Is Windows XP Software Generally Compatible with Windows Server 2003?

[kimchee411]

I have a bunch of extra crap lying around and want to tinker with a little networking stuff so I'm going to have two computers:

The first one is a Sempron 2200+ which I will running Windows on. It will be used for DVD burning, multimedia, Office, gaming, and maybe some graphic design. It will have one 120 GB hard drive and another 250GB drive, and thus will store most of my media.

The second is an Athlon 700 that will be running Linux (probably Fedora) with a 40GB drive. I'm going to basically use this machine to develop my Unix and sysadmin skills, run it as a server for SSH, FTP, VNC, set up Samba to share files between the computers and run backups to the Windows machine, and also play with MythTV.

Now I don't know which version of Windows to install. I could just use regular old Windows XP file sharing, but I'd like to go to full blown Windows Server just to learn it, and also because I have a feeling it's more secure than plain file sharing through Windows XP (correct me if I'm wrong). My concern is that I wouldn't be able to use the Win XP apps which are the reason I'm using Windows at all to begin with (Office, DVD Shrink, games, etc.). Are they cross-compatible?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Snapster]

Generally yes, although there are always exceptions (documented and undocumented). Doom 3 if I recall wouldn't install on 2003 unless it had a certain flag on the installer for example. There were a few vendors that were slow in making sure apps worked on 2K3 but I think now there shouldn't be an excuse as to why they shouldn't. If you just want to learn it, I'd suggest doing a dual boot at first to try your primary apps.