Futurecat - Michael Karek

Since releasing our first Vail beta we have received lots of great  suggestions for “Vail” and quite a few interesting bugs.  Thanks to all of you who are beta testing!  We love having you part of our extended team and appreciate your help.

This new build has plenty of enhancements and improvements over the original build and can be downloaded from the downloads section of our connect site.  If you are new to the beta, please go to http://connect.microsoft.com/windowshomeserver to sign up for the download.  You can provide feedback about the new build through our Connect site and even log ideas or feature suggestions for future versions of Windows Home Server. 

The Windows Server code name “Vail” Preview SDK is also available for download.  The SDK provides the following content:

·         API references that help you understand all the API elements that can be used to extend and manage Windows Server Code Name “Vail”

·         How-to documents that help you to understand how to build add-ins

·         Templates that help you build add-ins with Visual Studio 2008

·         Samples that provide examples of complete add-ins

We also have some other resources available to learn more about Windows Home Server and our upcoming product:

·         Windows Home Server Social Forum

·         Online Help Site

·         Online Release Notes

Thanks for the continued support and we’ll be sure to keep you posted as newer builds become available.

- Jonas Svensson, Community Program Manager

In case you missed it, we let you know a few weeks ago that Windows Home Server – along with our very own Senior Product Manager Mark Pendergrast – is being featured on the national TV show, Designing Spaces. Well, today’s the day for our big debut on the small screen!

Be sure to check it out on the Designing Spaces website linked here. The show is broadcast nationally on The Learning Channel (TLC) and Women’s Entertainment (WE) channels starting today. You can also watch on your local TV channels if you live in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, and Seattle. Below is the full TV schedule.

Of course, if you don’t live in one of those areas or just can’t wait for the show to come to you; you can go up on the Designing Spaces website any time where the Windows Home Server segment is streaming 24×7. Also take a look at our behind-the-scenes filming of the episode.

Our special thanks goes out to our Seattle-based customers, Jim and Cindy Combs, who are featured on the show. They love Windows Home Server and have been using it from Day 1. Cindy also shares how she uses Windows Home Server to run her PR/marketing company, Cindy Combs Consulting.

Check it out!

Windows Home Server on Designing Spaces TV – National Airing Schedule

National airings are a dual Satellite feed and times are listed are EST/PST

One month ago, the Windows Home Server team filmed a 10-minute feature story for the national TV show Designing Spaces entitled “Innovations for the Connected Family, Solutions for Managing and Protecting Your Media.” Designing Spaces, currently in its sixth season, recently ran its 100th episode. The show’s innovative topics and expert advice continue to attract a sophisticated audience of homeowners and do-it-yourself enthusiasts. This was filmed to educate families and home office users about Windows Home Server.

The segment will feature Senior Product Manager, Mark Pendergrast, who provided an excellent overview and short demos of the product. Then, to illustrate Mark’s points, we filmed one of our Seattle-based customers, Jim and Cindy Combs (who were a part of the original beta program) talking about their use of — and love for — the product. The Combs’ are huge fans and generously gave up a workday to film for us. Their story is powerful because it not only shows how average families can use Windows Home Server, but how small/home-based businesses can benefit as well. Cindy talked about how she uses Windows Home Server to run her PR/marketing company out of her home office.

I was lucky enough to attend the film shoot and do some of my own flip-cam, behind the scenes filming of the day. The first clip shows some of the set creation, and includes an interview with the director, George Tweddle, Senior Producer for o2 Production Studios, Inc.

In the second clip below, you will be able to see Mark Pendergrast during his interview, and also hear his final thoughts on how the day went.

The show will begin airing on April 9, 2010 nationwide. Distribution includes 20 airings on: The Learning Channel (TLC), Womens Entertainment (WE), and Network affiliates for: ABC, NBC, CBS, and FOX. Please see below for the schedule. In addition the segment will stream 24 hours a day on the www.designingspaces.tv website.

-Nicole

You could easily claim that Windows Home Server is like having your very own genie; automatically protecting your data, restoring it in minutes if disaster strikes, and centralizing all of your media. Sounds like magic to me!

Starting today, two, 30-second Windows Home Server commercials will run for 3 months throughout 25 different shows that are aired on Hulu. The videos were created to be metaphors of Windows Home Server, and convey 2 of the key features – Backup and Recovery, and using it as a Media Server.  In the 30-second clips, Windows Home Server is described as a “Genie in the Box” who magically works to keep your data safe, and in one central location.

