Windows Server 2008 - First views
I’m a glutton for punishment when it comes to software. I usually have at least two or three different beta applications running on my PC, and for the past few months, one of these has been the operating system!
Now, you might say that I’m daring. You might say that I’m taking my chances. Yes, I’ve had data losses in the past (the last one not so long ago) but I still enjoy testing software and always being on the bleeding edge so to speak.
For the past few months, I’d been testing Windows Home Server, which is based on Windows Server 2003. I’ve even written an article about it on this blog. Now, while that beta is still running inside Microsoft, I’m already updating. This time, it’s the turn of Windows Server 2008 (code name “Longhorn”). This one’s based on Windows Vista, and it’s looking good.
Windows Home Server, with its “helpful” hiding of drive letters and all that jazz actually nearly locked me in, since it spreads data all over all the hard drives in the system like a software RAID array. I had to jump through hoops to remove one of the hard drives from the set, copy all the data I wanted to keep to it, and then install the new OS.
I booted up using the Windows Server 2008 installation DVD, which immediately presented me with a partitioning screen. I deleted everything on the first hard drive, leaving my data secure on the second one. I then installed the new OS, which took only 15 minutes, compared to the near 45 minutes I normally wait for Windows to install. This is probably due to the new imaging system that Vista uses during installation. I was then presented with the new login screen and desktop. Everything was in the Windows classic style, which I’ve now grown out of, so the first thing I did before configuring some basic settings was to install the Desktop Experience Pack and change to the Vista theme, which made everything much prettier.
I proceeded to install all my favourite applications, and except for a couple of small utilities which refused to work, and a few required updates, everything ran smoothly. I can now even use my ancient scanner, which didn’t work with Home Server, and I’m now looking for a way of getting my even more ancient parallel printer and webcam working.
First impressions are good, and I’ll post up some piccys as usual on Flickr.