Just a quick one to say that my book, the Windows Home Server User’s Guide should be out next week 🙂
Terry over at the We Got Served blog has also put up a post : http://www.wegotserved.co.uk/2007/10/21/windows-home-server-users-guide-available-next-week/
Andrew
Just a quick entry to say that Beta 2 of the WHS specific version of Avast Anti Virus is now available for download (see the post below for the link). There are a number of bug fixes so its worth installing this one. Be quick, the beta finishes in a few weeks time.
Sorry there have been no posts for a week or so but I went on vacation 🙂
Anyway, in the last 10 days there have been a number of developments, including the release of a beta for Avast AntiVirus software for WHS, which I have to say is extremely good. You can download the beta here:
http://www.avast.com/eng/avast-whs-edition-beta.html.
Also, Microsoft have released the Windows Home Server toolkit which can be downloaded from here: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=98872. It contains a number of useful tools, including a WHS Connector troubleshooter and a server add-in. Its a must for any WHS installation.
There have been a few people who have just been awarded MVP for WHS and Im happy to say that Terry Walsh, owner of the We Got Served blog, and my technical reviewer for the Windows Home Server Users Guide book is one of them. Well done guys, and well done Terry 🙂
On Wednesday, September 26th at an event on Microsoft campus, a group of judges including industry experts and Microsoft executives selected the winners of the Code2Fame Challenge. Using the Windows Server and Windows Home Server software development kits, contestants created impressive software Add-Ins that expand the capabilities and benefits of Windows Home Server and demonstrate how Home Server provides a robust platform that offers ISV and OEM partners the opportunity to build new solutions and products for the home. After the top-three finalists showcased demos of their entries to an audience of Home Server experts and enthusiasts including guest judges Ed Bott from ZDNet’s Microsoft Report, Paul Thurrott from Supersite for Windows, and Rob Enderle from the Enderle Group, the winning entries were determined and are as follows. Cash prizes of $10,000, $5,000 and $1,000 were also awarded to the first, second and third place winners respectively. First prize: Andrew Grant for WhiistWhiist is a very cool (and free) Add-In that allows users to easily host web pages and photo albums on Windows Home Server. With Whiist it’s a snap make an Office document – or anything that can publish to HTML – into a web page on your homeserver.com site. Simply drag photos into a folder and you can post albums of thumbnails to share with friends and family. Second prize: David Wright for Jungle DiskJungle Disk provides inexpensive online backup and storage of Home Server content, using Amazon’s S3 infrastructure. This is a really nice solution for “personal disaster recovery” and assured protection of your most important content. It will be available for purchase this fall. Third prize: Prakash Gautam for Community Feeds for Windows Home ServerThis free Add-In pulls text, audio or video down to Home Server via RSS, so it’s viewable from an Xbox or any Windows Media Connect device. Very interesting possibilities here for creating personalized media libraries, accessible to the whole family at home or away.Well done guys – great job, and keep up the good work!
Well everyone – the time is finally here for the first bunch of updates for Windows Home Server. These will be available from today (25th September) via Windows Update. For information on whats included in the update, take a look at http://blogs.technet.com/homeserver/archive/2007/09/24/windows-home-server-september-updates.aspx. I will be installing them later and will report how I get on.
Looks like currently both Ebuyer and Novatech have WHS in stock here in the UK, although Ebuyer want £130 where as Novatech want £87. No idea why Ebuyer are charging much more, but the link to Novatech is http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?MS-WHSO.
The disk defragmentation software for WHS is coming thick and fast. Raxco have now announced PerfectDisk 8.0 for WHS, see here: http://www.raxco.com/products/PerfectDisk2k/PerfectDisk_Home_Server.cfm.
A single copy of PerfectDisk 8 for Windows Home Server is priced at just $39.99, and also includes a copy of PerfectDisk 8 Professional for one of your networked PCs. A home site license is also available for just $99.99, and provides a single license of PerfectDisk 8 for Windows Home Server and up to 5 licenses of PerfectDisk 8 Professional.
There is also a free evaluation copy you can download and play with.
Well I’ve now seen the cover artwork for the book, and its all looking great. Only a month now to wait until it hits the shelves 🙂
Nearer the time I will be running a couple of competitions to win copies of the book – watch this space!
Just wanted to say sorry to anyone who has been trying to access the blog today and couldn’t! Basically my provider was upgrading their infrastructure which meant it was unavailable.
Just a quick post to remind everyone that if they are having problems or they have any questions, a great place to go is the Windows Home Server Forums at Microsoft. The URL is: http://forums.microsoft.com/WindowsHomeServer/default.aspx?ForumGroupID=338&SiteID=50. See you there!
If you haven’t paid a visit to the Microsoft Windows Home Server website in a while, you should take a look now as its had a bit of a makeover in preparation for the product launch in a few weeks time. The URL, in case you don’t know, is http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/windowshomeserver/default.mspx/
The Microsoft Partner Program are having a live webcast on the 1st October 2007 (WHS Launch Day) which you can sign up for at http://www.msreadiness.com/CourseDetail.aspx?id=6717. It is only available to Microsoft Partners but signing up as one only takes a few minutes, so if you are interested in seeing and hearing what will be said, sign up now.
It looks like the launch date for Windows Home Server has finally been confirmed as being 1st October 2007. I know that people in different parts of the world have been able to get the software, if they have been both lucky and quick, but now its only a few weeks to wait for everyone else. Cant wait to see the hardware being released as well. And the book will be out a few weeks later 🙂
