8 ms·

Someone posted that 2k was the last nt edition without bloat... I think that was wrong (plus comment seems to have been deleted). 2k3, 2k8, 2k8r2, 2k12, 2k12r2

Someone posted that 2k was the last nt edition without bloat... I think that was wrong (plus comment seems to have been deleted). 2k3, 2k8, 2k8r2, 2k12, 2k12r2, 2016 and 2019 all have no bloat or random crap... 2022 is mostly the same.... And comes with (chrome) edge too... Since the xp days I have always skipped the home/pro/workstation editions of windows and used server... Gave more features I needed, like hyper v, and felt more stable... Plus less crap...

pacifika 5y ago
How is the compatibility with everyday applications?
- tiernano 5y ago
  I haven't found any app that doesn't run on windows server that does on win desktop. I don't game, so never tired games... Wsl on 2019 was limited to v1, but think that got to v2 on 2022... Docker works, all dev tools work... Yea, all good!
  - R0b0t1 5y ago
    The issue is hardware. Most gaming hardware does not have server qualified drivers which may mean you can't use your hardware. Issues normally with WiFi cards and GPUs, most other things will work. No chance of running Windows Server on a laptop. The qualification is to prevent random crashes; it's not really needed, but it is hard to impossible to disable last I checked.
    - tiernano 5y ago
      Never had an issue with drivers... Was running nvidia cards and the standard nvidia drivers worked without issue... Also did manage to run win2003 on a laptop at one stage... Can't remember if drivers for wifi worked... The machine was hard wired in...
      - R0b0t1 5y ago
        I've had wifi, bluetooth, and AMD GPUs fail to work, as well as integrated Intel GPUs. This may just be a 2019+ problem. 2008 might run, I haven't checked. You may also find power management drivers don't install.
snazz 5y ago
I've also used Server 2019 on a desktop and it's pretty solid. A couple of pointers: - If you're considered a "student" by any means, you probably have access to an institutional email address that gives you access to Azure for Students. Through the Azure site, you can download an ISO for any LTSC edition of Windows Server (including Datacenter) and get a valid license key. This is a great way of saving money and avoiding sketchy key resellers. - Driver support is basic out of the box. The PC I used for Windows Server has an AMD graphics card, which normally comes with GPU drivers as soon as you install a consumer version of Windows. This doesn't happen automatically with Windows Server. When you download the GPU drivers from AMD, the installer will detect that you're running Server and error out, but you can tell Device Manager to install drivers from your C:\AMD folder and it will work fine (minus the fancy GUI control panel, which is arguably bloatware itself). Something similar should work for Nvidia cards. - Normal Win32 applications work great (I used Chrome, Office, IntelliJ, and a number of other everyday apps and they worked perfectly). However, you don't have access to the Windows Store, so installing UWP applications that aren't part of the base system (i.e., anything other than Settings, pretty much) is a pain.
- geofft 5y ago
  There's a fairly active community of folks gaming on the major public cloud providers, which only provide images for Windows Server, but games work just fine. In fact, NVIDIA provides an official gaming AMI based on Windows Server: https://aws.amazon.com/marketplace/pp/prodview-xrrke4dwueqv6 https://aws.amazon.com/marketplace/pp/prodview-xrrke4dwueqv6
- kreeben 5y ago
  Way back in the day I played Max Payne on a Win2k server and it worked great. Couldn't make the OS crash even if I tried. Best MS OS ever.
  - devoutsalsa 5y ago
    Better than Windows ME?!
    - 5y ago
Crontab 5y ago
I was always a fan of NT4, personally speaking.
- iforgotpassword 5y ago
  Me too. While I think 2k was peak when it comes to a usable, lean desktop os, to me, NT4 was the first Windows NT that was "complete" and usable, the "we're done" milestone. Can't find the proper expression for it really, but it just has a special place in my IT heart.
- rbanffy 5y ago
  NT4 blue screened on me when I was demoing IIS process separation. It was an auditorium full of very technical people, who mostly already knew me from one place or another. Fortunately, I was quite good as a stand up comedian. I felt vindicated when 98 did the same with billg at COMDEX (or was it CES?). NT4 had an architectural flaw that was introduced to make some people happier - many device drivers started to run in kernel space and their bugs were able to crash the whole machine, unlike 3.5, where a crashed driver could be reloaded.
- mobilio 5y ago
  You're not alone. But you can't run any game because DirectX. I've copied some files from Windows98 and was manage to use some games in windowed mode.
AnIdiotOnTheNet 5y ago
Everything after 2008R2 is significantly more bloated. I still interact with a few 2008R2 VMs at work and every time I log on to one I'm actually a little freaked out by how much more responsive it is.

