Hi! I saw in this forum that W. Server 2016 (desktop Experience) is a good alternative to Windows 10. I have mounted this OS on a virtual machine and everything seems to work well. However, installing on a real machine could cause problems on the following points: - Drivers: do those of windows 10 work on W. Server 2016? Specially that graphic of nvidia (I have a GTX970)? - Installation: I will mount it on an SS2 M2 (AHCI). Will this prevent my other OS, mounted on SSD (AHCI), on the same machine from working? Will a dual boot work with one OS on SSD M2 and another on SSD? - Work: my goal is to have a discreet OS (without telemetry), be able to navigate and do office automation. For the games I will pass on the other OS ... Thank you very much for your answers that will allow me to raise doubts.
Hi you can actually use Windows 10 Drivers and yes Windows Server 2016 as a desktop is good but still there are somethings you miss out on but that's the nature of a server OS. I would compare it as desktop to Windows 10 LTSB
@Alberto C good point any hour I can test this version of O.S. I never worked with Windows server yet maybe I find some surprises
Win Server is just perfect, light, more privacy respectful and faster than W10. It requires very few tweak, most of them can attained from a single place using MSC 2012. Using W10 is absolutely senseless nowadays
Hi Guys! Thank you very much for you answers. I know the best Windows for a desktop is Windows 10 Enterprise. Nevertheless, the license is out of reach for the individual that I am. On the contrary, I can have a license for Server 2016 at an affordable price. Last question: Does Kaspersky Internet Security work with this OS?
I don't think so. Partitioning SW and Antivirus are the Achille's heels of server versions) excluding windows home server and windows storage server 2008 R2 Essentials, usually you need a specific license for server versions.
Malwarebytes 3.0 works fine with Server 2016 with a legit license (I can't speak for other types of installs), doesn't need a separate server anti-exploit as 2.0.did.
Hi! I tried to install Kaspersky Internet Security on a W. Server 2017 on a virtual machine and the installation failed. As MDL Guru had said, I think it takes dedicated server products. Does anyone have a track?
Hi Vivek.Krishnan! Thank you for your answer. I Agrée but ... Is it that it is actually efficent or only a way for Microsoft not to provide a defenseless OS? Personally I use KIS 2017 for all the OS of my computers and this suite is actually good!
You could always use Windows 10 LTSB instead if there are hardware limitation to using Windows 2016. The graphics card is potentially the most limiting of all hardware, but you may find occasional software which works on desktop OS, but not on server OS.
You can always use the built-in Defender if you feel that you need an antivirus product. Unlike Windows 10, Defender can be uninstalled officially with the built-in tools from the server product. It even comes with implicit automatic file and process exclusions based on server role and generic machine.
I have been using it as a desktop for the last week with a GeForce GTX 780 and the drivers work fine. Only thing that caught me off guard was how many cores total I had to buy and Now I may have to spend another 150 dollars on the remote desktop feature however, since it is for home use I may just get in on that Synergy instead. I think it works great as a desktop though because everything is pretty much locked down from the jump until you enable it. Its basically just Windows 10 Enterprise model with some enhanced server features. So far I have had no trouble with any apps that work with windows 10 or heck even most windows 7 apps. If you have an internet connection it is pretty smart at auto detecting which drivers you need for your respective build. Other then Malwarebytes, I am not the biggest supporter of antivirus/malware products. I think I am going to do a backup and see how it handles my ESET antivirus as I have another year or so left on that package well..I just shut it off a while back because it decded to go rogue on me and destroyed one of my experimental hacking apps.
My 1st question to you is... Why? Why do you really want to use Win Server as a desktop platform? Did you know Win Server 2016 was developed concurrently with Windows 10? The current iteration of Win Server 2016 is 10.0.14393. Notice the '10' in front? What do you think that is? What you are essentially doing is installing an OS that you will never fully utilize because you most likely will NOT use most of the server related features. Which renders this whole idea of running a Windows Server as a desktop is a pointless exercise. Stay with Win 10 Pro and be done with it.
Too lazy to read few messages back? I think you have no idea of what you're talking about. I think your's is a pointless messages. What about testing it yourself then, share your opinion?
Hi! Thank you very much for yours answers. To answer to Serpius, I think that Windows 10 is a formidable machine constituting profiles of potential buyer ... that Microsoft sells, or will eventually sell to advertisers by expressing the need. The problem is that this catalog of customers will be used to define their behavior and therefore their essence. Refusing to be cataloged, spied on, I look for an OS lacking the tools able to trace this information. That's why, being unable to acquire a W10 LTSB license, I turn to what looks like it most, Windows Server 2016. Currently, I think Windows Server 2016, used as desktop OS, best meets my requirement. I run into a security suite that can install itself and do its work on this OS. Of course, there is Microsoft Defender but, itself harvesting information about the user, it does not meet the criteria cited above. Certainly, I already have a Windows 10 Enterprise that can be made less intrusive through Group Policy. However, this implies the non-use of Microsoft applications, Cortana and Smartscreen applications. Under these conditions, I look for the OS devoid of all this.
I have just tried setting up 2016 as a workstation OS and everyhting appears to work except when i RDP onto the machine the mouse is as laggy and jumpy as hell. its really strange because if i move my mouse back over to my local screen there is a mouse that stays in the Remote Desktop session. If i disconnect the session and reconnect it then works as it should. Its really frustrating.