TV Shows for Windows Home Server

• Lost
• The Simpsons
• Human Target 
• Burn Notice
• Fringe
• 24
• Chuck
• Heroes
• Stargate SG-1
• Archer
• Caprica
• Kitchen Nightmares
• Naruto Shippuden
• Legend of the Seeker
• Fight Science
• Better Off Ted
• Dollhouse
• Strictly Sexual
• Samurai X
• Jimmy Kimmel Live
• The Beast
• Cops
• Bleach
• Sanctuary
• The Jay Leno Show

Be sure to tune in to the above shows starting today to see the Windows Home Server commercials live on Hulu!

To see them immediately, you can also watch them below, or on the Windows Home Server YouTube Channel.

*Data Recovery

*Media Server

Enjoy!

Nicole

“Heigh-ho, Heigh-ho

It’s home from work we go . . . “

A familiar song from your youth? That’s right, "Heigh Ho" is a song sung by the seven dwarfs in the 1937 animated film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, as they come home from (and go to) work. It is the movie’s most popular song, but, while most people mistakenly sing "it’s off to work we go," the lyrics are really “it’s home from work we go.” Just a little trivia for you. 

So what does this have to do with Microsoft? Well, I point out “it’s home from work we go,” because we all want to get home to our Windows Home Server, now don’t we? And Windows Home Server is now in one of the coolest homes around, the Innoventions Dream Home in Tomorrowland at the Disneyland^® Park in Anaheim, California. The home delivers on Walt Disney’s vision for showcasing cutting-edge technologies that make life better and easier.   

This home of the future has recently been updated and now features the HP MediaSmart EX495 Home Server. You can check out a virtual tour of the home here. Hint: look behind the desk in the family room where the white arrow is pointing. You’ll see other cool Microsoft products in the home, including an Xbox 360 Elite and Microsoft keyboard and mouse.

The Innoventions Dream Home was first introduced in June 2008 with Microsoft as an original exhibitor , and the home has been a huge hit since then. The home, which shows how a connected digital lifestyle can simplify and enhance many aspects of daily family life, is a perfect showcase for how Windows Home Server helps families centralize and connect their digital experiences.

The Innoventions Dream Home is both a show and a showcase, offering guests a hands-on experience with new in-home technologies, some that are practical and some that are just truly astounding – like the Magic Mirror, a virtual mirror that projects accessories, hairstyles and clothes from your closet onto your reflection, allowing you try out different "looks."

Also, check out the Taylor Morrison Dream Home Giveaway contest on the Innoventions Dream Home site. Depending on where you live, looks like you could be in the running to win the home of your dreams – the perfect place to put your Windows Home Server!

- Stephanie

Computer Shopper: Build Your Own Windows Home Server

Looking for a cool way to repurpose that old PC sitting in the corner? We can’t think of a better use than to build and configure your own Windows Home Server! And Computer Shopper agrees. Check out this new article by Daniel Begun, Computer Shopper “Weekend Project” guru. He gives a great in-depth, step-by-step guide for building your own Windows Home Server. 

Daniel walks us through what hardware you’ll need to get started, how to get your hands on the Windows Server operating systems and then how to configure everything together. Finishing touches include installing the cool add-ins and Windows applications, as well as how to access the vibrant Windows Home Server community for tips, tricks and advice. The article is complete with screen shots and lots of resource links.

Check it out here!     

What better way to prepare for Valentine’s Day with our extended Windows Home Server community than to help us help you show the love for WHS! We’ve got a fun Valentine’s Day promo to announce to kick off the celebrating – thru everyone’s favorite…some Windows Home Server Stickers!

2009 has been a great year and we’re sure 2010 will be even better with the incredible combination of Windows Home Server and Windows 7 protecting, connecting and organizing everything in your digital life. Show off your love for Windows Home Server by letting us send you some of our favorite Home Server stickers including the tattoo, “Mommy book” cover, the blue house and the status houses.

So how do you get your stickers? Usually were all about technology and  e-mail, but this time we’re going OLD SCHOOL with snail mail to avoid keeping any information about you. Just send a self-addressed stamped envelope (SASE) to the address below. We’ll send you all four stickers pictured above and shred your original envelope.

Send me the WHS stickers!

15580 NE 31st St

Redmond, WA 98052

Make sure to include enough postage to return a sticker pack via U.S. mail. It’s less than one ounce, so a standard First Class stamp will do if you’re in the United States; enclose an envelope with International Reply Coupons (IRC) if you’re outside of the U.S. And be sure to send your envelope in soon — one per person please.
Microsoft will use your self-addressed stamped envelope to send you the offer materials.  We will not keep or maintain your contact information.

