Microsoft brings not-Metro touch UI to servers

There is so much WTF here I don't even know where to begin.

1) Whoever wrote the headline HN is using to link to this story screwed up: the story isn't about MS giving up on Metro/"Modern UI" for servers, it's about MS bringing Metro/Modern UI to servers.

2) The story is wrong, or at least misleading. While Windows Server 2012 does ship with Metro/Modern UI available, it doesn't require you to use it. It's there as an optionally installed component for people who want it.

See Ars Technica's review of Server 2012 for confirmation (http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2012/09/window...):

Even though you can install the full Windows 8-like UI atop Server 2012, you probably won’t want to. Better yet, you don’t have to. Like its predecessor, Windows Server 2012 can be deployed with the graphical interface, or as a “Server Core”—that is, with a minimal user interface that includes the command line and the PowerShell command interpreter.

But there are additional shades of gray between the bare bones UI and the full Metro Monty—you can also deploy the Server Manager and other management tools with a graphical interface without installing the entire Metro UI.

Or if you don't believe Ars, here's word directly from Microsoft (http://blogs.technet.com/b/server-cloud/archive/2012/01/11/w...), going into more detail about how Server 2012 is more command-line friendly, not less:

In [Windows Server 2012], users can transition between Server Core and Server Graphical Shell at any time, with a single command and a single reboot. Accordingly, we enabled the installation and removal of server GUI components from the command line, PowerShell, and within Server Manager. In addition, we created over 2,300 PowerShell cmdlets to enable command-line and remote management of all server roles. We also introduced enhancements to Server Core itself to increase application compatibility; for example, the full .NET Framework 4.5 is now available out of the box on Server Core.

As a Unix guy myself I'm not particularly attracted towards Windows Server, but I think it's worth noting that Microsoft has been working hard for nearly a decade now to make Windows more componentized and command-line friendly (see "MinWin": http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MinWin), and I applaud them for doing so. That seems like a step forward for Windows admins, not a step back.

Is this some word play on the site name? Or is it sarcasm that's not particularly funny?

The article is the exact _opposite_ of the HN headline. Here I was checking the article out to see if there was a quick registry hack or something similar that I could use on a normal Win8 install. Disappointed.

I get it. You hate Metro/ModernUI/whatever. Just add explorer.exe to the startup and a few shortcuts on the desktop for shutdown/other utilities. Pin frequently used programs on the taskbar.

And. Move. On!

Actually the article states that Microsoft is requiring the Metro-style user interface on their new server OS.

To this article I say-- Wow. Jump on the Microsoft-bashing bandwagon some more. This writer has not actually used the product at all. The desktop is still there. The command line is still there. If you're the type of customer that wants a server OS with a GUI on it, you get the same capabilities in 2012 as you had in 2008 R2. You don't need a touchscreen. I've used it now for two weeks and I don't feel any need for a touchscreen. Yes it's a little weird at first to get used to, but my taskbar icons were all still there and I use them same as I did before. This article is so bad I wish I could downvote it.

Servers should not have GUIs. Period.

How much longer will you be RDPing to servers from a laptop instead of from a tablet?

The color choices in Server Manager are just astoundingly nauseating.