Windows Server 2019 Essentials vs Windows 10

[tridy]

Hi.

Are there any benefits of installing Windows Server 2019 Essentials compared to Windows 10. Essentials sounds lighter than the normal version of the server os. But is it any lighter actually? Is it worth comparing with Windows 10? Things you can do on W10 but cannot do on WS2019E?

• Better performance maybe?
• Less junk?
• Are there any driver issues?
• Will DirectX work?

Thanks!

 

[Oshino Shinobu]

Depends what you're doing with it. 

 

Pretty much all the Windows Server OSes have less bloat than W10 and give you a bit more control over things, as well as having a different performance configuration from the client versions (though this can mostly be changed on both, if you feel like modifying a bunch of reg entries.)

 

You can get driver issues, such as certain Intel Ethernet NICs not having an official server driver so you have to do some trickery with device manager to get it working (wonder how I know?)

 

If you're thinking of using it for a desktop, I wouldn't advise it. There's a bunch of incompatibilities that can be worked around, but make it a pain for some everyday things

[TehDwonz]

1 hour ago, tridy said:

Hi.

Are there any benefits of installing Windows Server 2019 Essentials compared to Windows 10. Essentials sounds lighter than the normal version of the server os. But is it any lighter actually? Is it worth comparing with Windows 10? Things you can do on W10 but cannot do on WS2019E?

• Better performance maybe?
• Less junk?
• Are there any driver issues?
• Will DirectX work?

Thanks!

What use case are you talking about? If this is an end-user desktop, then use W10 (Pro). You can de-bloat it either before install, using "NTLite" to create a custom ISO, or one of the many tools for post-install de-bloat.

Using Windows Server has a number of drawbacks, including driver and software compatibility. Eg, 3rd party AV software generally won't run on Server.

[Nayr438]

1 hour ago, tridy said:

Better performance maybe?

Yes but not by a lot, and some things come with a resource penalty.

 

1 hour ago, tridy said:

Less junk?

Less visually, more background. Overall it is probably liter.

 

1 hour ago, tridy said:

Are there any driver issues?

Driver support is all over the place in Windows Server. Some may work and some may not.

 

1 hour ago, tridy said:

Will DirectX work?

Depends on the application, you will need to install the DirectX runtime for full DirectX support. Not sure if DX12 works at all.

 

1 hour ago, tridy said:

Are there any benefits of installing Windows Server 2019 Essentials compared to Windows 10.

Better system optimizations out of the box, though some may not be favorable for Desktop use. Otherwise no.

 

1 hour ago, tridy said:

Is it worth comparing with Windows 10?

No

 

1 hour ago, tridy said:

Things you can do on W10 but cannot do on WS2019E?

Some applications will actually block installing or running on Windows Server Instances. Windows server is also missing various run times out of the box, some incompatible with server editions. Some features are disabled out of the box such as audio. So YMMV depending on what you use or plan to do.

 

With that said, some people do run it as a desktop operating system. You could always download a free 6 month evaluation and see how it works for you. It is however not a direct replacement for Windows 10. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/evaluate-windows-server-2019-essentials

 

Source: I run a Windows Server, though it is the standard edition.

[tridy]

I gave it a try with WS2012 "some" time ago, and it was pretty much the same story, which probably makes sense.

 

Does WS2019E also have ads about installing applications, well not Candy Crush, I hope, but any others?

I wonder if it has Cortana build in, and if you need to go through the same set of questions about privacy and adds when installing it.

Eventually I would have ended up having a game or two on this machine, so it is better than I stick with W10.

 

Thanks a lot for your replies!