I don’t need a server. Our FreeBSD home server runs unstoppably for years, asking nothing in return. However, my curiosity about OSes drove me on ordering the free evaluation version of Windows Server 2003 Enterprise, the latest Microsoft’s OS offering. Naturally, there is a lot of marketing hype surrounding the product, but this time, I am really happy to witness that most of the hype is for real.
Note: This is not a review of the product as a server. It is a review of how it performs after transforming it to a workstation or a desktop.
Installing the product is no different than recent versions of Windows. It is an easy procedure o follow, except for two parts: I don’t like the staging installation, it serves no real purpose for the user; it should have been a normal, modern one-go installation, and it shouldn’t take more than 20 minutes. It took nearly 40 minutes on my MicroTel AthlonXP 1600+, 768 MB RAM and its 52x CD-ROM.
And then, it booted for the first time… Windows Server 2003 (Win2k3 for short) booted in around 15 seconds, much faster than my Windows XP Pro (~25 secs), on par to a “clean” installation of Gentoo Linux (with no extra services) and slower than BeOS 5 (around 8 seconds, but BeOS doesn’t load anything heavy on startup).
The desktop appearance is a bumped up version of the standard Windows 2000 theme and it has all the extra eye-candy stuff turned off. Smooth fonts, “show windows contents when moving windows,” etc., are all off. It only takes a few seconds to go to the settings panel and turn everything on. And even with the “eye candy overhead,” I must say, this is the (overall) fastest *modern* operating system I have ever used.
You read correctly, if Microsoft did one thing correct in this version is to optimize the OS for maximum performance and we are not talking just server performance, but all-around responsiveness of the OS. Sure, BeOS heads will tell us in the forum how responsive the BeOS UI is, but BeOS is not overall fast. It is a very bad server platform (even with the BONE networking stack installed it’s not a serious server), it doesn’t have a good throughput, its SMP scaling is below par today (despite popular belief), and compiling anything takes more time than it would take on any Unix or Windows I ever used. BeOS will still feel faster on slower machines, but it can’t offer all what Win2k3 can.
As for a users’ speed comparison to Linux, let’s just say that the exact same machine feels much faster with Win2k3 than with Red Hat Linux 9. Applications load instantly. For example, this not-so-fast machine can load Windows Media Player 9 in 1 second. IE loads instantly, OpenOffice.org 1.1b2 loads in 7 seconds (version 1.0.2 under Red Hat needs 13 seconds, even with DMA on), the Gimp for Windows loads in 6 seconds, Apple QuickTime in 2 seconds. IE scrolling is extremely smooth, UI responsiveness is great, the recently compiled applications from Microsoft (e.g. Windows Explorer) are 100% flicker free upon resize (XP’s is not fully flicker free), so what else can I say? The OS just feels fast-fast-fast, as others have said as well in their reviews.
But there are problems when using a purely server product as a workstation that was tweaked to be as secure and as fast and stable as it can be after all this bashing Microsoft is getting for years.
First and foremost, backwards compatibility is crippled. This is a known issue and bear in mind, it was a conscious decision made by Microsoft in order to secure, stabilize and speed-up the OS. They did it on purpose. Let me explain the situation:
We all know that WindowsXP and Windows 2000 were the best OS products from Microsoft so far, far more stable than the low-quality Win9x/ME line of OSes which were based on a different codeline (and are responsible for the terrible reputation they gave to the Windows name). Well, even the NT codeline is unstable on 2k and XP, and engineers have identified the problem in the legacy code, and backwards compatibility support these OSes were forced to carry in order to sell better (users wouldn’t upgrade if their older apps wouldn’t be supported). XP is for me an extremely stable OS, I’ve seen only a single crash in 1.2 years of running it, and that was just because of a defective hardware (an old and dying Yamaha CD-R). However, still, other people report instability problems with XP or 2000. And 90% of the time, the source of the problem is simple and the same for all: they use unstable drivers, or simply, drivers that were not built for the specific kernel they were using. It is like trying to load a kernel driver (module) under Debian while it was compiled specifically for Red Hat. Or, it is like trying to load a Red Hat 7 or 8 driver under Red Hat 9. Sure, they are both Linux, but 99% of the times, you really need to have distro-specific drivers, otherwise your driver is very likely to crash, because of the minor changes found in each kernel. The same goes with Windows and any other OS. The fact that they all bear the name “Windows” (for marketing purposes) doesn’t make them the same version OS, let along the same OS altogether. People should realize this very well before they go and download and install drivers for any OS, not just Windows.
