If you don't recall, Windows Home Server is Microsoft's solution for housing all of your media, data and backups in one network-accessible place. Since Power Pack 1 is a minor update, don't expect as many new features as you'd get in a major update that will be (according to the schedule) released late in the year. Still, having your data not become unreadable is a pretty awesome feature. [Technet]

See, one of the reasons I liked Windows Home Server so much is that after dealing with many NAS products from the storage companies and networking hardware makers, the MediaSmart server was easier to setup and had a lot of useful apps ready to go at the start. Maybe you like a clean drive, an empty warehouse on your network, but it's nice when some of the initiative is taken for you.

That's why I was relieved (though a bit startled) that the 500GB Media Vault—again half the price of the 500GB MediaSmart Server—was ready to do so much right out of the box.

I plugged it in, ran the Windows-only set up, and was immediately able to back stuff up, either using the super-simple screen for music, movies, etc., or the more comprehensive tool, where you can tell it what you want to back up and when you want it done.I did it on both Vista and XP machines, and was happy to be able to check out my contents afterwards on the PCs and even on my Mac. (WHS only lets you see your backups via a tedious drive emulator, one that obviously doesn't run on Macs.)Even though the $299 version comes with just one fixed 500GB drive, it also has a bay so you can add another 3.5" SATA drive. I powered down the unit, dropped in a 500GB on that I had lying around, and fired it up again. The LED went purple to show that it saw the drive but needed a format. I went to the Media Vault control center, picked the drive, formatted it (as a RAID 1 mirror of the first drive) and voila, in minutes, we were set and, on the unit itself, Drive 2's LED had turned blue.I haven't done any HD video streaming or anything like that yet, but with a gigabit ethernet connection, I don't think I'll have a problem. In fact, though HP says that the Media Vault can't do multiple simultaneous video streams like the WHS, I can't really figure out what I, personally, would miss if I kissed the WHS goodbye and stuck with the Media Vault. (Update: Contrary to original comments, HP now says you can do multiple video streams, so one less advantage for WHS.) Here's how the comparison plays out:

What's not as good as MediaSmart Windows Home Server:
• Won't do multiple streams of video like WHS
• Only two drive bays (a fixed and a spare) instead of four
• Lets you backup multiple PCs, but only one at at time from the PC itself, not through a WHS-style master control

What's the same as MediaSmart Windows Home Server:
• iTunes music aggregation
&bull Photo webshare
• Remote access and web-based file browsing (1-year free)
• Connect via Mac for basic use as a shared drive

What's better than MediaSmart Windows Home Server:
• Web-based remote controls work great on Macs
• Quieter, with less drive noise on a regular basis
• Easy to back-up the server itself to a USB drive
• Easier to access Windows backups, especially from a Mac
• Probably does not share the same data corruption bug as WHS

In the end, this product isn't just another NAS, but a bold statement that HP is making, that it doesn't have to be saddled by the rough riders of Redmond when it can build (license?) its own practically identical box at a lower cost. Now I know that there are some things that you can only do with a PC-like server running a full OS, but honestly, what are they? I mean, do most people, even die-hard server-needers, give a crap? I want to know from you folks: Why bother with Windows Home Server when the Linux-based alternatives are on the surface equally friendly, equally powerful and—oh yeah—half the cost? [HP]

The issue can now be reliably reproduced and a fix is in development. Once the patch has passed internal quality bars, external participants will be asked to help test the fix. Our current plan is to release beta test versions of a fix over the next few months, with a final version currently estimated for June 2008.

Xbox 360: A-
Microsoft, you have to be happy as hell that you pushed Xbox 360 out of the gate a year before the PS3 and the Wii. Console sales have been great, staying ahead of Sony and only recently challenged by Nintendo. This is fueled by two factors: a better selection of hot games like Halo 3 and BioShock and the only real implementation of live online gaming in the console world. The Xbox Live community has even allowed you to pilot programs for HD video downloading and all sorts of other media treats that make Sony (and Apple) nervous. Sadly for HD DVD buffs, compatibility with that format is not one of the selling points, or you would have included it in your recently revamped HDMI-equipped 1080p Xbox 360 Elite.

