14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft is sending a message out to developers with the release of the Software Development Kit for Windows Home Server. WHS has enjoyed a growing momentum since the initial presentation delivered by Bill Gates in early January, but the Redmond Company is taking it one step further enabling developers to build their own custom applications on top of the product.
Joel Sider, Senior Program Manager for WHS, revealed that Microsoft is expecting to see an explosion of applications designed especially for Windows Home Server as the SDK and the documentation have been made available. Developers will have the last word but Sider did point them in the right direction with a few suggestions associated with centralized family schedule management, synchronization capabilities but also security solutions.
"Enabling developers to build on Windows Home Server is an important goal for us. The original vision document for Windows Home Server (back when the project was codenamed Quattro) made the following statement: Quattro" is not a platform. We are a solution. That said, there will be areas where 3rd party extensibility will be important and where we will do specific things to enable 3rd parties. This will likely be limited to our administration Ux. Beyond that we will rely on the broad platform that Windows provides beneath our solution," stated Charlie Kindel, Product Unit Manager, Windows Server Incubation - Quattro.
The Windows Home Server SDK will be available to all developers, from professional application builders to hobbyists and to amateurs. In order to access the SDK, you just have to follow this link.