pacifika 5y ago

How is the compatibility with everyday applications?

tiernano 5y ago
I haven't found any app that doesn't run on windows server that does on win desktop. I don't game, so never tired games... Wsl on 2019 was limited to v1, but think that got to v2 on 2022... Docker works, all dev tools work... Yea, all good!
- R0b0t1 5y ago
  The issue is hardware. Most gaming hardware does not have server qualified drivers which may mean you can't use your hardware. Issues normally with WiFi cards and GPUs, most other things will work. No chance of running Windows Server on a laptop. The qualification is to prevent random crashes; it's not really needed, but it is hard to impossible to disable last I checked.
  - tiernano 5y ago
    Never had an issue with drivers... Was running nvidia cards and the standard nvidia drivers worked without issue... Also did manage to run win2003 on a laptop at one stage... Can't remember if drivers for wifi worked... The machine was hard wired in...
    - R0b0t1 5y ago
      I've had wifi, bluetooth, and AMD GPUs fail to work, as well as integrated Intel GPUs. This may just be a 2019+ problem. 2008 might run, I haven't checked. You may also find power management drivers don't install.

snazz 5y ago

I've also used Server 2019 on a desktop and it's pretty solid. A couple of pointers: - If you're considered a "student" by any means, you probably have access to an institutional email address that gives you access to Azure for Students. Through the Azure site, you can download an ISO for any LTSC edition of Windows Server (including Datacenter) and get a valid license key. This is a great way of saving money and avoiding sketchy key resellers. - Driver support is basic out of the box. The PC I used for Windows Server has an AMD graphics card, which normally comes with GPU drivers as soon as you install a consumer version of Windows. This doesn't happen automatically with Windows Server. When you download the GPU drivers from AMD, the installer will detect that you're running Server and error out, but you can tell Device Manager to install drivers from your C:\AMD folder and it will work fine (minus the fancy GUI control panel, which is arguably bloatware itself). Something similar should work for Nvidia cards. - Normal Win32 applications work great (I used Chrome, Office, IntelliJ, and a number of other everyday apps and they worked perfectly). However, you don't have access to the Windows Store, so installing UWP applications that aren't part of the base system (i.e., anything other than Settings, pretty much) is a pain.

geofft 5y ago
There's a fairly active community of folks gaming on the major public cloud providers, which only provide images for Windows Server, but games work just fine. In fact, NVIDIA provides an official gaming AMI based on Windows Server: https://aws.amazon.com/marketplace/pp/prodview-xrrke4dwueqv6 https://aws.amazon.com/marketplace/pp/prodview-xrrke4dwueqv6
kreeben 5y ago
Way back in the day I played Max Payne on a Win2k server and it worked great. Couldn't make the OS crash even if I tried. Best MS OS ever.
- devoutsalsa 5y ago
  Better than Windows ME?!
  - 5y ago

Crontab 5y ago

I was always a fan of NT4, personally speaking.

iforgotpassword 5y ago
Me too. While I think 2k was peak when it comes to a usable, lean desktop os, to me, NT4 was the first Windows NT that was "complete" and usable, the "we're done" milestone. Can't find the proper expression for it really, but it just has a special place in my IT heart.
rbanffy 5y ago
NT4 blue screened on me when I was demoing IIS process separation. It was an auditorium full of very technical people, who mostly already knew me from one place or another. Fortunately, I was quite good as a stand up comedian. I felt vindicated when 98 did the same with billg at COMDEX (or was it CES?). NT4 had an architectural flaw that was introduced to make some people happier - many device drivers started to run in kernel space and their bugs were able to crash the whole machine, unlike 3.5, where a crashed driver could be reloaded.
mobilio 5y ago
You're not alone. But you can't run any game because DirectX. I've copied some files from Windows98 and was manage to use some games in windowed mode.

AnIdiotOnTheNet 5y ago

Everything after 2008R2 is significantly more bloated. I still interact with a few 2008R2 VMs at work and every time I log on to one I'm actually a little freaked out by how much more responsive it is.