Here is the rule of thumb regarding Windows Server 2003 as a Workstation: If all your hardware is supported by the OS, or if you are certain that there are drivers *tested* for the specific OS, go ahead and install Win2k3. If you can’t find specific drivers for your hardware, evaluate whether you can live without these drivers (e.g. without sound) and if not, stay with Windows XP or whatever OS you are currently running.
This is a very interesting situation. It feels sort of like Win2k3 is really an alternative OS! The fact that hardware compatibility with multimedia devices is shaky while a number of applications have hiccups because of the lack of full compatibility (e.g. WinAMP 3) or don’t run at all (e.g. MS Exchange), is giving this OS a clean fresh air. It is like a new start for Microsoft. They seem eager to try to get rid of the big success key of the past(DOS/Win3.x compatibility for Windows 95, Windows 9x compatibility for XP), which is also at the same time, their curse, a curse that brings insecurity and instability. We see on Win2k3 a frank effort from Microsoft to clean up the mess. And so far, they have succeeded in regards to the server part. If they can backport all these changes to the next Windows Longhorn or even to Windows XP SP2, Microsoft will have accomplished a big step in offering a worthy product, if not a winner indeed (don’t forget, according to JoelOnSoftware, software in general takes 10 years to mature – the NT codeline is today about 12 years old).
I was discussing the driver incompatibility problem with someone via email the other day, and he said, “but how are people supposed to know that they should not install non-Win2k3 drivers?” Well, the answer is easy: If you don’t see mention on the third party web site of Win2k3, don’t even bother download the drivers. And if you do download and try to install them, the OS will popup an alert to tell you that these drivers are not qualified for this OS (in CAPITALS no less!!). I am speaking out of experience: Win2k3 Enterprise didn’t support any of the two sound cards I have on this machine (an onboard AC97 VIA 8233 and a PCI Yamaha YMF-754). I thought, “whatever…” and I went to Hoontech’s web site and downloaded the latest Yamaha drivers for Win2000 and XP. I decided to install the driver despite the alerts Windows was giving me. I risked it. Well, after I did that, Windows Server 2003 got unstable. I had 3 bluescreens in 24 hours, all random. I emailed the HoonTech guys and they told me that they do not plan any update to their drivers for Win2k3 as Yamaha doesn’t really sell the card anymore. I had also installed the latest Detonator drivers from nVidia and the 4-in-1 drivers from VIA (which include some additional IDE and AGP drivers). None of these drivers were Win2k3-proof, however, the Yamaha driver was the one which was cr@pping out (kmixer.sys was crashing, which is a Windows kernel driver for audio, which the normal sound drivers are wrapping onto). I could have been lucky and the Yamaha driver could have worked. But I wasn’t. And if it was not the Yamaha driver, it could have been something else. Moral of the story: If you want to keep your Windows stable as a rock (and this includes Windows XP), don’t install drivers not built for the specific kernel you are using. Know, understand and accept this simple fact before you pass any kind of judgment. Any OS would crash when installing wrong kernel drivers.
Now that we’ve got this clear, here are the rest of the changes you will have to make in order to transform Windows Server 2003 into a workstation:
1. Enable Hardware Acceleration in the Advanced tab of the Display Properties.
2. Download and install DirectX 9a. Load “dxdiag” from the command line and enable OpenGL and Direct3D. If you don’t do that, you won’t be able to play 3D games.
3. Don’t forget to create a user account. Add yourself in to the administrator group if you want to use the OS more freely.
