there is a fine line between agile and fragile
I've been running Windows Server 2008 as my main OS for my laptop or a while now and I'm still very happy with it.
Running it as a desktop OS requires a few configuration changes from the default install, and there is now a Windows Server 2008 Workstation Converter application available that does the tweaks for you. I haven't tested it myself yet, but it looks promising. Check it out!
Last night I jumped in and decided to install go forward with my grand plan, namely running Windows Server 2008 as my laptop OS.
After making sure that I had backed up everything I might be needing
from the old Windows XP install, I basically wiped the whole laptop and
started fresh. A couple of partition deletions later, the Windows
Server 2008 install was underway and on my Lenovo ThinkPad T60 the
installation was pretty much done in 15 minutes.
Thats right, 15 minutes from the install started until I was able to logon for the first time.
No questions are asked during install. No computer name setup, no passwords, nothing. You can pretty much stick the media in the computer, go have a cup of coffee or something, and come back to finalize your installation. Hands off installation at it's very best.
After the first logon, you get presented with the "Server Manager" which under the "Features Summary" states 0 of 36 features installed. Is this really Microsoft? They have 36 features you can add, and they don't force you to disable the ones you don't need? You actually need to make an active choice to enable the features you want? Thats great!
The "Server Manager" itself warrants a post of it's own. By far the best management console to come out of Redmond to date, and the ability to have diagnostics, roles, and features all in one central place like this is something that has been in demand for years. Well done!
On to driver installation. Most drivers were automatically installed, after all Server 2008 shares kernel and codebase with Windows Vista, so this was to be expected. The drivers that Server 2008 didn't handle on it's own, were for the most part handled by Lenovo System Update which identifies my system as Vista. The only thing I'm missing at this point are the Bluetooth drivers, but I'm pretty sure they'll install without much problems after a manual download from Lenovo.
Of course, running Windows Server 2008 as a desktop OS means that you will have to manually configure a few items. Unlike previous Windows Server versions, Server 2008 is pretty much locked down when installed. After all, who needs Aero, Windows Media Player and Wireless connectivity on their servers? It is a server OS after all. Well, as it turns out, I do. If you can call Aero a need that is, but I just had to try and enable it to compare performance with Vista.
The first "problem" was wireless connectivity. The wireless driver for my laptop seemed to be installed ok, but I was competely unable to find, and much less connect to, any wireless network. This was pretty infortunate, as I only use the laptop on wireless connectivty at home. Sitting on the floor with a cable attached to my wireless access point wasn't much fun, so I had to tackle that issue first.
The solution is pretty straight forward, and makes perfect sense, but if you don't know where to look it might pose a problem getting wireless to work.
As I mentioned earlier, Wireless LAN features are not installed by default. All you have to do, is to add the "Wireless LAN Feature" to the server. That brings us to the new "Server Manager" console that Microsoft provides in Server 2008. Start "Server Manager", click on "Features" then go to "Add Features" and right at the bottom you'll find "Wireless LAN Service".
The second issue, if you want to call it an issue, is that by default Internet Explorer is locked down with the Internet Explorer Enhanced Security Configration settings. For the most part thats a good idea, and I'll leave it enabled on all my real servers at work, but when using it as a desktop OS it is just annoying. Disabling it is a bit different that from Server 2003, but it's a very quick procedure in Server 2008. In Server Manager browse to the Security Information section and click "Configure IE ESC". 
Now, to enable Aero features there are a couple of things that needs to be done. First, use the "Add Features Wizard" to add "Desktop Experience". This requires a reboot, but thats not all, you also need to start the "Theme" service, which is disabled by default. When you have logged back in, launch "Server Manger" and browse to "Configuration" -> "Services" and locate the "Themes" service. Change the value from "Disabled" to "Automatic" and start the service. After the service starts, right click on the Desktop select "Personalize" and set the theme to Windows Vista. 
I've installed most of my day to day work applications on the newly installed laptop. Lotus Notes 8, VMware Virtual Infrastructure Client, Firefox etc. The only problem I've encountered so far, was installing MSN Live. The standard download doesn't install on Server operating systems, but there is an alternative download available. I've seen that others have experienced problems with running VMware Workstation 6 and Hyper-V simultaneously, but I've yet to test Hyper-V here, nor run any VMware products on top of it. While I plan on testing out Hyper-V on this system, I have to prioritize VMware Server for now. I still have a few template images I need to create, both personally and for the Gallery team.
I might be running the most expensive laptop OS in the world, but so far I'm extemely happy with it. I was even able to join the work domain remotely, via our Firepass SSL VPN solution. I had a small problem with the initial logon for my user account though, as the VPN client wasn't running when the logon box appears. That was easiliy solved by logging on as a local administrator, connecting to the SSL VPN, switching user account and then logging on with my domain user.
Windows Server 2008 performs better, even with the Aero features enabled, than Vista ever did on the same hardware. To
me, this a bit strange, even if a lot of services are still disabled,
as the codebase is pretty much the same as Vista. For all I know, Vista
might perform better now that Service Pack 1 has been released, but I
don't anticipate changing back any time soon. Another factor here is
that I had the 32bit version of Vista installed, while I'm now running
64bit Server 2008. How much of a difference that really makes, I don't
know.
My experience with Windows Server 2008 so far really makes me want to get started with upgrading my domain at work and all my servers. I'm literally acing to run adprep /forestprep and adprep /domainprep right now, but I'll wait until I'm physically at work though.
Mr. Patrick O'Rourke from the Microsoft Server Divison, if you are still reading this site please send my regards to the whole development team. You've made a great desktop OS, I'm confident it will be great on my servers as well.
Podz
I love Linux, don't get me wrong. My own webserver runs Linux (of the Debian flavor), but my desktop remains XP. Why? Well, simply put; I like it. It's as easy as that, and it's not due to lack of experience with Linux either. I find using Linux on a desktop cumbersome, even obtrusive in ways and it "just doesn't feel right".
I also happen to manage roughly 25 servers, and about 110 clients on a daily basis, spread over 2 continents and 5 countries (Thats not counting our ships). If it wasn't for using Windows 2003 Servers, Active Directory, Citrix and Windows XP clients that would pretty much be an unsurmountable task. I want to enable my users to do their job, not battle with their computers. Of course, Microsoft being a market leader helps in a way, since everyone knows how use a computer with Windows on it. Thats just the way it is. I'm not saying that this is necessarily a good thing, but it does help me in my day to day job.
If I were to give my users a Linux box, I seriously doubt that it would increase their efficiency at all. As far as I'm concerned, running Linux on the desktop is still something reserved for those with a special interest in it, it's not for people who actually want to spend time using their computers for their day-to-day tasks.
So far, the best usage for Linux on the desktop (for Joe Average) I've seen is this and The VMWare Player based Browser Appliance.
BTW
: I think VMWare has struck gold with the newly released VMWare Player. It really opens up an alley of virtualization for everyone that I'm sure will find loads of good uses in the time to come.