Windows 7/8 or Server 2011?

[xs2man]

Hi guys,

After asking on here earlier about a relatively cheap build to be used mainly for streaming my music and movie collection around the house, I have ended up with a HP Microserver. I am pretty happy with the choice of system, mainly because gone are the days that I am trancoding everything I get my hands on, and am really just needing something to store all my files and stream my media to my devices.

Anyway, hardware, check.

So now onto software. I will be running multiple large HDD's in there, along with a 250GB drive for the OS.

But what OS? Win 7/8 or Server OS?

I am really just using the machine for ripping media and streaming media. With the occasional office document and google chrome. Will these work with Windows Server? Or would I be better off with windows 7 (until 8 comes out)?

Example of what I generally have open would be google chrome, utorrent, EAC, media monkey, vlc and spider solitaire.

However, I may be streaming movies and music around the house at anytime.

It might also be nice to have remote access to office documents anywhere I can get internet, as I work offshore, and often do have internet. So if I forget a manual, I can just download it. Not really a necessity, but would be pretty slick to show off to my colleagues, lol.

Thanks for any advice given.

 

[Sin_Chase]

Do you need anything server provides? If you do not know what that is chances are you do not need it.

 

[Raumarik]

Advice - stick with non-server OS unless you find a specific need for it, can't see anything you've mentioned which absolutely needs a server OS.

 

[ChileanLlama]

Hi guys,

I am really just using the machine for ripping media and streaming media. With the occasional office document and google chrome. Will these work with Windows Server? Or would I be better off with windows 7 (until 8 comes out)?

Example of what I generally have open would be google chrome, utorrent, EAC, media monkey, vlc and spider solitaire.

You're using it as a desktop, so stick with desktop OS. You can still create shares and stream media, and add some software like Logmein to allow you to login remotely, or setup something like Skydrive to sync some stuff to the cloud for when you're away.

If you weren't using it as a desktop, then WHS2011 might be an option, as it will make it easier to manage shares, users, do backups and login remotely out of the box - but the idea with WHS is that you just tuck it away and let it do it's job, not use it as a desktop PC.