4. Disable that nerve-wrecking shutdown Tracker which doesn’t let you shutdown or reboot the machine whenever you want (for security reasons that you don’t need it on a workstation)
5. Disable Internet Explorer Hardening. God, this one sucks until you get all these options right. With the security measures Microsoft has taken in this version, not even OSNews is not allowed to load on IE. Not even google.com. You will have to modify the preferences of IE and tell it to not be so paranoid about security…
6. Go to your System Properties, Advanced and click the Performance Settings. Tell it to adjust for best appearance. On the same panel, click on the Advanced tab and tell it to adjust best performance for “Programs” instead of the default values (which mostly favor server performance).
7. Enable Audio. By default, Windows Server 2003 has sound disabled. To do so, just go to the audio control panel and check the radio button there. After you do that, go to Advanced tab and enable full acceleration for the audio.
8. Enable the Theme service and tell it to autostart at each reboot, otherwise you won’t be able to use themes or the Luna interface (I noticed a slight drop of performance (e.g. when rendering web pages with IE) after switching to the heavier Luna).
You can read how to do all that step by step in this informative article over at NeoWin.
After you do all that, and you made sure you that you have supported hardware and that all the applications you are interested in do work well with this new system, then you are all set to go and make the big move out of XP or 2000. However, there is one more problem: The mighty price.
Well, the price is stupidly steep. I don’t have enough good words to say about this server OS, but the problem is that if this is to work as a workstation OS, it should also be made affordable. Through the standard retail channels, the best price you can get is $800 for the Standard Edition with 5 licenses. Then, for the other versions, the price escalates to high grounds that us geeks can’t afford. However, there is a “trick” that you might be able to pull through and get the software for $380 if you know the right people at the right places.
So, there is version of Windows Server 2003 which is called Web Edition and it doesn’t have all the goodies in it (supports up to 2 GB RAM, 2 CPUs, not all server software is there) as it was created solely for web serving with IIS. However, this version is more than enough for a workstation, and more importantly, it doesn’t have the CAL licensing limitations that the other versions of Windows Server 2003 have. The catch? It is not available via retail channels. Only OEMs and Microsoft distributors sell this cheaper version of the OS for specific purposes only. If you can get your hands on it and you have the will and money for it, go ahead and buy it. If not, well, you can always order the free evaluation CD of Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition, free to use for 180 days (you can download it for free too if you have the bandwidth, it is a single 550 MB ISO image). Update: You can get Win2k3 Enterprise via the subscription pack for only $300 USD, and it comes with a whole lot of apps and other Windows OSes too (possibly that would be your best deal, I guess, to get hold of the OS).
Windows Server 2003 as a Workstation and comparison to Windows XP Pro:
Good points: Faaaaast, stable, much more secure, easy to use.
Bad points: Incompatible with old drivers (can cause bad crashes) and some software, requires a bit of work to transform it from a server OS to a workstation OS, pricey.
Installation: 9/10 (XP Pro: 9)
Hardware Support: 8/10 (XP Pro: 9.5)
Ease of use: 9/10 (XP Pro: 9)
Features: 10/10 (XP Pro: 8.5)
Credibility: 9.5/10 (XP Pro: 8) (stability, bugs, security)
Speed: 10/10 (XP Pro: 9) (UI responsiveness, latency, throughput)
Overall: 9.25 / 10 (XP Pro: 8.83)
Other OSNews reviews for workstation comparison: Mac OS X 10.3 review, SuSE 8.2 review, Red Hat Linux 9 review and preview, Mandrake 9.1 review.
But tomorrow, they may be collecting more than that. What’s to stop MS from recording your keystrokes (selectively, of course)? Computer nowadays has crazy amount of horsepower to allow this kind of activity went undetected.
Not only that, if we all use Windows, there is nothing that can either detect or disable this feature because it’s built into the OS that nobody has access to its source code.
