Using Windows Server 2012 R2 as a daily driver

Here we go again, this time using a server OS as a daily driver. The evaluation copy is available here.



At first I used the standard edition with GUI (the datacenter edition is offered too), but I found out that it has its own limitations, while datacenter doesn't seem to have any (i.e. the most full-fledged version). So I converted it from Standard evaluation to Datacenter (full). The video below shows how to convert it. Note that the keys listed on the video won't work since those are for regular Server 2012 (non-R2), so an R2 key is required to convert it, then use KMSPico to activate. To prevent Windows from disabling the crack, disable Windows Update.

I used the regular Windows 8.1/8/7/Vista x64 display driver supplied by Nvidia (since this is close to a Win8.1), and it worked just fine.

There's no personalize option in the desktop context menu, unless if you install the Desktop Experience.

By default it comes with the Aero Lite theme.

There's a guide to turn it into a regular desktop OS here. Note that it should work with Server 2012 R2 too. However, some of the content seems to have been hacked as there are some spam like viagra, levitra, etc. and the "asdasdasdasdsa" text is another sign that it is indeed hacked (I checked the wayback machine and these didn't happen on May 2015 but it was already in a hacked state on September 2015 so the site must've been hacked few months after the clean wayback copy).

Aero Glass for Win8.1+ works just fine as this is based off 8.1. The great thing about it is that it enables the blur effect on the taskbar too, if you use the default Aero Lite theme. This doesn't apply to the regular Aero theme (which can be enabled manually), since the taskbar on it will just become transparent without any blur effect. The latest version of it should work fine. However, if you wanna use the version without the watermark like me, be sure to disable the "Install glass shiny atlas resource" or else the theme will be rendered incorrectly. This will make it use the default Aero Lite theme, but with a working transparency.

8GadgetPack works seamlessly so far.

Chrome, IDM, VLC, Lightshot, etc. works just fine too, although IDM rambles about it being run as admin for whatever reason.

After installing the Desktop Experience, the personalize option in the desktop context menu shows up. It functions just like Win8.1 personalization menu.

You can enable the Aero theme by opening the aero theme file in C:\Windows\Resources\Themes. However, please note that you'll lose the blur effect on the taskbar after doing this (if Aero Glass is installed), only the transparency. I personally prefer the Aero Lite though, as it has this nice blur effect on the taskbar, making it look like a real Aero Glass theme.

To bring back the Aero Lite theme, create a copy of the aero.theme file, rename it to aerolite, open notepad, change the path in [VisualStyles] to Path=%ResourceDir%\Themes\Aero\Aerolite.msstyles, save it, and then open it. Alternatively you can just open the personalization options, and click "Windows" in the "Installed themes" section, but note that this will cause you to lose your wallpaper.

The verdict
Overall, Server 2012 R2 is a server- and performance-oriented version of 8.1. A lot of stuff are disabled by default or just strictly enforced, yet they mostly can be reenabled/disabled manually. There's not much to say if you turn it into a 8.1-like appearance, as it's just similar to a regular 8.1. However, it's just quite interesting indeed to use a server OS as a daily driver, which is uncommon for users to do as server OSes are expensive (unless if you use cracks like me). I expect most of the 8.1 apps should work with this one too as not much has changed in the lower-level part of the system.