The Microsoft public beta release of Windows Home Server "Vail" was made available on Monday, as the company moves forward by including better media streaming, backup apps and other new features.
The new software will offer specific upgrades to media streaming away from home, more customized server tools, multi-PC backup and restore, and easier installation and maintenance. Windows Home Server is designed as an easy-to-use network operating system that anyone can navigate.
Vail requires fairly modest computer hardware: 1.4GHZ CPU (64-bit only), 1GB RAM, and an HDD that has at least 160GB storage capacities.
An unauthorized copy of the Vail Community Technology Preview was released in January, but Microsoft shrugged it off and continued development. This official beta release includes a software development kit so that third-party apps can be made for Vail -- but the beta and SDK are in English only.
Screenshots can be found at Microsoft Feed.
A tester told ZDNet that Windows Media Center "does not support transmission of some protected content - for example HD premium content from a cable card - on remote systems, with the exception of the (Microsoft) Xbox 360".
It's unknown when Microsoft will release the final product, but it's expected to be released before the end of 2010. Interested customers can learn more at the official Microsoft Home Server website.
I'm an avid Linux OS user both for the desktop and server use (preferring Ubuntu and Debian), but have been awaiting for Vail to be released to the beta community. These four upgrades bundled with other changes from Microsoft show the company remains dedicated to its home server business -- and could entice people into sticking with Windows rather than testing other server solutions.
