Paul Thurrott takes a look at the new version of Windows Home Server

"With the next major Windows Home Server revision, codenamed "Vail," Microsoft's home server solution is finally getting a major overhaul. The system is now based on the latest Windows Server version, Windows Server 2008 R2, which comes with a host of platform improvements that will directly benefit home server users. Like R2, Vail will be made available only in 64-bit form, where the current version is 32-bit code. And it will build on some of the more interesting home-based technologies that Microsoft has since introduced in Windows 7, providing what appears to be a very compelling solution for a market that, frankly, has pretty much ignored Windows Home Server thus far."

>> Windows Home Server Vail Preview

Microsoft has released a preview of the next version of Windows Home Server

"Windows Home Server is part of a long-term vision by Microsoft to create a new platform for the home. Windows Home Server helps families and home-based businesses with multiple computers to organize, share, and automatically back up photos, videos, music, and other important documents. With over 130,000 registered Microsoft Connect users, there is a stong and vibrant community of enthusiasts helping to improve Windows Home Server software.

Windows Home Server code name "Vail" is the version 2 release of Windows Home Server, now based on Windows Server ® 2008 R2. There are some exciting new features that you can try out if you choose to join the Windows Home Server Connect program such as:

- Extending media streaming outside the home or office
- Improvements in multi-PC backup and restore
- Simplified setup and user experience
- Significantly expanded development and customization tools for partners
- Much, much more!"

>> Windows Home Server code name Vail

Within Windows takes a look at build 7360 of Windows Home Server Vail

"Back in July of 2007, Microsoft released its first iteration of Windows Home Server (WHS). Over the three years that followed, Microsoft has updated the product with three Power Packs, each of which has provided significant functional improvements. And of course, some WHS partners, most notably HP, have also contributed to making WHS more usable and functional via a series of machine-specific enhancements and other add-ons.

Windows Home Server "Vail", the next major version of this product, will be based on the current generation Windows Server platform (Windows Server 2008 R2) and will share a number of features and capabilities with Small Business Server and Essential Business Server. Unfortunately, Microsoft has been tight-lipped about Vail and the quality of information we have today is lacking, to say the least. Fortunately, a recently leaked build of Vail – tagged build 7360 – has shed some light on what the WHS team has been working on."

>> A look at Windows Home Server Vail (Build 7360)

Neowin posted a news story that an early version of Microsoft's next Windows Home Server edition has leaked online

"The build, marked 7360, is a community technology preview (CTP) that Microsoft shared privately with select beta testers. According to the description by Microsoft, "Vail" is the next generation version of Windows Home Server.

"Vail builds upon both on-premises and cloud technologies to deliver a best-in-class solution for home networks and SOHO. Out of the box, Vail provides simple file sharing, remote access, home computer backup, expandable storage through Drive Extender, and media streaming both inside and outside the home. Vail also contains an application catalog and product-wide extensibility model so that new services such as anti-virus, online sharing, and home automation can be seamlessly and easily added to the solution. Vail will be available pre-installed on systems by OEM partners, and a standalone software package will also be available for those who want to build their own systems.""

>> Windows Home Server Vail leaks online

Paul Thurrott takes a look at Windows Home Server Power Pack 3

"Back in July, Microsoft quietly revealed via the Windows Home Server blog that, contrary to previous assertions, it would indeed be supporting Windows 7 features natively in the current version of WHS, via a new and previously unrevealed Power Pack 3 (PP3) update. This update, which is available for free to all existing WHS users, shipped a few weeks back, less than six months after it was first announced. That, too, is surprising, given that PP1 and PP2 both took almost a year to come to market. Now, in just a few months, Microsoft shipped a major, surprise update to WHS.

For WHS users who have recently upgraded to Windows 7 as well, PP3 is great news. Here's what Microsoft has added in this important update."

>> Windows Home Server Power Pack 3 Review

Paul Thurrott reports that Windows Home Server Power Pack 3 will be released November 24

"We are announcing that the Windows Home Server Power Pack 3 will be available in all shipping languages (Chinese, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, and Spanish) on November 24 2009. Power Pack 3 will be a free update to existing Windows Home Server users via Windows Update.