* We sadly don’t have an unlimited supply of these, so this offer is good only for the first 2,500 to respond. Limit one set of stickers per person. This offer is non-transferable and cannot be combined with any other offer.  This offer ends on Feb 28^th or while supplies last, and is not redeemable for cash.  Taxes, if any, are the sole responsibility of the recipient.  Any gift returned as non-deliverable will not be re-sent. Please allow 6 – 8 weeks for shipment of your stickers. Due to government gift and ethics laws, government employees (including military and employees of public education institutions) are not eligible to participate.

Here on the Home Server team, we’re grateful for all the great support, insight, and momentum that you have shown for Windows Home Server. The feedback we hear from you, our very active community of enthusiasts and customers is what keeps us motivated to continue to improve the product.

Speaking of all this great feedback, we thought it helpful to do a quick blog post to clarify how and where the Home Server community can direct communication to the right channels. This way, we can ensure your feedback, technical questions, and feature requests get to the right folks in the product team. Specifically, here are some guidelines:

• For Product Feedback, Success stories and Feature Requests – send email to us at whsinfo@microsoft.com. Please note that this email alias is for marketing and future requests only – and not for technical support.
• For technical support questions about the Windows Home Server operating system – please post your questions to our active Windows Home Server community forums. The forums are actively monitored by the Home Server Product Team, MVPs and enthusiasts and you are very likely to get fast responses from this avenue

Many thanks again for all your help with Windows Home Server, and we look forward to hearing from you – no matter what the question or topic!

- Mark

As CES winds down, interest in Windows Home Server remains strong. Despite this being one of the last days of the show, it was still extremely busy and tons of people were on the search for the Windows Home Server booth. Windows Home Server Marketing Manager Nicole Berett shared with us some of the great stories the team heard at the booth today. Nicole said they had many customers talk about how they were using Windows Home Server in their small office/home office (SOHO).  One story that stood out in particular was a couple who owned a small IT consulting business in Wenatchee, Wash. and used Windows Home Server to connect to all of their customers and data. They recommend to all of their customers that they should use Windows Home Server in their homes as their “safe” for their digital content. Nicole said: “One thing that I thought was impressive was that this business also used Windows Home Server to back up their Microsoft Windows Small Business Server, which they use to run their company.”

These kind of SOHO stories also reinforce what we heard in our 2009 user survey; we saw the number of home-based businesses using Windows Home Server nearly triple in the last year. This week’s announcement from LaCie with its network storage server for small business based on the Windows Home Server platform, as well as HP’s new StorageWorks X500 Data Vault, are the first specific Windows Home Server based offerings targeting SOHO. It’s exciting to see the home server category and Windows Home Server quickly propelling into the SOHO market. 

Windows Home Server is showing off its momentum at CES this year.

Windows Home Server Program Manager Jonas Svensson is just one of many of our team members down at the show. He reports back that the first thing he saw when pulling up to the convention center this morning was our Windows Home Server posters!

Jonas sent us pictures of all the CES activity, including the bustle of people lined up to enter the showroom floor, and how Windows Home Server looks in the Microsoft booth. Check out the cool new LaCie box there too. In case you missed it, LaCie just announced a new network storage server based on the Windows Home Server platform. We are showing the product for the first time at CES. LaCie brings an exciting new design to the Windows Home Server family and provides plenty of storage options with terabytes of capacity and the ability to back up data from local computers and to cloud-based services with the cool Wuala technology.

It’s hard to believe that Microsoft Windows Home Server solutions have been in the marketplace for more than two years now. The product has experienced such great momentum during this time, with distribution into 50 countries, penetration into new channels including home-based/small businesses and telecommunications, as well as commitment from the top five hardware partners: Acer, ASUS, HP, LaCie and Lenovo. We also enjoyed reading this piece in Redmond Developer News that lists Windows Home Server as a continued success story in their predictions for 2010. Andrew Brust tells us “I think it’s the best home network backup product out there, and that’s really just the beginning.”

Customers and partners are realizing the true value of a device that allows consumers to protect, connect and share their most important files. We think that Windows Home Server offers a great platform for new ideas to be nurtured. It’s not just Microsoft growing this market – it is also all the great enthusiasts who are developing for it and the passionate users who love the product – so thank you to all of our supporters!

Stay tuned for more news and updates from the team down at CES.