Performance aside, I would say that the only mark against you on this front is the hardware itself. I personally would like some kind of Xbox 360 Ultimate with integrated with HD DVD, but even if that doesn't happen, it's still pretty noisy, and the Red Rings of Death are getting to be more than just a clever punchline.

Zune 2: B+
The Zune is one of those products that gets shat on just for being what it is, but the first one really was a weak contender. Why start with an HDD player when, in 2006, flash-memory giant SanDisk shook Apple to the core with an affordable low-frills nano challenger? Apple owned the higher-end hard-drive based media-player market, but could be challenged more easily in flash memory. Still, I'll admit that as of June, the Zune share was something around a respectable 11%.

Fast forward to October, and you get it much closer to the bull's-eye, with a flash player in four non-brown colors, plus wireless syncing and a slightly more lenient over-the-air sharing policy. Missing were two key customer demands: the ability to purchase songs over Wi-Fi, and the availability of movies and TV shows in the online Zune Marketplace.

The absence of those features wouldn't have been such a trauma if it weren't for the fact that Apple's iPod touch, which lets users buy songs over the air, had just arrived in stores, while the iPhone got an upgrade to do the same. Ironically, sales of your thin new 80GB player may be boosted by some frustrations with the iPod classic, which was introduced at the same time.

We're still a long way from seeing many Zunes in subways, and even longer off from that great social day when strangers are sharing Zune tracks on those same subways. My own personal opinion is "yawn" but I'm not going to begrudge you your successful attempt to jump well into the middle of the non-iPod pack.

Windows Home Server: A-
When I first peeped the WHS this past summer, I was impressed by the wealth of features it presented, such as smooth network file sharing, centralized daily backups and web-based remote access. The "media furnace" concept has always appealed to me, and it was nice to see Microsoft's server division creating a home product that didn't seem to have all of the emotional and technical baggage of the Windows franchise. Beta response was overwhelmingly positive, and it appeared a slam dunk was in order. Though I had my minor troubles in testing it, the platform itself is getting rave reviews. Lately, I've heard talk from both inside Microsoft and just outside of it that the next WHS might even offer full support to Macs as well, just thing thing for hybrid homes like mine.

Windows Vista: D
Let's cut the blather about new functionality and early-adoption growing pains and all that: New operating systems are supposed to run smoother than older ones. In my own life, three Vista machines proved unable to meet the mobile rigors of blogging in the field. I had used both Macs and PCs for years, but my primary devices had been PCs. Unable to find a Windows laptop that could hold up, I turned to a certain machine with the initials MBP, and can report zero regrets to date, even with the impulsive day-of update to Leopard.

Let me repeat that, so any people who accuse me of fanboyism can wrap their heads around it: I was trying hard to find a Windows machine that I could work on. I tested a handful of them, all without satisfactory results. Then, and only then, did I switch to a Mac for full-time use. Incidentally, my dad switched, too, and is enjoying his new iMac.

You can blame the OEMs for the troubles, but they blame you: In recent my conversations with execs from big PC makers, one said that the good news about Apple gaining market share is that maybe, just maybe, Microsoft would "get the picture" and work harder to build a better product. Just yesterday, another exec told me that customers were "crying like schoolgirls" to get XP put back onto shipped Vista machines.

Windows Mobile: D
My feelings about Windows Mobile were best expressed in a sentence from my hastily written Motorola Q9m mini-review: "Seriously, if you buy this phone, you are dumb." Frustrated as I've become with the platform, I turned to the coolest head I know—Jason Chen—for a reality check, but his thorough, non-biased evaluation of Windows Mobile proved almost all of my gut instincts correct. WM6 is not the improvement that was needed to fix what's broken, and it doesn't look like that will come now until at least WM8. Thanks for the heads-up, Microsoft, but telling us to wait that long for something that has the features commonly found in Treos, BlackBerrys and yes, iPhones, is not very alluring.

Like I said, this has not been the easiest year for you, but then again, out of some unexpected places came some against-all-odds victories, and you should be proud. Just please, for the love of all things holy, get crackin' on an OS that might convince the switchers that you haven't just given up. By the by, I'm really looking forward to the new Office... for Mac.

