Key differences between the Windows 2003 and 2008 OS

What are the key differences between Windows 2003 and Windows 2008 operating systems?

This article explains some of the significant changes affecting web services between Windows 2003 and Windows 2008 operating systems.

IIS

Internet Information Services (IIS) has moved from 6.0 in Windows 2003 to 7.0 in Windows 2008. Key pillars of the IIS 7.0 release are:

  • Flexible extensibility model for powerful customisation
  • Powerful diagnostic and troubleshooting tools
  • Delegated administration
  • Enhanced security and reduced attack surface through customisation
  • True application xcopy deployment
  • Integrated Application and health management for Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) services
  • Improved administration tools

DNS

The DNS server role has been updated within the Windows 2008 operating system.

  • Full IPv6 configuration is included in Windows 2008 by default
  • RFC compliance and compatibility with other DNS server implementations such as DNS implementations that use the Berkeley Internet Name Domain (BIND) software
  • Support for incremental zone transfer between servers

Important: at the time of writing, the DNS server role is not included as part of the Microsoft Windows 2008 Web Edition operating system. Please consider Standard Edition or Enterprise Editions of the operating system as alternatives if the DNS server role is required for your dedicated server.

Self-healing NTFS

Traditionally, you have had to use the Chkdsk.exe tool to fix corruptions of NTFS file system volumes on a disk. This process is intrusive and disrupts the availability of Windows systems. In the Windows Server 2008 operating system you can now use Self-healing NTFS to protect your entire file system efficiently and reliably, without having to be concerned about the details of file system technology.

Windows Firewall

Beginning with the Windows Server 2008 operating system, configuration of both Windows Firewall and Internet Protocol security (IPsec) are combined into a single tool, the Windows Firewall with Advanced Security Microsoft Management Console snap-in.


The Windows Firewall with Advanced Security MMC snap-in replaces both of the previous IPsec snap-ins, IP Security Policies and IP Security Monitor, for configuring computers that are running Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008.


For a full list of changes between Microsoft Windows 2003 and 2008 operating systems, please refer to the comparison guide at Microsoft.com.