Windows Home Server Beta 2 Drops January 22

The second beta of Windows Home Server, the Microsoft product designed to be the heart of household networks, will be released in two week's time, on January 22, 2007. The Windows Home Server, that will power the MediaSmart Server HP, is scheduled to release in the second half of 2007, will centralize all the data from a home network and will offer back-up, security, sharing, streaming, remote access and wireless connection features. Windows Home server will also be available as a stand alone product rather than a software/hardware bundle to system builders.

Microsoft blogger Nathan Weinberg reveals the primary purposes of Windows Home Server:

- Automated Computer Backup - Home Server will sit in the middle of your house and completely backup the entire hard drives of every computer connected to it, automatically. Lose anything, even an entire computer, and you will be able to restore it. You will even be able to restore older versions of files, taking advantage of a valuable feature in Windows Vista.
- Access Everything From Anywhere - with a Home Server, you will be able to access all of your files from any computer, inside or outside your home, as well as accessing your home computers from outside the home. You will centrally store your files to make them easier to access at all times.
- Home Server will be designed to make it easier for users to expand its capabilities, especially making it easy to add more hard drives.

As HP plans to integrate Windows Home Server into the MediaSmart Server, the roadmap of Microsoft's product indicates that the Redmond Company plans to ready a Release Candidate by May 15 and to RTM it by June 22.

A big thanks goes out to Nathan Weinberg for the scoop.