Final Grade: B-

Ours arrived with 1TB of storage, broken down into two 500GB Seagate drives—this would be the EX475 version that lists for $750. As you can see, there are still two more bays, plus 3 USBs and an eSATA port on the back. (And another USB jack on the face of it.)

Already, the sucker was surprisingly heavy, weighing in at an even 13lbs. It feels nice and sturdy though, and we're interested to see how quiet those two fans are. Spec requires them to be south of 30dB, so we shouldn't really notice them at all.

There wasn't much else in the package—just a power cord, an Ethernet cable and a lot of Windows-only software. By the end of the day, we will have a video of the set-up experience, courtesy of me and Benny. In the meantime, enjoy those pics. [HP]

Like we said in the review, Microsoft will have to explain to Joe or Jane Average and their families why they need one of these servers in their homes when they already own more than one computer. To this end, the WinHoSo team has focused on core functionality and cut out anything that would interfere with this message.

The major features are backup, network storage, remote access, and network management.

Backup, as you saw in our review, backs up any Windows-based computer right onto the server. What's great is that it's actually intelligent backup, so if you have two computers with the same music library inside, the server will only store one copy of that library—saving you tons of room on backups in the process. Each unique file will only be backed up once, meaning a network of three computers can fit onto a server that has less space than all of them put together if there's a lot of redundancy in the files. If you've got multiple hard drives (be it internal or external) connected to the box, WHS automatically backs up data from one drive onto another (provided there's enough free space), allowing your system to be redundant without actually using RAID.

The Windows Home Server project reminds us—and them—a lot of Windows Media Center. They started with a small product that focused on core needs and did them very well, which eventually gets expanded by updates and upgrades. Microsoft's current plan is to provided two releases a year on a major/minor cycle, with the first minor release coming some time in early 2008.

Among the features they're considering adding is full-featured print server support—something that's more difficult than expected thanks to printer manufacturers' insistence on distributing drivers with 200MB management suites that ask you whether you want to buy more ink every time you start up. But yes, more features are coming.

The team also didn't want to alienate their beta testers, early adopters and DIY enthusiasts by making this product an OEM-only package like the first Windows Media Center was. You can pick up a copy of the Windows Home Server and build your own without buying a pre-built machine that's coming from just about every PC manufacturer. Sales of this first round of Windows Home Servers are projected to be 50% pre-built systems and 50% enthusiasts. It's also up to each manufacturer to decide what extras, if any, they want to include with their bundle to entice people to go with them. HP has their own photo sharing application that lets people upload and download pictures from your photo album.

What's also great about the Home Server ecosystem is that each hardware and software provider can extend functionality via plug-ins. Some of the more interesting upcoming plug-ins that we heard about are a photo frame that can stream photos directly from the server over Wi-Fi, online backup mirroring, family website hosting, and even a uTorrent service to download stuff unattended. Super cool, and will definitely get better as more companies get on board. [Windows Home Server]

• Iomega will launch HomeCenter Server in the first quarter of next year. The system will run on an AMD Sempron 1.8 Ghz processor and include on 500GB drive plus three extra SATA II bays (four total) for a "easy swapping" and expansion up to 3TB (750GB x 4). The HomeCenter will have a gigabit Ethernet port, but there's no price tag on that yet.

• In Europe three OEMs plan to roll out certified Windows Home Server products this year: the Fujitsu Siemens Computers SCALEO Home Server 1900, the MAXDATA Belinea o.center and Medion Home Server with up to 2TB of storage.

• Some other Windows Home Servers that might soon turn up on your radar include Life|ware, Tranquil, Leo and Velocity Micro (which looks a lot like the Fujitsu Siemens).

Windows Home Server Available Now to Help Families Protect, Connect and Share Their Digital Experiences

The HP MediaSmart Server is now available for pre-order and will be shipped to customers this month; new hardware and software partners announce Windows Home Server products and solutions.

REDMOND, Wash. — Nov. 5, 2007 — Windows Home Server, a new solution to help families easily protect, connect and share their digital media and documents, is generally available today. The HP MediaSmart Server, powered by Windows Home Server software, is now available for pre-order on Amazon.com, Best Buy.com, Buy.com, Circuit City.com and CompUSA.com. It will be shipped to customers and available via other leading retailer Web sites later in November. Additional Microsoft hardware and software partners are also delivering new consumer products and solutions designed to work with Windows Home Server.

