suggesting that modifying the OS in some way to make applications see it as a desktop rather than a server would be illegal - at least the way I remember how to do it is, not that I am sure that would even work for 2K8...

To my knowledge games are not locked out of server OS's - 2K3 was fully DX compliant as is 2K8. Most of Vista's driver will work on 2K8. And unless the software vendor specifically wrote their games not to run on a server OS, they should work. Try compatibility mode if you are have issues.
2K8 and Vista actually share the same kernel IIRC.

All that aside, 2K8 was never designed for gaming, so if your games don't run, don't cry about it.

[Hex_Rated]

Tricking the OS into thinking it's a desktop OS is illegal? Didn't know about that... It's would definitely be against the EULA and with MS being MS you'd get wiped out in court and won't get away with it. How many people use patches (like TCPOptimizer) that change the way networking works in XP. Is that illegal?

I don't know if the laws have changed recently, but software is software. As long as you don't modify it and sell it you aren't technically breaking the law. If you hack it and use it yourself, it's fine. Maybe (more like definitely) MS will detect that you have done this and blacklist you from updates. But this is OT and doesn't belong in this thread.

I'm sure there will be compatibility issues, I'll rather wait for windows 7 before I upgrade.

Where are you guys getting Server 2008 anyway? Is it a free download for 3 months and then falls apart? Because I see the standard edition is $999. Or do you plead the 5th?

[hamin_aus]

I work for the largest IT company in Africa which is also a Microsoft Gold Partner.
All my Microsoft software is legit, as long as I install it on a PC I use for work.

I agree that while Server 2K8 can be a good desktop OS, Vista SP1 with all the needless bells and whistles disabled will still do a better job.

[Hex_Rated]

We're also a partner and get everything for free, quite a few licenses and we can do with them what we want so I get stuff for my home PC for free (I work a lot from home) except the server stuff (the very high end SQL Server and Server2008). I'm definitely not suggesting you're pirating anything, but the other guys are all posting "get a copy of server 2008" and I'd like to know where they getting them. Is there a try before you buy option? Because installing it and having to format every 30 days is gonna be a b1atch.