What would be best for me?

[nighthawk]

I'm currently running a file/print server on my computer as well as a virtual machine setup that I use for running live demos of stuff for my school. This is all running on my main computer, which is the following specs:

2.67GHz P4 CPU

1GB PC3200 DDR SDRAM

80GB 7200 RPM HDD

ASUS P4S800 Mobo

nVIDIA GeForce FX 5200

8x DVD-/+RW Burner

Now currently I'm running Windows Server 2003 on this machine, but I'm wondering which is the better choice, Windows Server 2003 or Windows XP Professional. My machine acts like a server for the rest of my network while it is also my main every day machine so Im not too sure what to do.

[fizban2]

I would say if you have another machine you could turn into a file printer server do that, having your main machine as the server get complicated and causes alot of problem when you use it everyday.

[cluberti]

I would say Server 2003 would be best, as you say it is acting as a file server currently. Besides, the 2003 codebase is the future of all versions of Windows, so it can't be that bad .

[InTheWayBoy]

You also have to take into account how many computers access the computer as a server. XP has a limit of only 10 connections to a computer, while Server has no limit. There are some tricks to help XP get by with the 10 connections limit, but nothing solid it looks like. They do this on purpose, so you are forced to buy the Server OS.

If that's not an issue, then both are well suited to run as a file/print server. Server can do a lot more in total, but when it comes to file and print sharing it's not that much more advanced. There's a few things, like Shadow Copy and...well that's all I can think of right now.