"Digital devices and content are everywhere in our day-to-day lives and they are more important all the time," said Bill Gates, chairman of Microsoft. "With the launch of Windows Home Server, Microsoft and its partners are creating a new consumer product category that will help people keep their digital media safe and make it easier for them to enjoy it with friends and family."

Windows Home Server is a "stay-at-home" server that delivers the benefits of powerful server technology used by many people at work within a simple, easy-to-use solution for the home. It automatically backs up Windows XP-based and Windows Vista-based home computers each night, provides a central place to organize digital documents and media, and includes a free Windows Live Internet address to access the home server from virtually anywhere and share content with friends and family. It also monitors the health and security status of home computers and can stream media to other devices in the home, such as Xbox 360, allowing people to enjoy digital music, photos and videos on their television.

The HP MediaSmart Server, powered by the AMD LIVE! solution, was designed for the Windows Home Server platform. It provides consumers with easy, more secure access to all their movies, photos, music and documents through any broadband Internet-connected PC. The product also includes HP Photo Webshare software for consumers to easily and more securely share photos with select friends and family. The MediaSmart Server is offered in a 500GB version for $599 (U.S.) and a 1TB model for $749 (U.S.).*

"As more and more entertainment content goes digital, people increasingly want a simple way to access, store and enjoy the wide range of photos, personal videos, music and films they enjoy at home. HP and Microsoft have worked closely to bring to market a powerful, breakthrough solution for today's digital lifestyle that lets people personalize the how, when and where of entertainment," said John Orcutt, senior vice president of the Managed Home Business at HP.

Other leading manufacturers are also releasing Windows Home Server products:

· Available in Europe in late 2007, the Fujitsu Siemens Computers SCALEO Home Server 1900 offers 1TB capacity across two hard drives, Gigabit Ethernet and advanced power management features.

· Iomega Corp. today unveiled new details about its home server product due in early 2008, the Iomega HomeCenter Server, which will ship with one 500GB hard drive and four "easy-swap" drive bays for storage expansion.

· Available in early 2008, the Life|ware Life|storage will offer enterprise-class capabilities to consumers, including Life|ware Entertainment and Automation Server software for home management.

· The MAXDATA Belinea o.center, which will also be available in Europe soon, is energy-efficient, offers advanced management and media functions, and allows up to four hot plug SATA hard drives.

· Also available in Europe later this year, the Medion Home Server comes with up to 2 TB of storage capacity and will offer universal plug-and-play media streaming based on PacketVideo PVConnect software.

· Available now, the Tranquil PC T7-HSA Tranquil Harmony Home Server is a small, quiet and energy-efficient solution with 500GB and 1TB options.

· On sale today, the Velocity Micro NetMagix HomeServer is a small, sleek unit that can be situated in a horizontal or vertical position, starting with 1 TB of expandable storage capacity.

In addition, companies including Ace Computers, Advantec, PC Club and Universal Systems Inc. are now offering Windows Home Server systems based on the system builder version of the software. Other leading manufacturers, such as Gateway Inc. and LaCie, have announced plans for Windows Home Server products. Also, Seagate Technology announced the compatibility of its PC hard drives and external storage devices with Windows Home Server. Intel Corporation will soon be announcing a new, ideal platform for Windows Home Server, as well.

Windows Home Server Software Solutions for the Digital Home

Third-party software developers have created more than 35 innovative add-in programs to run on the Windows Home Server platform. These solutions provide personal blogging and media sharing, home security, home automation, protection against viruses and malware, and more. Several software vendors today announced support for Windows Home Server:

· Avira GmbH in Germany today announced that its malware detection and removal technology will support Windows Home Server.

· Diskeeper Corporation today released a special edition of its Diskeeper 2008 defragmentation software for Windows Home Server.

· Embedded Automation Inc. released the mControl add-in for Windows Home Server, providing home automation functionality.

· Proxure Inc. announced the release of KeepVault for Windows Home Server, providing automatic, online backup and storage of data.

