Everybody knows that I am a Microsoft Guy... I make the majority of my money using and developing for their products. That said, they have massively screwed up at times. So badly that I have refused to work on several of their platforms (Windows Me, Windows Vista, Windows 2008). I have to admit Windows Server 2008 R2 is the bees knees. It is everything I have asked for in a modern operating system. This is R2, mind you, not Windows 2008. While a good start that OS wanted to BSOD every few moments... not fun.
Anyway, I like the OS so much that I wanted to use it as the OS on my workstation. Why? You get all of the benefits of 64bit with none of the hangups that Windows XP and Windows 7 seem to have. You get all of the features of a Windows 7 workstation, PLUS IIS 7.5, PLUS Hyper-V, PLUS RRAS, PLUS PLUS PLUS. It is awesome. In the past I have attempted to use a Server OS as my workstation OS, and I always ran in to some sort of hang up, I couldn't game on it, or It wasn't as user friendly, or it lacked some aspect of the workstation OS. Windows Server 2008 has none of those hang ups. It handles hardware, even advanced graphics cards, like a champ, and gives all of the nice to have perks that you are used to in a workstation OS. BUT... You have to work at it. There are lots of stuff you need to do to get the OS like you want it. I am going to go through what I did to get my Windows Server 2008 R2 working on my IBM Lenovo T410.
Install Desktop Experience
First things first... You look at Windows Server 2008 after install, and it looks like well... It looks like a server OS. Where is all of the pretty??? We want themes, and that cool graphical active program selector thing, and rotating background images, and stuff!!! We also want the ability to download and use Active X components as well as other WebDAV and whizbang web stuff. We get all of that by going in to the Server Manager and installing the Desktop Experience feature. It is easy, just check the box.
After installing the Desktop Experience we have all of the stuff right? Nope... That would be too easy. If you want Microsoft's whole new Windows 7 "glass" stuff, they call it "Aero", you need to open up the Services area in the Server Manager and find the Themes service.
After that, simply download the Windows 7 theme of your choice, and you are off to the races... So to speak...
Configure Wireless
A very annoying aspect of installing Windows Server 2008 on a laptop is that you have to jump through hoops to get your wireless network card to work. I must admit that I wasted a lot of time on this issue. I kept thinking that the OS had a problem with the driver. Nope, it liked the driver just fine, you have to install the Wireless LAN Service in order for it to work. Back to the Server Manager and open up the Features area and add the Wireless LAN Service Feature. If you card is installed correctly, immediately after installation is complete, you will see the OS looking for wireless networks.
Configure IE and Web Client Service
IE on Windows Server 2008 R2 is a pain in the neck. Even if you change your security and privacy options, it still complains to you that you are not as secure as you should be. There is a fix for that! You need to change the policy that is complaining.
First turn off IE Enhanced Security by going in to Server Manager. On the very first page is the Server Summary. On that page there is a link that says Configure IE ESC. It is on the right hand side in a box under the Security Information section. Set what you want for your IE annoyances just for users or just for admins. I set both to off. After that you are free to change your security and privacy settings to however you like them. Depending on your settings in IE, you may get a banner warning telling you that your security configuration has left your computer vulnerable. I hate that... So, let's get that changed.
Disable Security Warnings in IE
You will need to open up the Group Policy Editor (gpedit.msc, from run in the start menu, or somewhere else). From there go to:
Local Computer Policy
Computer Configuration
Administrative Templates
Windows Components
Internet Explorer
Double-click on “Turn off the Security Settings Check feature” and set it to Enabled. Done!
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