My question is it worth it for an XP Home user to try out 2k3 on a desktop machine? I mainly use my machine for gaming, watching videos, music, browsing, email etc. I'd like to try out something newer without going the Vista route as I want something that isn't bloated and I was talking to a mate of mine and he says that 2k3 has a lot less bloat than XP and with some tweaking use nLite he's been able to bring 2k3 down to less than 100MB of RAM usage at start up.

Any disadvantages?

i'll say it worth a try.... of course after nlite

while you're at it, check this out:

http://win2k3.msfn.org/

if you've got time, it's always worth a shot

I'd like to try out something newer without going the Vista route

I had teh same situation and Server 2003 has been great

Any disadvantages?

Only ones I can think of is that some software wont install (like TuneUp Utiliies) and security software selection is a bit limited compared to XP.

Edited May 16, 200719 yr by anoymous_person

It's possible... but why would you waste that expensive of a licence on a workstation?

yeah...expensive license...

Someone on the RyanVM forums was claiming that you can make it use windows xp drivers and programs...i never tested it but go search around and play with it.

I've been using it for a while. It's alrite but it can be kind of flakey ( Explorer crashes a lot for me and I've done numerous installs on different hardware.) The vast majority of software runs as it does on XP and you can run the rest by changing the compatibility mode or the platform identifier. It's no less bloated than XP, that's for sure. X64 is based on the same codebase so you might want to try that instead.

I ran an Nlited Win Server 2k3 as a desktop for 2 years, without a hitch.