· SageTV LLC released SageTV Media Server for Windows Home Server, enabling media streaming from Windows Home Server to any PC or Macintosh, at home or over the Internet.

· SightSpeed Inc. announced SightSpeed 6.0 video chat service compatibility with Windows Home Server.

· Telligent Systems Graffiti CMS is compatible with Windows Home Server, enabling users to quickly create personal Web sites and blogs.

· WiLife Inc. announced the release of Command Center Software version 2.1 home security software for Windows Home Server.

Additional third-party software and service solutions for Windows Home Server include avast! and F-Secure anti-virus and security software, CEIVA digital photo frames, Iron Mountain and Jungle Disk off-site data protection services, Lagotek Home Intelligence Platform for home automation, LobsterTunes for streaming to Windows Mobile-based devices, PacketVideo PVConnect for universal plug-and-play media streaming, Raxco Software PerfectDisk for performance optimization, Riptopia CD loading service, Sonos System Software 2.5 for centralized storage and organization of digital jukeboxes, and Whiist for easy creation of Web pages and photo albums on Windows Home Server.

More information about Windows Home Server is available at http://www.microsoft.com/windowshomeserver.

Before the software, here's the hardware we used to explore WinHoServer. Norco's DS 520 has a 1GHz Celeron M processor, up to 1GB RAM, eight SATA II channels, 3 eSATA ports, four USB 2.0 ports, two Gigabit Ethernet ports and a total capacity of 8TB when using 1TB drives. It's got an MSRP of $649, which may seem high for a headless machine, but it's not quite like a standard Windows machine you've used. True, you can make a Windows XP or Vista machine into a NAS that backs up and has RAID and allows remote access, you need deep networking and computer experience to do so. WinHoSo is designed for the average family with more than one computer. And you pay for both the convenience and the upgradeability.

Here are the main features Microsoft will be using to sell this to you.

Backup: Much like Vista itself, Windows Home Server allows you to back up your computer drive by drive to one centralized location. You can even do this with every computer in your house, provided you've got enough space installed on your Home Server. Like Time Machine in Leopard, this is a fire and forget method of backing up that's painless and easy enough for your mom to do (and if she can't, you can always remote access in and do it for her). We set our Vista machine to back up once a day and it's done by the time we wake up in the morning.

Network Storage: Another one of the main features allows you dump all your files off your computer and onto your network. Homes that have more than one machine can consolidate music, photos, and movies so the files can be accessed anywhere. For example, you can stream music to your Xbox 360 directly from the server. It depends on each OEM's implementation of the software, but most have hard drive slots in front that are hot-swappable, plus eSATA ports and USB 2.0 ports in the back for easy external expansion as well. All the drives—including external ones—are consolidated into one big pool that services your network. When you plug in a new drive (as shown above), it will format (assimilate) the drive and add it to the hive mind (Borg Collective).

What's great about this network storage is that it's essentially a poor man's RAID. You can choose top level shared folders on your server for file duplication, which backs up the same files onto another one attached hard drive for redundancy in case one drive fails. There's also access rights for different users so you can keep your "photo" directory separate from your family vacation pics. And since it's an SMB network share, OS X and Linux machines can use it as well.

Remote Access: In addition to being able to access your files through the network, you can also grab them over the internet with remote access. Setting it up was extremely easy, which is a credit to Microsoft to boil down port forwarding and domain registration to something normals can do. To enable it, just head to the settings, switch on the feature, and the server will auto-configure your router via uPNP. After that's done, you go through the handful of steps to register a free domain name (yourname.homeserver.com is the result) and you can now grab your files from anywhere.

What's even better than accessing files from outside your home is accessing actual computers. Home Server allows remote access connections for privileged users (ones you give permission to) to control certain machines on your network. Connecting requires Internet Explorer, so non-Windows PCs are out. This reiterates the point that this is a Windows ecosystem-focused product. However, we couldn't get remote access to work correctly on 3 different machines we tried—it kept giving us a timeout which we suspect is a firewall/router issue—but we'll try again and update on how well remote access works when it actually does.

