I highly recommend the Pro version of Windows 10.Īfter I decided to rebuild my home server, I was faced with the bitter reality that WHS 2011 was now an unsupported operating system. But, with a little help from 3rd party software, it does a pretty good job. It cannot natively do the things that servers can. It is not intended to be used as a server OS. With all that said, Windows 10 is not server software. Windows 10 doesn’t come with any of that shiny server stuff. I had to learn about Server Manager, Remote Apps, and how to configure ports so I could access the Remote Web Access page. Even WHS 2011, which was designed from the ground up to be an “easy-to-use-at-home” server, had a fairly steep learning curve. You don’t have to learn complicated server software. This is a win for the consumer.Īnother benefit is using an operating system you’re already familiar with. What that does mean, though, is that Windows 10 is updated often and should be around for a long time. The company has become less focused on consumer versions of Windows as a cash generator, so they aren’t trying to sell us the latest and greatest OS every three years anymore. Besides, Windows 10 is Microsoft’s vision for the future, for better or worse. Even if you weren’t, Windows 10 is far cheaper than legal editions of Windows Server (especially if you buy an OEM version). First of all, you might have been eligible for the free upgrade.

Using Windows 10 as a home server has a few perks.

This post was originally published on June 15th, 2018.

Windows home server 2011 cost