After some soul searching I have decided to switch my work T60p laptop over to Windows Server 2008. I am a huge fan of Vista (and run it at home) but the really low RAM (2gig) on my laptop made a more compact install of Server 2008 very appealing.
Installation Process
I love the Server 2008 installer, its simply one of the best experiences I have had to-date. First its quick, since you make most of the “role” and “feature” choices after the base install it takes only minutes on a fast machine.
Second it took the Vista install directory, user files and program files and archived it for me under a “Windows.old” folder. That is such a time-saver and if i would have known about this before the install i might not have gotten through the steps of manually backing up various files from those directories. (though you try this at your own risk!)
Two-days later: I am happy with the switch
Two-days into my experience I have finally installed all the drivers (Vista drivers work fine it seems), joined my machine to the corporate network over VPN and installed all the core software. Performance is definitely better and i am very happy with the switch
Additional Resource: win2008Workstation.com
Earlier today a co-worker here at Microsoft has suggested I check out this website with lots of great tips to make the Workstation Experience more pleasant on Server 2008, and its a great site: http://www.win2008workstation.com/
The site covers things like improving performance, enabling outlook search, getting Aero to work, etc. All content comes with lots of detailed instructions and screenshots, so make sure you check it out.