Monitoring: In addition to hot features like backup, file share and remote access, there's small features that let you keep your home network in check as well. WinHoSo can monitor the status of all computers connected to it via the Network status section. This, as shown above, lets you see the status of each computer's firewall, antivirus and whether any updates are pending from one place. For families, you can see if your kids have disabled the firewall or the antivirus because they wanted to play some trojan-laced game they downloaded.

Extendability: The Windows Home Server platform also serves as a base for plugins, which either extend the functionality software-wise or act as a gateway or driver for some piece of hardware you're using. Announcements for these will come soon, but suffice it to say things sound very promising.

Do It Yourself: For those of you who already have a spare machine you can use as a WHS node, you can already pick up an OEM copy from Newegg for $179. The installation process takes about an hour, after which you'll be set up with your own Home Server without having to buy a pre-made machine.

In more ways than one, the WHS product reminds us of Windows Media Center Edition, a design that started out as a niche product but was updated and improved every year to be so great that it eventually outsold standard editions of XP—and then incorporated full out in Vista.

Microsoft wanted this to be an easy to use product that families can take advantage of without having to think about it. It incorporates well into existing homes that have more than one computer and want to back up/store/share their data. Norco's implementation is a fine example of how this Windows Home Server will work, bringing an all-in-one kit that's both expandable on the hardware side and extensible on the software side. They may have a hard time convincing people that they need this in their homes, but we're definitely sold. [Windows Home Server]

Norco

By now you've probably heard that the only publicly announced way to run Time Machine backups over a network is to do it to another Mac running Leopard or Leopard Server. (Somebody told Blam that a network drive that is HFS Plus formatted would work—or was that AFS??—but I'm not sure what that kind of network software such a server would be running—besides Leopard.) What's more, the new Back To My Mac capabilities sound a lot like Windows Home Server applications and the add-ons HP has promoted in its forthcoming MediaSmart home server.

Jobs & Co. clearly get the concept, and I wouldn't be surprised if the Apple honchos all have full-blown Leopard servers running in their homes to take care of their own back-up and file management matters. But until the time comes that a simple and elegant solution is presented with a "Boom," you might want to entertain the notion of cobbling one together yourself, starting with a run-of-the-mill mini.

Reasons for:
• The $599 price of a new Intel Core 2 Duo mini is negligible when compared to HP's similarly priced MediaSmart Windows Home Server. You could buy one and use the regular Leopard as your server software.
• You can buy a G4 mini on eBay for $300 or less, and open it up to swap out the 2.5" drive with any newer, higher capacity drive. (I think they are up to 320GB in this format.) There's a good run-through of this on BareFeats.
• Rather than crack the case, you can connect a high-capacity USB 2.0 or FireWire drive instead. The going rate for a 500GB external drive is $130.

Reasons against:
• If you want full server potential, you will have to buy Leopard Server, which costs about 5X what Leopard for a single Mac does. Apple knows that unless it releases a home version a la Windows, its cost will remain prohibitively high for experimenters.
• HP's Windows Media Center Home Server product (and all others coming from bonafide OEMs) will be built specifically for high server performance: that $599 mean higher-capacity drives starting at 500GB, and the absence of a video card and optical drive. To get the best results while running quietly and coolly, one imagines the Apple product would have to be the same.

It's just a thought. I'd love to hear your ideas along these lines: Have you been thinking about a way to make a cheap Mac server? What about Steve—will Apple ever introduce something like this?

1. A terabyte of networked storage that I can access from any PC (or Mac) in my home. It's great. It's simple and it works. If that's all it did, I would be happy but there's much more.

2. Fantastic PC backup, automatically. I love this. Every PC on the network is automatically backed up. It's scheduled and incremental so once the first backup is done, the rest is a snap. I purposely killed one of my machines that was backed up and it took less than 20 minutes to fully restore it. Wow.

3. Remote access. Not only can I access my server from my network, I can access it from anywhere in the world thanks to a Microsoft free URL mapped to my server. Not only that, but I can also remotely access and control any PC on the network as well. Now that's not a new trick, places like Go to my PC offer that service but this is all free. Nothing to buy.

4. Streaming media. Add in your music and pictures your WHS becomes a media server for Windows Connect. That means my Xbox can see it and play.

5. It's a platform. Yep, it's built on Windows Sever 2003 so it's solid and there's a whole SDK for developing server apps. Microsoft is running a code contest for the best apps, so expect even more cool stuff.

Among the things he didn't like are the fact that Microsoft's not really specifying what people should be using it for (tons of applications, no focus on a single one), the lack of automatic copying of media, and awkward remote access. All pretty small complaints for something that seems to be a great unifying machine for all the media in your home. We're looking forward to testing this ourselves. [Jupiter Research]

Here's what we can relate to you now:

• It has an Intel Conroe-derived processor with DDR2 memory. This will accommodate any future Home Server applications that may be more demanding in horse power, etc.

• It features a high performance Intel chipset for maximum I/O performance including PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet, Sata 300, NCQ, etc.

• It is extremely price competitive and will be available for Windows Home Server launch.

• Can be configured up to several terabytes.

• Most likely available in silver and/or black. Color schemes are not finalized.

• It's designed for vertical or horizontal placement.

• It's an enterprise-class design in regards to thermals and up-time. But it's very quiet!

• It features eSATA for an external expansion box that will match the design and will be available by Q1 '08.

What does this mean to you? Well, unlike CableCARD OEM, you can purchase an OEM version of WHS and install it on an old machine you have lying around. Seeing as it's a headless server—meaning there's no monitor and no direct input—the processing needs are much less than a standard desktop.

But, if you have more specific needs, you can still buy pre-made and customized home servers like HP's MediaSmart Server or the Medion Home Server. – Jason Chen

Microsoft to make Windows Home Server available as OEM product [Ars Technica]

Today in New York, Microsoft and HP showed off the latest version of the product, a four-bay SATA server that will ship this September. (No price yet.) A two-drive 2.5" concept config built by Carbon Design is shown above. Follow the jump for lots of stuff I found out, plus pictures of the HP box and its current interface.

•Microsoft has developed a remote-access tool for the system. Users get a free secure Web address that they can share so that family members and trusted friends can access files. The file structure itself looks clean and functional, but is fairly simple. Uploading is file by file: there's no bulk-uploading or drag-and-drop tool for transferring loads of files over the Internet to your Home Server.

•Microsoft also introduced a backup program with full and incremental options. Word is that it's a better bet than Vista Backup and Restore.

•HP's menu, shown in gallery, lets you automatically sync all iTunes tracks from all computers to the server, and access them via any computer. (I am betting that each computer has to be individually authorized for the DRM stuff, but it's nice to see an automatic way to both back up and share iTunes across a network.)

•HP's MediaSmart Server program has an added remote photo-management program, one that lets you partition the server so that one part is semi-public. You transfer all the stuff you want to share, and then let your friends and relatives hit it whenever they want. (No more bugging you for pics.)

•Microsoft will automatically provide access for any PCs that are Remote Desktop enabled. You don't have to figure out all of that port and DNS business to get to your computer, provided your computer runs XP MCE, XP Professional, Vista Business or Vista Ultimate.

•The Home Control Center panel provides information about all of the PCs in your home, for maintenance ("Backup now") or monitoring ("Your kid's firewall is down").

•You run a setup CD for every PC you want to link to the server. Xboxes use Windows Media Connect to access the content (though you can't sync your Xbox stuff to the server, at least not yet). Other computers, Macs, Linux machines and older PCs, can access the server as a network drive.

•While there is no true RAID option, there is a folder mirroring option, so that you can create redundant copies of particular folders or particular media types across two drives, for backup.

•When HP ships the four-bay product in September, it may offer hard-drive choices. It will likely leave at least two of the bays free, for an "upgrade path."

OK, you've been patient. Enjoy some pics. – Wilson Rothman

Along with IPTV, Microsoft is releasing Windows Home Server, which is essentially an OS for a headless machine to act as file storage for your home. Whether this will work together with IPTV on 360 is still up in the air, but we're betting on yes.

Other interesting items:

•Microsoft and Ford are bed buddies
•Windows DreamScene makes your Windows Vista Ultimate backgrounds full motion video, sucks up more resources
•Windows MediaCenter SportsLounge works with FOXSports and gives you live TV and rela-time scores.
•Nickelodeon, Showtime and Starz giving exclusive content for Vista Premium editions

– Jason Chen