Windows Home Server Power Pack 3 improves the Windows Home Server experience with Windows 7 and Windows Media Center by providing features like backup and restore of computers running Windows 7, Windows 7 Libraries integration, enhancements for Windows Media Center, and better support for netbook computers. Microsoft released the Beta of the Windows Home Server Power Pack 3 in July 2009 and received positive community support and feedback from Beta testers throughout the testing cycle. We let you know back in September that we were going to continue testing the Beta and would not ship the final release of Power Pack 3 until the community has validated our work. We are pleased to now announce the November 24, 2009 availability."

>> Windows Home Server Power Pack 3: November 24

The All about Microsoft blog reports that Windows Home Server Power Pack 3 delayed to after Windows 7 launch

"Microsoft’s Windows Home Server (WHS) team had been pushing to deliver the Power Pack 3 update around the time Windows 7 launches in October. But it’s not going to happen, officials acknowledged on September 28.

In a post to Microsoft’s official Windows Home Server Blog, the team didn’t offer many specifics as to why PP3 is late. The team said the PP3 update needs more testing to ensure quality."

>> Windows Home Server Power Pack 3 delayed to after Windows 7 launch

Windows Home Server is now available on MSDN

"A key benefit of Windows Home Server is the versatility and power it offers as a development platform. Even when Windows Home Server software was still in the beta stage, we published a software development kit (SDK) so that 3rd party developers could develop interesting add-ins for the product. See the original post, "Developers, Developers, Developers".

There are currently 100+ add-ins developed for Windows Home Server (up from 70+ in January of this year). We have a dedicated Windows Home Server Add-ins page on the Microsoft web site. There are also a number of other sites dedicated to this topic, such as the Forums on We Got Served and Windows Home Server Add-ins."

>> Windows Home Server - Now available on MSDN

Mary-Jo Foley posted a news story that Microsoft is ready to roll out the second minor update to its Windows Home Server release

"Power Pack 2, codenamed “Snoqualmie,” like its Power Pack 1 predecessor which Microsoft rolled out a year ago, is expected a combination of a service pack and a mini-feature pack. (Power Pack 2 is not the next big release of Windows Home Server; the next full WHS update isn’t expected until 2010.)"

>> Microsoft Windows Home Server Power Pack 2 on deck

Microsoft has released Windows Home Server Toolkit v1.1

"The Windows Home Server Toolkit is a collection of tools that help you troubleshoot issues with Windows Home Server."

>> Download for 32-Bit
>> Download for 64-Bit

The Windows Home Server team has released a minor software update for Windows Home Server

"This update improves the interaction between home computers running Windows Vista and a Windows Home Server-based system when copying files or folders that are larger in size than the free space available on the first (or primary) hard drive to a Shared Folder. Additionally, this update resolves certain issues which can happen when restoring files and folders from Windows Home Server, such as the opening of a Home Computer Backup sometimes stalling at 79% complete. The update also improves the search functionality when using remote access."

>> November 2008 Windows Update for Windows Home Server

Beginning this Saturday, November 1, the System Builder SKU for Windows Home Server will retail at $100-110 - down from the current price range of around $150-160," Microsoft announced on Friday.

>> Microsoft Cuts Windows Home Server Price

C.O.D. posted a guide about keeping track of your bandwidth usage with Windows Home Server

"Most of us have heard about Comcast's new bandwidth restrictions. Comcast has set a hard limit, finally, to their bandwidth usage for customers at a static 250GB per month. These are limits that were previously not in place and there is an easy way to keep an eye on your usage."

>> Keep Track of Your Bandwidth Usage with WHS

C.O.D. posted a guide about turning your Windows Home Server into a Free Proxy Server

"There are more uses for your WHS then you can shake a stick at; whatever that may mean. The latest endeavor is using your Windows Home Server as an Internet Proxy. I personally use my Windows Home Server as a proxy to be able to view sites that my company blocks access to. Setting up a proxy can also allow you to control web content served in your home. If you have a child, you can block sites or even keywords to keep pages from being served."

