November 05, 2007, 3:50 PM — The first hardware boxes with Microsoft's Windows Home Server goes on sale
worldwide Monday, as the company announces more partner support for its first
server OS aimed specifically for home use.
Hewlett-Packard's MediaSmart Server is set to be available for pre-order on
Amazon.com, Bestbuy.com, Buy.com, Circuitcity.com and CompUSA.com. Online retailers
will ship the product to customers later in the month, when it also will be
available on site at other retail outlets, Microsoft said. HP is selling the
product in two versions -- a 500G byte version for US$599 and a 1T byte version
for $749.
In addition to HP, Microsoft has more than a dozen hardware partners that have signed on to develop offerings with Windows Home Server preinstalled, said Joel Sider, senior product manager, Microsoft.
New hardware partners include Lifeware, Maxdata and Velocity Micro, though
only one of the new partner's wares will be on sale Monday. Velocity Micro's
NetMagix HomeServer, based on Windows Home Server and with 1T byte of storage,
is available Monday. Lifeware plans to offer a Lifeware Entertainment and Automation
Storage server based on Windows Home Server early next year, and the Maxdata's
offering, called Belinea o.center, will be available in Europe soon, according
to Microsoft.
Other companies that plan to have Windows Home Server hardware available in
the next six months include Iomega, Tranquil, Medion and Fujitsu Siemens. Gateway
and LaCie, in France, also have signed on to offer Windows Home Server products.
System builders Ace Computers, Avantec, PC Club and Universal Systems now offer
Windows Home Server on custom boxes.
Tom Kampfer, president of Iomega, which specializes in consumer and small business
storage devices, said he liked the idea of combining a storage product with
a built-in OS, which is why the company signed on to build a Windows Home Server
product. Iomega's Home Center Server, which will be available in the first quarter
of 2008, is aimed at providing one place for a family with multiple PCs to store
multimedia files and even host and build a Web site.
"We think it’s a great opportunity for the home user who’s not
really technically sophisticated to get a handle on this product," he said.
Microsoft unveiled Windows Home Server, formerly known by the code name Quattro,
at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January. In April the company
announced a software development kit for the product so third parties could
build applications for it. Sider said there are now 35 software add-ons for
the product. Among the applications for Windows Home Server are software for
personal blogging and media sharing, home security, home automation and protection
against viruses and malware.
More information about Windows Home Server is available on the product's
home page on the Microsoft Web site.
