Finally got this running on my test server. One bluescreen after a few minutes, one crash of server manager, refuses to activate because of 0c80070241 "Windows cannot verify the digital signature for this file" - other than that, everything else ok so far.
More detail. Won't load on Intel ICHxR using raid drivers (ICH10R, raid 1). Will load using Adaptec drivers (1430SA, raid 1). Successfully imported a VM saved from 2008R2, it booted fine but threw away the network hardware and built new so I had to configure everything again. Somebody remind me why I went thru all the waiting on the export wizard when I could have just copied the VHD, rebuilt the VM and accomplished as much quicker? On the Server 8 host, my RDP sessions disconnected occasionally for no apparent reason, and it rebooted after bluescreen a few times. Stability is not there yet. Back to 2008R2, and wait for RC. Will build and test a few VMs running on 2008R2 but no more experiments on real hardware for now.
I've only been running it on VMs so far (on Hyper-V and VMware Workstation), and I haven't had any problems with stability at all. I haven't done much with the Consumer Preview release so far, but on Server the storage management features are in Server Manager, which I suppose will do the same thing (and more, since some features such as deduplication aren't going to be in the workstation release).
First post updated for RC. I don't think I can change the thread title, so any mod please change it to Server 2012 RC
Someone got informations about (or maybe tried already) if Server 2012 could be used as DesktopOS with DirectX? As some "server only" features would be nice on workstation, too. Like: deduplication for DataDrives / Archiving, new FileSystem "ReFs", Raid, Windows2Go (Win Enterprise only, Server?), boot from VHD (Win pro) ReFS (only spammers with more than 20 posts can posts links so you need to open it manually)://blogs.msdn.com/b/b8/archive/2012/01/16/building-the-next-generation-file-system-for-windows-refs.aspx Desktop Experience Features \ User Interfaces and Infrastructure \ Desktop Experience DX9 Installation seems OK new SMB v3 (transparent failover, encryption, multichannel) blogs.technet.com/b/filecab/archive/2012/05/03/smb-3-security-enhancements-in-windows-server-2012.aspx blog.nigelpoulton.com/smb-3-0-best-feature-of-windows-server-2012/ blog.fosketts.net/2012/05/06/smb-3-huge-scope-impact/
Yes, most likely. Server doesn't come with any Metro apps though, only the Windows Store if you install the Desktop Experience feature.
I would definitely pay for a server version of Windows 8 that doesn't contain any Metro apps. And as mentioned some server only features is always nice to have. How the server version holds up for gaming remains to be seen.
I did in the past, I found Server 2003 was much cleaner faster and more robust than my XP ... long time ago. What always was annoying for me was, that XP and Win7 were restricted in SoftwareRaids, only mirroring was supported and so I even could not access it from xp diag boot cd, until it was patched for xp, but never found a patch for 7. OK Softwareraid is not that much used (but big comeback with zfs and btrfs) but really would have some advantages sometimes for me. Now many features are limited to Enterprise / Server Editions. Disatvatage of Server: No System Restore Points Some Software denies to install on server system like some drivers and Conusmer-Antivirussoftware Games & Multimedia support
Yeah I remember those days when I was on Windows Server 2003 and played games, it worked beautifully. I have nothing against Metro but I would pay to get rid of all the annoying apps by Default and usually the Server versions is a lot more cleaner then the Desktop versions. It's not a hunch it's a proven fact.
Short Information if someone would get the same problem: VMware Player 4.0.2 Windows Server 2012 before installing "VMware Tools" be sure to configure your VM to enable 3D Acceleration. I got a flickering blue / black screen without it.
Deduplication on Server 2012 Release Preview Drive F: right bevore dedup process (schedule files older than 0 days): and after: No Dedup on ReFS or System Drive: powershell: