Invisible Windows Home Server to Integrate Seamlessly with Windows Media Center

One of the arguments that will recommend Windows Home Server to end-users is – in Microsoft's own view – the fact that the product will be invisible. The Windows Home Server team has touted this as one of the main characteristics of the server. “In a sense the home server is invisible until something goes wrong (e.g. restoring a PC or set of files) or it is providing a service (e.g. media streaming) that people aren't quite sure how it all works,” stated a representative of the WHS team.

The fact of the matter is that Windows Home Server is designed to fade into the background of your home. And this is a very important aspect for a device that will function continuously. But just because it is invisible, Windows Home Server will be able to perform its tasks, connecting all the computers in your household, creating automatic multi-PC backup and restore, deliver a comprehensive solution for centralized storage and allow for remote access.

The most important aspect, however, is that the invisible Windows Home Server will be the heart that will connect all the digital experiences across multi-PCs home networks. Another Microsoft product that deals with serving digital experiences stored on PCs is Windows Media Center.

In this context, Charlie Owen, a product manager on the Windows Media Center team, revealed that Windows Home Server and Windows Media Center will integrate seamlessly with one another.

“In other words, two separate products with goals that are highly complementary to each other. They will each benefit immediately once Windows Home Server ships. Longer term, I believe we will see the two product teams collaborating more -- perhaps even creating features unique to the intersection of Windows Media Center + Windows Home Server. After the presentation today I'm definitely going to replace my Windows Server 2003 box here at home with a Windows Home Server and start playing around to find the synergies and goodness,” Owen said.