Just got new information about the next version of Windows Home Server, code named “Vail”. Robert McLaws posted some screenshots of an installation. See more screenshots from his gallery.

Source: Robert McLaws

Highlights:

• Based on Windows Server 2008 R2 – no more Windows Server 2003 bits
• 64-bit (required)
• New “Dashboard” – seems like a replacement for the Home Server Console
• HomeGroup support to happily mingle with your Windows 7 machines
• Now comes as Home Standard or Home Premium

Some Bummers:

• Not as much integration improvements with Media Center/HTPC functionalities as I would expect
• 64-bit processor a requirement (Existing 32-bit processor-based WHS? Looks like you’ll have to upgrade your hardware)
• Having two editions is not so great in my opinion. What will be “premium” about Home Premium?

It’s too early to tell what else will be included or improved, but seeing new development about the WHS only stirs up excitement. More please.

Source:  http://www.squaretrade.com/htm/pdf/SquareTrade_laptop_reliability_1109.pdf

Study on over 30,000 laptops and netbooks covered by SquareTrade warranty indicates HP models have a higher malfunction rate even just after 2 years of use. Failures projected to be even greater just a year later.

I’m not surprised.

Here’s some pictures of the Microsoft Store that opened today in Arizona. There’s no surprise Windows 7 is the center of it all.

I installed a trial copy of Windows 7 Enterprise on a spare 2.5” hard drive on a Dell Precision M4300 that I use at work, but I knew I couldn’t use it as my main OS yet so I removed the hard drive and set it aside. Today, I prepared for a clean install, and backed up the Dell Dimension 3100, one of our home computers. It was a perfect time to test out Windows Home Server’s restore capabilities. I thought I’d temporarily restore a backup from the WHS directly onto a spare hard drive. In case the old Vista install was needed, it could still boot from the spare hard drive. I happened to hook up the same hard drive with the Windows 7 Enterprise install from the M4300, and accidentally bypassed booting to the WHS Restore CD. Uh oh! At that point, I was just waiting for the computer to restart or show an error. Surprisingly, Windows actually booted all the way. After logging in, it presented the desktop. Great! I opened the Device Manager, and check the “Unknown Devices,” and in a few minutes, the drivers were installed. The mouse and keyboard worked as soon as the login screen was shown. The sound card, Bluetooth dongle, and network adapter worked right after the proper drivers were found.

Wow! XP definitely didn’t do that. Whether Vista is capable of the same thing, I don’t know. Whether this is just a fluke, I also don’t know. I still think this is pretty amazing. I don’t have a screenshot to show it, but I actually restarted the machine and got the Aero UI at the right resolution.

I attended The New Efficiency event in Phoenix, and brought home this shiny thing. I just installed the 64-bit version, and loving it.