Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials as a desktop OS?

Mr Jack · 4 Feb 2014 at 13:54

I was given a MacBook Pro when I started my PhD but, frankly, it'd be a lot more useful if I could install Windows on it (bootcamp, obviously). Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials is available as a free download for students so I wondered whether anyone has tried using Windows Server 2012 as their desktop OS? If so, does it work okay?

Mr Jack · 4 Feb 2014 at 14:26

kitkat9933 said:
Don't see why not it just isn't that practical.

Why not? I've not used any of the recent Windows Server editions. What's going to make it impractical?

Mr Jack · 4 Feb 2014 at 14:50

marc2003 said:
are you really saying that's the only option? surely they must offer a normal client OS like 7/8/8.1??

Nope. If I want them I have to pay; and free is good

i really can't see the point in tinkering around with a server OS unless you're really very interested in the features they offer. if you were, you wouldn't even be asking.

Well, the point is that it's free. Windows Server used to be okay as a desktop OS once you'd fiddled with the options a bit, I don't know whether that is still the case.

Mr Jack · 4 Feb 2014 at 14:58

I've realised it's actually the Standard or Datacentre editions not the essentials; it just has the image from essentials on it! Mind you, I don't think the difference would matter for me.

Mr Jack · 4 Feb 2014 at 15:20

marc2003 said:
you could try looking through this to get you started: http://www.win2012workstation.com/

Aces. Right, I'll get it downloaded and probably install it tomorrow night. I'll let you know how it pans out in the next week or so.

Mr Jack · 5 Feb 2014 at 11:22

mk17 said:
A lot of academic institutions have access to Dreamspark, Microsoft's academic licensing. Ask your sys admin if they have it, you should be able to get various o/s versions from that.

Unfortunately my uni only pays for the full Dreamspark that includes the desktop OS's for the Computer Science department so I can get the stuff that is free to all students (i.e. Windows Server and Visual Studio) but not some of the better stuff.

Mr Jack · 6 Feb 2014 at 10:21

Well, the installation went smoothly enough - once I'd figured out how to get the Mac to burn a bootable DVD from an .iso - but using Windows Server is proving somewhat problematic. The big free antivirus software programs all refuse to install on it - it took me about an hour and a half to figure out a way to get Avast installed but I think now I've got it going it should all be okay. There are a few niggles like the fact I can't figure out how to add 'Sleep' to the menu of shutdown options (but hitting the power button will put it to sleep so it's not a big problem) and I can't persuade it to update to the latest graphics drivers since they're refusing to play nicely with Windows Server 2012 despite the fact that the underlying core is identical to Windows 8 so it should be completely compatible.

Mr Jack · 9 Feb 2014 at 17:28

I got the antivirus running okay. It just took a bit of effort.

It runs games fine; the same game runs noticeably better in Windows mode than on the same hardware running Mac OS. I'm guessing that's due to porting issues more than underlying performance but it's still pleasing. I'm still working on getting the latest drivers to play ball and install but it's working perfectly well as a desktop OS.

Mr Jack · 9 Feb 2014 at 17:37

And I solved the driver issue too. It turns out Intel do two downloads of their drivers; one as an .exe for "end users"; the other as a .zip for "IT professionals". The .exe checks the OS version and throws a wobbler but the .zip version will install just fine.

Mr Jack · 9 Feb 2014 at 21:55

R4z0r said:
Can't you just buy Windows 7/8? Surely the small amount of money it will cost will be worth it in terms of productivity.

*shrug* It's not that cheap on a PhD stipend and there's actually very little difference once you've tweaked it into shape.

Mr Jack · 10 Feb 2014 at 22:06

loltim said:
Should be fine. One thing I found was wireless connectivity isn't an installed role by default.

This is true: the http://www.win2012workstation.com/ link marc2003 posted above explains how to fix it and most (but not quite all) other things though. The wireless lack is particularly painful, though, for obvious reasons so make sure you have a second device handy.

Mr Jack · 15 Feb 2014 at 10:55

AStaley said:
Installing Server 2012 as desktop OS could be considered as a bit of fun, but far more trouble than its worth. What's so wrong with OSX that you can't use it, especially with the free Mavricks upgrade it's a great OS almost perfect for a student I'd have thought?

It's just not as nice to use as windows, plus some of the software I need for my research doesn't run on Macs.

And why would a Uni provide a server OS to its students, doesn't seem practical.

The Uni doesn't; Microsoft does. It's available on DreamSpark.

Anyway, I've been using it for a week now. The only issues I've hit were getting antivirus to install (fixed by installing Avast using Application Verifier) and getting the latest Intel HD drivers on (fixed by installing from the .zip'd version rather than the .exe). Games run fine and all the apps I've wanted work fine.

And it's so nice to be back on Windows after slumming it with Mac OS; it makes me smile every day.

Mr Jack · 26 Sep 2014 at 14:23

I've now been running this for seven months. Apart from the initial issues getting Avast! to install and the problems getting the Intel HD drivers on, I've not had a single issue.

It was a bit of hassle but it saved me the price of an OS. I consider that worth it, YMMV.