Windows Server 2003

[JDArt]

On of my PCs that has suffered for ages from sluggish performance (XP), I recently installed Windows Server 2003--for the first time ever. Now the machine flies, faster than any PC I've ever used. Is Server 2003 the great undiscovered OS that most of us want: free of the useless eye candy that plagues XP, emphasis placed where we really need it (performance)?

[brian.austin]

I'm not sure about that but it's far and above the best overall OS Microsoft has come out with since MSDOS 5. Overall, it's pretty stable, runs only what you need it to run, and handles memory very efficiently. It still has its quirks, though, just like any operating system (and Mac, Linux and Unix all have their's, too).

[Shortie]

At a guess

a clean install always runs faster

let us know what it is like in 3 months

Shortie

[brian.austin]

Originally Posted by Shortie

At a guess

a clean install always runs faster

let us know what it is like in 3 months

Shortie

I've got 15 that have been running fine for 2+ years. Run updates and reboot maybe once every three months. I don't run updates on one of them due to the software it's hosting and that one has been on for almost a year with no reboots.

[skrubol]

XP x64 and 2003 actually use the same code base (XP-64 has more in common with 2003 than it does with 32-bit XP.) If you turn off the eye candy, they will behave pretty much the same (assuming you don't plan to use the server abilities.)