The downside is that you have no centralized administration of user 
logons, resource sharing, security, etcetera. To maintain a workgroup, 
you need to set up all of that on EACH system you are running, and that 
does not scale well. The maximum workable size of a workgroup is 20 
nodes, so your network is pushing the upper limit of what a workgroup 
can handle. To the best of my knowledge, Vista Business interacts best 
with Server 2008, if memory serves best. Micro$oft is fond of forcing 
upgrades in this manner. My solution would be to A) backlevel to XP Pro, 
B) upgrade your domain controller to the latest and greatest (and fork 
over even more money), or C) learn and use Linux for everything and tell 
Micro$oft to jump. Option C would involve virtualizing Windows for apps 
that WINE over Linux cannot emulate the Win32 shell API well enough 
(very few). Option C may have the highest learning curve of the three, 
but Linux doesn't cost a dime and is more stable and secure than 
Windows, especially for servers and high-end workstations. Hope this 
helps a bit. :)

gary tennesen wrote:
> Hi Folks:
>
> Here's an interesting one -- my 11-station network signs into a domain 
> on a 2003 server.  They are all xp pro stations and they log on fine 
> using the network wizard.
>
> Then came Vista Business.
>
> I thought I'd give 'er a whirl. None of the MS patches worked, DNS 
> tweaking, assigning a fake MAC address, etc.  COULD NOT find domain 
> server.
>
> Answer:  I told the computer that it was not in a domain called 
> WIDGETS but a workgroup called WIDGETS (domain changed to protect the 
> innocent) and everything works!!!  I have access to shared resources, 
> I can see and use all computers on the domain, etc.  I can do anything 
> and everything that a computer registered on the domain can do.
>
> Question:  so what's the downside to my work around?  Anybody have any 
> thoughts?
>
> --gary r. tennesen
> [log in to unmask]
>
>
>
>               The NOSPIN Group Promotions is now offering
>                 our special coffee mugs and mouse pads
>              with the PCBUILD logo...  at a great price!!!
>             http://freepctech.com/goodies/promotions.shtml
>

        The NOSPIN Group has added a new feature on our website,
           web based bulletinboard for questions and answers:
              Visit our sister website at http://nospin.com