Server 2012?

Overall better, Hyper-V version in this Server 2012 is much better than in Server 2008(r2). Better overall tbh. GUI takes getting used to initially but that learning curve should be brief.

I find it more usable than Windows 8, even though both have the stupid Metro thing going on. In terms of how effective it is at file storage and domain controllery, it's an evolutionary upgrade over 2008 R2. There's some more tantalizing features like Hyper V 3.0, which is awesome, as well as Storage Spaces and built-in data deduplication that make it a more substantial upgrade over the previous generation.

I've been running it for a little while now. Just installed freenas as a virtual machine, and still trying to get pfsense installed as well. Getting used to metro has been the most troublesome feature I've run into but its quick and snappy so I'll learn to live with it. One thing I wish they had changed was being able to set it so Server Essentials (the replacement for Windows Home Server) so it doesnt have to be a set as a domain controller, but it seems to chug along as a virtual just fine.

I have upgraded every box/VM in my house to Server 2012, except for two. My storage server just got support for Server 2012 on Wednesday, so I will be upgrading it today/tomorrow...and my media server VM is still 2008 R2...for some reason. I don't know why.

Server 2012 has lots of great features, that simplify a lot of things. For example, HyperV 3.0 is amazing. Powershell 3.0, also amazing (Cmdlets for EVERYTHING). All the Remote Desktop Services roles stuff has been simplified, now that we have server groups...you can set up a VDI in a matter of 2 hours now, which is amazing. Storage spaces is a neat concept, but I don't see companies getting rid of their SANs for it. If you have a box with a bunch of random drives or something, it could be useful as dev storage...and other stuff, I'm sure. The new RDP is pretty cool (if you have Win8, that is). IIS 8 is new, but I'm not much of a web guy. The new DHCP server has built in replication, which is awesome. Previously you would have to cluster two boxes/VMs and set up DHCP to have redundancy, or the same DHCP scopes configured on two servers...but now it has built in replication, as well as load balancing...which is awesome. I haven't dealt with WDS yet, and very little with WSUS. WSUS is pretty much the same as 2008R2.

As far as Modern (aka, Metro)...it is not the default desktop in Server 2012. Honestly, I never need it when I am on my servers with the new Server Manager and Powershell. There is a registry key you can flip on Windows 8 to suppress Modern when you boot up, which is neat.

Overall, I like Server 2012. I actually run it as my desktop, but configured as a workstation.

Worthwhile upgrade, lots of small improvements add to a compelling reason to upgrade.

I'm running 2012 DC in a VM now.

Also, no one has mentioned the new IP role yet, I'm yet to have a good play, but it looks cool.
Edited by dushan24 - 11/3/12 at 5:24am

New IP Role?

You talking about the IPAM Feature that's new to 2012? Lets you manage your IPs or something...but only shows/manages/reports DCs, DNS, DHCP, and NAP servers. I haven't used it, but I don't quite see the benefit in it if you are using some kind of SNMP/Network monitoring software already. If they could add SNMP support to IPAM so it could also manage (or at least view) your network infrastructure (switches, routers, firewalls, appliances, etc) then it would be a built in network monitoring solution.

I have OpenNMS for that.
Edited by tycoonbob - 11/3/12 at 6:52am

I don't think Exchange 2010 is supported on server 2012. However, Exchange 2013 went RTM a few weeks ago. You can download a 180 trial of Exchange 2013 here:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/hh973395.aspx

I'm gonna install Exchange 2013 on a Server 2012 VM here in the next few days.

Is there anyway to disable metro UI in server 2012?