ActiveWin.com has just posted their 17-page, 90-screenshot review of Microsoft Windows Server 2012. The review covers many different aspects of the OS including start screen, server manager, VHDX, chkdsk improvements, Hyper-V, private cloud, IIS 8, and more. “On the desktop, Windows 8 remains the most talked about release, but within the datacenter, Windows 8’s counterpart on the server is also creating its own noise amongst Sys Admins and Integrators. One of the themes around Windows 8 is mobility and Touch, Windows Server 2012 itself follows a theme that is part of an industry trend, the Cloud. Windows Server 2012 promises to embrace the concept of private clouds fully while maintaining the traditional concept of on premises administration using its familiar tools.”
server 2012 is a gem, even despite the comedic shoehorning-in of the metro start screen
bad review, good OS
you can make server 2012 boot to the desktop.
server 2012 boots to the desktop automatically. but eventually you’ll have to run something, and metro is still the new start menu.
If it’s anything like Windows 8, there’s plenty of Start menu replacements to be had. Or just use a launcher. In all honesty, it’s a lot of bitching about nothing.
Does it really matter?
The Server 2012 Start Screen is nearly blank initially, with and only the snap-ins for the service you add populate it afterwards. It ends up being nicer than the start menu, with large text and icons making things easier to find.
I have yet to see anybody give a plausible situation where you need the rest of the desktop available when the start menu is open The Start Screen displays more icons and is easier to read, compared to the old Start Menu.
Apart from the Start Screen, Metro absent 2012 (Though, I do believe you have the option of going back and installing everything).
Edited 2012-10-28 02:22 UTC
Does it matter? The desktop itself was already a joke for a server OS.
Then don’t install the desktop. It is completely unnecessary.
Then don’t install the desktop. It is completely unnecessary in a some situations
There fixed it for you.
Oh, and not everything can be done via powershell.
You’d be hard pressed to find something you need the GUI for.
And, in the rare circumstance you need a graphical tool, you can install just that, and not the whole desktop.
Maybe in 1999 when the GUI resource argument was actually worth considering.
I definitely wouldn’t run X on a server because it is a POS that can’t be trusted on production servers.
The Win GUI is plenty stable but Microsoft has definitely ruined it with Metro. The way they integrated it looks like a practical joke.
It is beyond me why anyone would want to use a cloud and put their and their company’s data at risk. Microsoft is embracing some very dangerous concepts.
Why?
Because a whole slew of consultants are getting huge great wads of cash from compaines all over the place for preaching the mantra ‘Cloud is where it’s at and if you want to be cool, that is where you will put your data’.
Then they’ll be off to the next suckers leaving many of us here to pick up the pieces when it all goes horribly wrong.