On November 1, Microsoft will introduce a 30% price reduction of the Windows Home Server software for the System Builder channel. After a successful year in the market, Microsoft is reducing the price of the System Builder version of Windows Home Server to provide additional value to the system builder community and further promote the home server category. Momentum for Windows Home Server remains strong. During the first year, Windows Home Server has been embraced by System Builders in over 50 countries. The list of hardware partners continues to grow and third-party software developers have released or have announced more than 60 Add-in programs extending Windows Home Server’s capabilities. Thanks for all of the great support over the last year, and we look forward to working with you all in continuing to grow the home server marketplace!
The Windows Home Server Team
The Professional Developers Conference (PDC) is an event where Microsoft employees that sit behind one or more displays banging out lots of cool code on a daily basis get to venture out and meet other developers outside of Microsoft. Teams often showcase various technology demonstrations to highlight future possibilities along with sharing tips and techniques for building cool add-ins or other extensions to Microsoft products and service offerings.
Yesterday at PDC 2008, CJ Saretto, Brendan Grant and Doug Berrett co-presented the "Exposing Connected Home Services to the Internet Via Windows Home Server" which provided lots of great information about using the Windows Home Server platform to help deliver on the promise of a connected home.
The abstract for the session is:
Learn how to leverage the Remote Access platform in Windows Home Server to expose on-premises services running in the connected home to the Internet. See how to expose a home automation service running on Windows Home Server to the Internet, and watch a demonstration that shows how to expose services that may be hosted on other devices inside the connected home using Windows Home Server as a gateway. Finally, see a sneak preview of Home Server and Live Mesh working together to further enhance the remote experience for the connected home.
At the end the team provided a glimpse of some of the integration possibilities between the Windows Home Server product and Live Mesh service. The Windows Home Server and Windows Live Mesh teams are working closely together to define and develop a set of solutions that take advantage of the unique features of Windows Home Server and Windows Live Mesh.
Highlights of the technology demonstration included the following:
As Live Mesh is just entering a beta program, the Windows Home Server team and Live Mesh teams do not have any definitive dates or delivery vehicles defined for the solutions showcased in the technology demonstration. However, we are excited about the possibilities and hope you are too ...
If you don't have a home server yet, now might be the time to get one ...
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At PDC 2008, the Windows Home Server team has 2 breakout sessions. The video for the first session, "Developing Connected Home Applications and Services for Windows Home Server", is now available on Channel 9.
The full description of the session is:
Learn how to build applications and services deployed on Windows Home Server that power PCs and devices throughout a connected home. See an example home automation and energy management service, and watch the creation of an on-premises service that exposes HVAC, window shades, and lighting controls to all devices on the home network. Hear how to package the service as a Windows Home Server add-in, quickly create a configuration UI, deploy a PC application for controlling the service, and demonstrate control from other devices such as TVs and cell phones.
Tomorrow, there will be another video showcasing a development prototype of Windows Home Server and Live Mesh integration possibilities.
enjoy,