XP64 vs Server 2003 x64: which to use for home?

[Superguy]

Hey all,

I was digging thru some conference stuff and I found an MS kit that had a 180 day eval of XP64 and a full not-for-resale version of Server 2003 x64.

Considering that I don't have to worry about running out of time on the Server version I was wondering:

Can Server 2003 x64 be used as a general desktop OS for stuff like video editing, gaming, etc?

Is there a way of trimming down the OS so as not to load stuff like AD and other server components?

Is driver support essentially the same between XP64 and Server 2003 x64?

Is there anything else I should know?

One thing I did notice is that Server 2003 x64 had much beefier requirements (1.5 GB of memory and 3.8GHz Xeon processor were recommended) than XP64. I have an X2 3800+ OC'd to 2.5GHz and 2GB of memory. So performance wouldn't be much of an issue, right?

I haven't messed with a 64 bit version of Windows yet, so I'm hoping you guys will know.

Thanks!

Super

 

[JackMDS]

There are people that use Windows 2003 as a Desktop OS.

I never applied it to Windows x64 but in priciple it is probably the same (barring the specifc hardware drivers issue with x64) as the 32 version.

May be this can Help, http://www.osnews.com/story.php?news_id=3655

:sun:

 

[imported_BikeDude]

Hmm... "don't install drivers not built for the specific kernel you are using". There are no such specific drivers in the Windows world. E.g. The drivers from nVidia are identical... Same download for 2000/XP/2003, same .sys file. Vista drivers will be different AFAIK, but the guy didn't mention Vista. (maybe the guy had a lot of memory; see http://blogs.msdn.com/carmencr/archive/2004/08/06/210093.aspx which mentions some important differences between XP and 2003)

I've been using 2003 Server since release. nForce2 sound, onboard AC97 sound, Audigy -- all works just fine.

I've also been using 64-bit 2003 since release, and for me that has been a rockier road. My soundcard (HDA Mystique) drivers are still in beta and only support half the card's features. Hauppauge's TV tuners are still completely MIA, although someone planted a rumour here recently that that's about to change. MS' own devices, keyboards and mice are also unsupported (they work, but not all keys are supported, the wheel is slow and stuff like that).

Finally, as I've mentioned before: For me it is much easier to get 2003 up and running properly than XP. XP has a lot of junk that you have to disable, and some stuff (animated dog in "search"?) you can't get rid of at all AFAIK (short of installing 2003...).

 

[Rilex]

XP64 is built off of the 2003 64 code base. So performance wise, they'll be on par.

and some stuff (animated dog in "search"?) you can't get rid of at all AFAIK

TweakUI...

 

[Superguy]

Hmmm.

Digging around looks like the vendors made my decision for me. Most of my hardware doesn't have Win2k3 x64 drivers ... unless the XP x64 drivers will work.

If you do a clean install of an eval, do you get another 6 months to use it?

 

[ShellGuy]

Did with my School copys of Win2k and server...


Will G.

 

[Superguy]

Cool. Thanks.

 

[imported_BikeDude]

Originally posted by: Superguy
unless the XP x64 drivers will work.

There are no 2003-specific drivers. Just use the XP drivers.

Actually, there is one exception. Adaptec, when they first launched their 19160 SCSI controller, refused to make server-class drivers for it. Their installer would only accept 2000 Professional and fail installation under 2000 Server IIRC. Purely a marketing decision, and I haven't seen anyone do that since. (except for AV crap -- but I don't run resident AV products so it doesn't worry me)

 

[Vegito]

almost 90% of the stuff on 2003 x64 doesn't run well.. especiall the remote control stuff.. and i hate remote desktop.. so i dont use that..

2003 x64 found almost everything for my pci.. asus has some 2003 x64 drivers. It works okay but not for prime time yet..

I'm just waiting for a stable VM release and run a bunch of 32bit server within my x64 server

 

[Superguy]

So is XP64 "more ready" from prime time then?