While I’m not crazy about activation myself, people tend to get a bit out of hand about what they think can be done. While it’s completely possible to record keystrokes (selectively or otherwise), it’s not something that can easily remain undetected. Many people don’t use a single Microsoft OS on a computer connected directly to the outside world (myself included). There are numerous people out there that just love to look at the garbage leaving each new MS OS through the NIC to try to support their various conspiracy theories.
While your basic off-the-shelf ‘cable router’ may not have significant logging features, it doesn’t take much money to get a router that does. Anything leaving (or coming into) a Windows box can be logged and examined by those that are willing to do so. All it really takes is one person finding something like this and being able to demonstrate that it’s a reproducable finding (hell, it probably wouldn’t take that much) and it’d be in the news.
Even your standard spyware wouldn’t be such a big deal if people paid more attention to what their computer was doing, but the reality is that the best that anyone can do to hide the fact they’re sending something from your computer is to heavily encrypt it. If someone’s sending heavily encrypted data from your box without your explicit permission, then why are you letting them continue to do so?
>Win2k. I’ve seen the slowdown on everything from W2k Pro to Win2k Adv. Server.
Have you defraged? I do it once every 2-3 months. It is essential for all filesystems.
I’ve got an EXT2 disk that’s been in use since Redhat 6 came out and it’s still running just as fast as it was at the beginning. I’ve also got a Sun at work that’s never been defragged (this defragging idea is new to me – can you even do it on Suns?), and it’s still fast.
The idea of user-intervention to keep a system running at a consistent speed seems ridiculous.
mmafan:
Naw man, they are out to stop mom and pop casual user from lending out their CD…and that has worked to a large degree, because I know a lot of semi computer-literate people who used to share their Win98/ME/2K cd, but no longer ‘think’ they can do it with XP.
This is true.. but add to this the fact that I’ve had many game and music CDs screwed up by their over-reaching anti-piracy measures that I had to “pirate” them to get them to work properly in the first place! Intuit users thought the same with the recently-pulled TurboTax DRM features. My assertion is that the net value of existing anti-piracy features to the consumer base is negative. But the corporations sure like it, as you said.
CooCooCaChoo:
Windows is stable when run on quality, non-faulty hardware.
Like a Sun SS20?
You can set up automatic defraging on 9x series via the task scheduler
Seriously? I stand corrected, then. I haven’t looked at 9x for a while..
and as for NT/2000/XP/2003, what is so hard about loading up Disk Defragmenter once a week/month/when-ever and simply pressing defragment?
The fact that it has to be done at all. My point wasn’t that it’s hard, but that it’s a concrete example of Windows hand-holding versus Linux simplicity — in response to people claiming that Windows remains faster than Linux even after months of use. Give the Linux box the same amount of hand-holding and get back to me
Also, thanks for pointing out the 9x defrag scheduling thing. Curious though, that the desktop OS can do it, but the server version can’t.
GG
Also, thanks for pointing out the 9x defrag scheduling thing. Curious though, that the desktop OS can do it, but the server version can’t.
The server version can as well. Just lookup the ‘defrag’ command line options, and add an appropiate entry to Control Panel Scheduled tasks.
Yeah they are speedy, i have used bootvis a reg cleaner and i defrag now and then. But for some realon win2k3 is much faster here. You really notice it with no much memory. I only have 256 sdram and i sometimes play games that need so much ram that i’m using 300+ ram. in xp/2k after closing the game windows has a big slowdown in 2k3 there isn’t any slowdown.
I even didn’t reboot my computer once during a 3 day lanparty and at the end(with lots of games played/installed/deinstalled) it ran very smootly
The same thing I noticed with some apps that just won’t let go of RAM, but I don’t know the very inside of XP OS, especially RAM management. Basically 512 MB cures it and with today’s prices it’s acceptable, I remember from 98SE/Me days that non of the mem management apps worked as advertised.
that if you use a M$ server OS as a workstation OS you have to pay more for some Applications.
