As no doubt by now you’ve seen lots of talk about using Windows 2008 server as a workstation.  The theory is that its basically Vista minus some of the bloat.  There has been benchmarks, and validation that using Windows 2008 over Vista results in about a 15% performance increase depending on what you are doing.

I’ve decide to give it a try both on my work machine and my home machine.  I’ve been running now for about 3 weeks on both machines and so far I’ve been fairly impressed.  Now saying that ask me again in six months, thats how long it took for my Vista install to grind to a halt and take forever to even boot up.

So far though I’ve been happy, my home machine which I do all sorts has been running fine, and the added bonus of having DX10 so that I can play LOTRO in its full DX10 glory.  I’ve not had problems with drivers or software for the most part, the only grip so far is Windows Live Writer refuses to install.  I am running the 64bit version both home and work, since I saw no need to hinder my cpu to 32 bit only when its capable of more.

I’m sure I’ll run into more issues as I delve deeper and push harder with my installs, but so far so good, I’ve been running and doing most of what I need.  One note, I learnt the hard way with Vista, that Visual Studio 2003 does not place nice at all, so I cheated and used Virtual PC and created an XP install for just VS 2003.  Last time I put VS 2003 on Vista, it pratically killed it and I ended up with a nasty mess.

I’ll keep you posted on what I find if anything.

For those who want to give it a shot, visit this site setup to document the process of converting Windows Server 2008 into a workstation.

Linked below is a group of images that demonstrate the incorrect procedure for wiring, whether it be your brand new server rack, or the electrical wiring in your new condo.  Some of the pictures will shock and amaze you, shock being the key, since I have no doubt you get anywhere near some of these horrors you would get a shock.

Dark Roasted Blend