Microsoft cannot get enough of the anticipation and interest that have been built around Windows Home Server. Announced by Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates at the beginning of January at CES 2007 in Las Vegas, Windows Home Server, a product virtually unknown until then despite a few rumors about codename Q or Quattro, has managed to grow to the size of a phenomenon.

On February 12, 2007 Joel Sider, Sr. Product Manager, Windows Server PR Microsoft announced the start of the second beta phase for Windows Home Server. In this stage, Microsoft was ready to accept external testers for Windows Home Server. Up until that point, WHS had only been tested by 1,000+ Microsoft employees and partners.

In the first 48 hours since the beta launched, Todd Headrick, the product planner for the Microsoft Windows Home Server revealed that the number of beta participation requests had passed 20,000 and that users in 111 countries had shown interest in testing the product.

The Windows Home Server team began shipping invitations by the truckload following that point. And on February 16, Microsoft had sent out the first 10,000 invitations. Now that number has doubled and Microsoft does not show signs that the invitations will stop being sent out. At this time, the participation requests are well over 40,000.

“We sent out another 10,000 Beta 2 invites and in less that 4 hours over 5,000 people have activated their Connect account for Windows Home Server. We still have a backlog of people that want to get into the beta and we would love to get everybody in ... we are inviting people in batches so we can handle the issues that people have with getting access, downloading, and the initial feedback that the new participants provide,” Headrick said.