Windows Server 2008 as a laptop OS
For those that know me I have a terribly short attention span for operating systems. I'm constantly playing with versions or configurations. I recently installed Windows Server 2008 (WS 2008 from here) on my Dell Latitude D620 with tremendous results.
It all started innocently enough, I was reading a blog one night and saw rave reviews about performance from WS 2008. I did a little more searching and found several Microsoft employee blogs saying the same thing.
I knew I wanted to play around with WS 2008 as a SQL Server platform so I thought "why not?". Fortunately for me I work for a company that lets me change my OS when I choose(but for the record, I ran it by Tom anyway). I installed in what seemed like 15 minutes and was off to the races.
I was especially happy with what felt like a reversal in Windows OS paradigm. After installation I had an extremely small footprint, requiring me to go turn on the services/feature I wanted. What a concept!
There are a few configuration settings that have to be changed. They are itemized nicely here. Once I enabled the "Desktop Experience" I had a Vista looking UI with super fast performance. I am running the 64 bit version of the OS and haven't had any issues with drivers or applications. As a side note, I don't do any gaming on this laptop (or at all really) so your mileage may vary on that topic.
After a week or so of solid development on this OS I am a huge fan. I realize I am probably running the most expensive laptop OS imaginable but if results are the name of the game check out Windows Server 2008.