Windows Server 8 Beta

Microsoft announced the Windows Server 2012 Release Candidate yesterday.   You can download it here: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/hh670538.aspx

I suppose that means it is now official, what was previously known as the Windows Server 8 Beta, will be called Windows Server 2012.

You may have seen the "Smoked by Windows Phone" ad campaign, where a Windows Phone does something faster than another phone.   Well how about "Smoked by Hyper-V Server" challenge?  
 
As part of my initiative to "Do IT the Microsoft way", I set about switching over from VMware ESXi to Hyper-V.  After installing Hyper-V Server 8 Beta, I noticed it seemed to boot a lot faster.  This gave me the idea to have my own little "Smoked by Hyper-V Server" challenge.
 

I finally had some time to install the Windows Server 8 Beta in my lab.  Since doing so, I've discovered there are 4 faces to Windows Server 8.   During install, you're presented with a choice between 2 of them, "Server Core" and "Server with GUI".  The other 2 currently require running a few commands to get to them.  The best part is, you can switch back and forth between then anytime you want.

The 4 faces of Windows Server 8 are:

1. Server Core
2. Minimal Server Interface
3. Server with GUI
4. Desktop Experience

You can read all about them and how to switch between them, in this TechNet article: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh831786.aspx