After many delays, Windows Home Server (WHS) Power Pack 1 (PP1) has finally hit the RTM milestone (build 1800). The English version is now available for download from the
Microsoft Download Center as a 22.6MB installer, and so is the
documentation. German, Spanish, and French versions will arrive soon (this post will be updated when the download links arrive). In August, Microsoft plans to release PP1 automatically through Windows Update's Automatic Updates for users who have "Update Now…" enabled in the Settings tab of the Windows Home Server Console. The Chinese and Japanese versions will also arrive in August.
Apart from an NTFS corruption bug fix released in May, the WHS team has been working mainly on developing and testing the final release of PP1. The power pack includes support for home computers running Windows Vista x64 editions, backup of home server Shared Folders, improvements to remote access, and offers more efficient power consumption and performance. Unfortunately, the database backup feature was cut from PP1 in May, but on the bright side, PP1 includes the long-awaited file corruption bug fix.
A shared file on the WHS server may become corrupted when WHS is under heavy load and the user attempts to modify and save it. This problem managed to single-handedly delay PP1 in April. PP1 was delayed again in late May due to the beta program. A release candidate was released in June. Hopefully the extra time Microsoft took in testing the release will be worth it in the long run.
Windows Home Server can now be purchased in 50 countries and Microsoft's OEM partners are expected to update their systems with Power Pack 1 very soon. Third-party software developers have released only about 60 add-in programs for WHS, so with the PP1 release Microsoft has also updated the SDK.
