Test Center Tracker: Windows XP TKO’s Vista in 10 rounds

Here at Save Windows XP campaign headquarters, we’re not all anti-Vista. Some of us, notably Test Center Chief Scientist Tom Yager, have begun to see the light. For Tom, if you like Windows Server 2008 you’ll want Vista too, because only Vista takes advantage of some nice WS08 features. This about-face from Tom’s originally lukewarm reception of Vista was sparked by his quality time with the head-spinning new Server 2008, chronicled here.

And then there’s our man on the Enterprise Desktop, Randall Kennedy, who refuses to abandon old prejudices. For example, because Vista requires significantly more resources than XP in order to run half as fast, Randall has the idea maybe Vista is a bloated pig. Randall’s going so far as to argue that businesses can afford to skip the Vista upgrade entirely, and ride XP until the dawn of Windows 7, which is expected in 2009 or 2010. No, performance isn’t the only reason to stick with XP. Read Randall’s 10-point analysis, then consider adding your name to our Save XP list.

A torch for Frankenvista: Microsoft engineer Vijayshinva Karnure blogged his instructions for creating a “super” workstation OS based on Windows Server 2008 in mid February, and Randall Kennedy has been putting the concoction to the test ever since. For one, “Workstation” 2008 is snappier than Vista. For two, WS08’s Server Manager rocks as a central control panel. For three, it can run Active Directory, Exchange, and other server applications, which of course can be wonderfully convenient for developers. If Server ’08 sounds like your kind of desktop, don’t miss “Weird, wild, wonderful Windows “Workstation” 2008.”