Windows 2008 Server - Vista Alternative for your Desktop

This is a little bit off topic, but needed to be written...

If you like the aesthetics of Windows Vista, and, unless you are short on CPU, memory, or video resources, there is no reason not to, you have had debates with yourself. The almost-too-common debate of whether you should downgrade to XP or stay with Vista and deal with the errors, bugs, and problems... because it's just a pretty OS. So how do you get beauty AND brains without going to the Mac store?

Microsoft Windows 2008 Server
It's just like Vista, without the stupid bugs

Yes - that's the slogan they are going with.

I recommend this for any users running Vista on their desktops. The reason I don't recommend it for laptops is you won't get the best battery utilization and you won't have the options of putting your OS to sleep or hibernation.

To get Windows 2008 Server to act like a workstation, it will take some configuration to make it more user-friendly, and less like a server. I was referred to a blog that gives step-by-step instructions on accomplishing this:
http://www.win2008workstation.com

If you have 2 days to spare, I recommend you try this out. Unless you upgrade from 32-bit Vista to a 64-bit Windows 2008 Server, most of your Vista drivers should work without a problem.

Use Macrium Reflect (click for free download) to ghost your current image, in case you want to go back.

To download the trial evaluation, check out:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2008/en/us/trial-software.aspx

Applies to:
Microsoft Windows XP, Vista, Windows Server 2008