Windows Server 2008 R2 or Windows 7
Which OS would you recommend for a development machine:
- Windows Server 2008 R2
or
- Windows 7
As of now, most "web developers" probably use Windows Server 2008 because of IIS and Vista SuckingBigTime.
Does this change with Windows 7? Can we finally use a client OS on a client computer again or the time has yet to come?
Answer
This is not a definative list and can be expanded by other editors if so required but:
Windows 7
- Desktop OS so supports sleep/hibernate
- Windows XP Mode for XP based testing
- May have a smaller footprint than Server
- May have more GUI Bling than Server
- Has pretty animation when you boot up!
- Can run all Windows OS's that you may need to deploy your application on with 3rd-Party Hypervisor
- Native bluetooth stack
Windows 2008 R2
- Server OS may support sleep/hibernate if no Hyper-V enabled
- Ships with a free Hypervisor (HyperV)
- Maybe faster a specific tasks due to optimizations made
- May have a larger footprint than Desktop
- Can run all Windows OS's that you may need to deploy your application on
- No bluetooth capabilities
Both OS's
- Built on the same kernel
- Have the same networking stack
- Share the same GUI
Decision
- Go with what fits your needs.
Just for the record I have used Windows 2008 as my desktop of choice since the early beta's. I may have lost my sleep/hibernate but I can make my coffee while my machine boots in the morning.
Also I did not mention running other OS's in the Hypervisors but you could do that as well.