Example: I wanted to install Partition Magic on W2K server but it refused to work. The Message came up:
“This is a Server OS. You have to use the special edition of PM that works with a Server OS…”
(This was ages ago, so don’t elaborate on the exact phrase of the Message)
Eugenia: If somebody already brought up this thought you can kill this message. (didn’t read all of the 105 messages…)
so what does it being a 5 user license mean? Could me and 4 other friends chip in and buy the 2k3 server and then legally install it on all of our machines?
– QAK
To get the free evaluation version, one has to register, get a product key, download an iso and after installing the OS, contact Microsoft to activate it. So, before I can enjoy this free stuff, I have to participate in a steeple-chase ? By the way, what’s the purpose of activating software that’s for trial ?
Compare this hassle to Linux or *BSD : find a download site, get the iso, burn it, install the server and there you go … no crap, no call to anyone, no stinking activation.
I’ve read some peculiar things on Microsoft website.
Windows Server 2003 is described as a “cost-efficient choice for both scale-up or scale-out purposes”.
I don’t get this one. Do these people ever visit PriceWatch ? How can it be cost-efficient if it is associated with an extortion scheme like Software Licensing 6.0 ? Where are the savings if it cannot run software that already exist ?
This OS comes with a firewall integrated. Nowadays,when hardware is cheap, why should anybody put their server and their firewall on the same box, let alone pay 800 $ for it ?
It’s supposedly secure due in part to a “software engine that improves reliability and helps ensure a safe computing environment.”
Gosh, that’s a good one : this engine will probably prevent the millions of lines of legacy NT code to misbehave, not mentioning third party products. Don’t you tell me Windows Server 2003 was written from scratch.
The other component of security is IIS 6.0. Does this item even deserve talking about ?
People will call me a Microsoft basher, but they have to agree that once again Redmond spindoctors have exaggerated : many Windows 2003 Server features sound too good to be true.
>To get the free evaluation version, one has to register, get a product key, download an iso and after installing the OS, contact Microsoft to activate it.
Yes. It is no different than the registration you got to go through in order to download some SDKs from some mobile phone OSes, or even QNX. As for the activation, it is 100% painless for the user.
> what’s the purpose of activating software that’s for trial ?
It is activated as a trial version. No doubt, the hackers will find a way to take away the expiration. But when they will be updates to the OS and you contact MS to download these updates, MS won’t let you download these updates. So the trial activation knows when you installed the OS and knows if you had hacked it. Fair enough.
Licensing 6.0 is not as bad as many people claim it is (note, those are generally the ones who haven’t subscribed to it, not that I have either).
Microsoft has updated Licensing 6.0 this week… Included are:
1. Free copies of Microsoft Office software for customer employees to use at home;
2. ‘Significant’ employee discounts on other software, including games;
3. Free web and telephone support for problems with server software (currently a chargeable service);
4. Free extended support for products that have gone beyond mainstream support life-cycles;
5. Tools to speed up deployment of Windows software;
6. Access to Windows source code for all customers with more than 1,500 licensed desktops – currently only available for government departments;
7. Free online learning software;
Training vouchers for use at authorised training centres.
…in fact Red Hat is installed in the beginning of the drive where the hard disk is faster…
In fact this is history. With todays ATA drives it can sometimes even be the opposite. But speed differences depending on location on the HD aren’t to be taken into consideration anymore.
ealm:
I’m afraid you are VERY wrong. It is a simple matter of physics.
The facts are, objects (or in this case data) towards the center of the circular plater will indeed have a greater velocity than those on the edge.
Don’t believe me, test it out. The inner-area of the circle makes more revolutions per revolution of the outer-area of the circle
Physics? What physics is this? Bizarro physics?
“The facts are, objects (or in this case data) towards the center of the circular plater will indeed have a greater velocity than those on the edge.
Don’t believe me, test it out. The inner-area of the circle makes more revolutions per revolution of the outer-area of the circle”
How, please tell me how, the inner portion of the hard disk can make more revolutions per timeunit than the outer? IT’S THE SAME FRIGGING SURFACE! IT ALL SPINS AT THE SAME RATE PER UNIT OF TIME!
Damn, dude. I’m sorry to be so harsh but this is pretty simple stuff here.
