At the end of the past month, Microsoft announced that on November 1, a 30% price cut for Windows Home Server would come into effect. The price reduction for Microsoft's home server operating system is available exclusively via the System Builder channel, the company informed, and it is even steeper than what was initially announced. This because, as Todd Headrick, the product planner for the Microsoft Windows Home Server, revealed, the home server platform is available to system builders for as low as $99, considering that the original price tag was $180.

“The Windows Home Server team is a very customer focused team,” Headrick stated. “We listen to our community of current customers and future customers to understand the hot points and wishes. Some wishes take longer to make come true, while others can happen sooner rather than later. When we first made Windows Home Server available in the System Builder channel, there was some debate about the right price for the software.”

Microsoft applauded a successful first year of Windows Home Server on the market. Headrick indicated that the price reduction is designed to make the home server operating system more attractive to the system builder community but also to enthusiasts. In the first year following launch, Microsoft managed to attract system builders in no less than 50 countries around the world with the new product.

“The System Builder channel version of Windows Home Server has enabled lots of do-it-yourselfers to build their own home server with their desired hardware specifications. Our Windows Home Server hardware partners (HP, Fujitsu-Siemens, Tranquil, Epson) offer a range of solutions for people that do not want to build their own home servers. But, the home server team knows that there are quite a few people ('enthusiasts', 'do-it-yourselfers', etc.) that will take on the support burden that comes with the System Builder version of Windows Home Server to build their own custom rig,” Headrick added.