>> Turning your WHS into a Free Proxy Server

C.O.D. posted another Windows Home Server guide: Modify the Name of Your Hard Drive WHS

"People like to customize things. With that said, I ran across an individual that had an issue with his WHS. He imaged his existing hard drive to a larger hard drive, but was left with the original disk name in the Windows Home Server Console. This poses no problems, but is more of an annoyance than anything. If you want to change the name, you can."

>> Modify the Name of Your Hard Drive WHS

C.O.D. posted a guide about restoring Windows Firewall on Windows Home Server

"I recently ran into a situation where I was having some issues with
the Windows Firewall on my Windows Home Server, so I did what I though would help me solve my issues. If you open the options for the Windows Firewall on your Windows Home Server, there is an advanced tab with an option to "Restore Defaults." I figured this would restore the Firewall to the state it ships with Windows Home Server. Unfortunately, this isn't the case; it restores the Firewall to a BLANK state, losing all the necessary exceptions for WHS to function properly.

I also thought I could simply just recreate the necessary exceptions bringing WHS back to a restored firewall state. Unfortunately, this isn't the case either. I scoured the internet looking for the information on what exceptions to make and never really found a complete list. I searched everywhere: the technet site, Homeserver official forums, mswhs, wegotserved. everywhere."

>> Restoring Windows Firewall on WHS

C.O.D posted a guide about setting up FileZilla FTP Server on Windows Home Server

"Creating an FTP server on your Windows Home Server can prove to be very advantageous. There are many times when using the web interface just doesn't seem practical. Also, you are no longer limited to how many people have the ability to upload and download from your WHS.

Having an FTP server on WHS can also allow syncrinization of files between off site computers and WHS while giving greater flexibility. I am personally displeased with the lack of a download monitor for WHS while using the web page and therefore the setup of an FTP was necessary for me.

First, I chose FileZilla because of it is simple to setup, easy to maintain, and FREE. There is also more security in FileZilla than the included (but not installed) IIS FTP server. FileZilla supports FTP as well as FTPS using Explicit SSL/TLS. I am not going to explain setting up the latter, but the simpler FTP."

>> FileZilla FTP Server on WHS

C.O.D. posted a guide about setting up Windows Home Server as a Free Email Server

"Setting up your Windows Home Server as an Email Server is fast, easy, and best of all; it is totally FREE! The best part about is that you can use your Microsoft given WHS hostname as your email address (yourname@xxxx.homeserver.com). There are many commercial packages out there that can accomplish this task very well and some of them even offer a free version for those of us with little money. However, for easy installation and configuration, I recommend using hMailServer. hMailServer is very simple to use and offers many of the features that some expensive packages offer at no cost to you. There are even options for setting up webmail access."

>> Windows Home Server as a Free Email Server

Microsoft has released Windows Home Server Power Pack 1 public beta

"The Windows Home Server team, in conjunction with all of our partners, MVPs, and "Dogfooders" is extremely happy to announce that a Release Candidate of Windows Home Server Power Pack 1 (Build 1771) is now available for public download and testing through Microsoft Connect!

There has been a huge amount of testing applied to Power Pack 1 already and we have high confidence that Power Pack 1 solves the data corruption bug that was first identified late last year (Knowledge Base article #946676). We are running this public beta with the aspiration that we will get thousands of beta testers to help us prove that we not only have fixed "the bug", but have significantly improved all parts of Windows Home Server."

>> Windows Home Server Power Pack 1 public beta

DailyTech reports that Windows Home Server have still corruption issues

"Unfortunately, Windows Home Server is still experiencing teething problems. DailyTech previously reported that users' files were being corrupted by Windows Home Server when simply trying to access and save files. Microsoft responded to the data corruption by stating, "When you use certain programs to edit files on a home computer that uses Windows Home Server, the files may become corrupted when you save them to the home server.""

>> Windows Home Server Still Crippled By Corruption Issues