If you are talking RELATIVE velocity then the outer surface of the platter covers more distance in the same revolution than the inner (for example, the inner part of a merry-go-round would cover 15 feet in one revolution, the outer about 60-70 feet) The outer surface is “faster”, in terms of velocity, making the head move more, which could conceivably slow down your rate of data transfer a tiny bit.
But, it is still one revolution per revolution, no matter where you are on the merry-go-round.
have in common ?
Both installed Windows 2003 server to try it out as a (work|game)station 🙂
Oh, all that performance gain…
That’s exactly the point. The inner-part will have more revolutions per revolution of the outer area.
were you sleeping when this topic was taught in “physics”?
so what does it being a 5 user license mean? Could me and 4 other friends chip in and buy the 2k3 server and then legally install it on all of our machines?
No, it means that you may run one server and have 5 client
pc (workstation) connected to it. (this is the condensed version, you’ll have to read the complete EULA for more details, but I usually nod off after the first line then the cat walks in and stamps on the keyboard)
Baaad Microsoft. They said the driver subsystem in windows 2003 is reworked and more stable and the os will try to recover, without crashing, in case of bad drivers. But I guess that is “impossible”
. And for reboots. Fewer reboots… No way. Turn on the sound subsystem: reboot, configure active directory: reboot. Install some drivers: reboot and so on and so on untill you get pissed. In other ways: yes it feels more faster and I hope its security got better.
The only driver i needed to reboot for was the nvidia driver.
If someone’s sending heavily encrypted data from your box without your explicit permission, then why are you letting them continue to do so?
Tell me how can you prevent MS from recording your keystrokes (not all of them!!!) and collect them in a place somewhere (hidden partition or part of the boot record, so no third-party software can find it), then sent it in a perfectly valid packet to MS server as a part of the “activation info”. Sure you can activate using the phone, but people like convenience, more people will use internet vs phone activation.
Your router/sniffer might be able to pinpoint exactly the packet, but it’s a perfectly valid packet because you have allowed MS to get it (by agreeing to the Activation deal).
Moreover, if you tamper with that packet, trying to find out what’s in it, MS can sue you back.
After Playing with 2k3 sever. I have found that gaming on it is not possible at the current time. I have tried and installed Directx 9 to play UT. And the operating system seems clueless about any type of DirectX software. So as a desktop OS, I don’t think so.
But thats just my opinion.
Helloooo?
Have you READ the article??
Direct3D/GL has to be manually activated, there is a link in the article to tell you how to do that!
I played the latest ST:Voyager 3D game just fine. Direct3D and GL and everything.
“Direct3D and GL and everything.”
Don’t mix apples with pears.
Article does tell about DirectDraw, Direct3D and AGP Texture Acceleration settings to enable.
It does NOT tell about OpenGL whatsoever.
As for myself, I was trying to run OGL game(Q3A), but got stuck upon
“GLW_StartOpenGL() – could not load OpenGL subsystem” error message.
Current video drivers are system’s default(NVIDIA’s 6.13.10.2958 WHQL), I seem to have try some others.
Anybody else experienced this?
It DID help.
Default nvidia drivers seem to suck.
With lastest WHQL drivers it work smoothly.
I must apologize for my statement. I had not read the second nor the third page(accually wasn’t aware there was one.) After RE-intalling 2k3 and going through the steps of setting it up for gamming. I was able to get UT up and working with no problems. So Again. I apologize for not reading through the document
And for reboots. Fewer reboots… No way. Turn on the sound subsystem: reboot, configure active directory: reboot. Install some drivers: reboot and so on and so on untill you get pissed. In other ways: yes it feels more faster and I hope its security got better.
Why don’t you tell it not to reboot and perform other steps next to it that require reboot?
Turning sound on + NVidia drivers + Audigy drivers + Promise Drivers == 1 reboot here. Just reboot it at the end of doing all these things.
That easy.
And regarding “backporting”. Longhorn bases on the Win2k3 code FYI, no need to backport on LH.