Announcing Windows Home Server Release Candidate

**madmatt** · June 12th, 2007

Announcing Windows Home Server RC!
We have arrived at another major milestone, Windows Home Server Release Candidate. You can get the RC at the following link: <SNIP, SNIP>

The RC (Release Candidate) release is a feature complete build of Windows Home Server. Here are the details:

Install options
As we stated in a mail earlier in May, we are only supporting one installation option with this RC release: New Installation. Server Reinstallation is not supported. Server Reinstallation will be supported from RC to RTM.

The New Installation option will wipe out all drives including drives where your backups and shares reside. Please be sure to backup any critical data off of your Windows Home Server installations prior to installing the RC build.

Enable Customer Feedback
We ask that you enable providing customer feedback information to Microsoft when you go through setup (or enable it later in Server Settings). We received VERY valuable data from Beta 2 and CTP via this mechanism and it is extremely important that any crash or failure you encounter get reported to us. For privacy reasons we cannot enable this feature by default now that we are this far along in our release schedule.

Things we want you to test:
Run every app you can think of on your client machines accessing files on the server via SMB.

Copy stuff on, copy stuff off, delete stuff, move stuff.

Run lots of backups.

Do single file/folder restores.

Restore full PCs.

Remote Access configuration

Password policy

Password reset

OOBE from a home PC (the OEM experience)

Full system restore of a home PC (test on a spare box)

Adding and removing hard drives through the Windows Home Server Console

Again, we thank you for all the great testing and feedback you've given us so far, and look forward to you helping us insure this RC is really ready for release!

Thanks,
Kevin Beares
Windows Home Server Community Lead

Enjoy!

**NetRyder** · June 12th, 2007

Got the email too. Still don't have a spare box to throw it on, so I guess a VM will have to do again.

**ming** · June 12th, 2007

What a way to save money on resources. Get the public to test the product and feedback any problems to them. No need to employ extra staff to find the problems.

EDIT: Actually, don't you guys pay MS to get your hands on the beta/RC versions of these products?

**NetRyder** · June 12th, 2007

Originally Posted by ming

What a way to save money on resources. Get the public to test the product and feedback any problems to them. No need to employ extra staff to find the problems.

EDIT: Actually, don't you guys pay MS to get your hands on the beta/RC versions of these products?

They do extensive testing internally too. It's called "dogfooding" and most good teams at Microsoft do it, as far as I'm aware. During Vista and Office 2007 development, for instance, there was a big campaign on their campus (I remember seeing the posters and stuff), encouraging all their employees to download and run the latest beta/RC builds.

Besides, public betas are not just beneficial to Microsoft. Home Server, for example, includes an API so that third-party developers can write add-ons for extra functionality. Windows ISV that want a leg-up over their competitors start building their applications before the product is released and can test them on these beta builds, so that they're mostly ready at launch time. It works out well for both parties.

**Grandmaster** · June 12th, 2007

It's a very efficient method of testing.

The beta testers should revolt and ask for some compensation ;p

**NetRyder** · June 12th, 2007

Originally Posted by Grandmaster

The beta testers should revolt and ask for some compensation ;p

We do luck out sometimes. Getting a free Vista Ultimate license was nice (and would have been even nicer if I didn't already have an MSDN subscription).

The Office 2007 testers didn't get anything though. I wasn't in that program.

**Henyman** · June 12th, 2007

i may get around to instaling it on my box at last

**madmatt** · June 13th, 2007

Originally Posted by NetRyder

We do luck out sometimes. Getting a free Vista Ultimate license was nice (and would have been even nicer if I didn't already have an MSDN subscription).

The Office 2007 testers didn't get anything though. I wasn't in that program.

I don't mind not getting anything in return. You get the upper hand on new products and that's what makes it worthwhile.

**NetRyder** · June 13th, 2007

Originally Posted by madmatt

I don't mind not getting anything in return. You get the upper hand on new products and that's what makes it worthwhile.

I agree. I just like trying shiny new things, so that makes it worthwhile.

**Electronic Punk** · June 13th, 2007

Still need to steal one of my pcs back from work, haven't been able to install this on something that wasn't virtual yet.

iowaboy · July 1st, 2007

I received a fm radio back when xp was being beta tested. after that nothing except the privilege of using the software for free till it ran out. guess thats not so bad LOL

**Steevo** · August 8th, 2007

I got a free license for doing nothing.

Which is nice.

**Electronic Punk** · August 8th, 2007

Via email? Which beta where you in?

**kcnychief** · August 8th, 2007

It took my 4 times to pass my drivers license test.

Just wanted to throw that out there

**Steevo** · August 8th, 2007

MS Connect.

I have a spare 400Gb Perp drive at home I will try. And the whole setup for Server 03' is in the setup files. I don't know if the keys will work with just a server 03 install or not. Might have to try.

I never graduated from high school.

June 12th, 2007	Top \| #1
madmatt Bow Down to the King Joined: April 2002 Location: New York Posts: 13,312 Reputation: 4090 Power: 297	Announcing Windows Home Server Release Candidate Announcing Windows Home Server RC! We have arrived at another major milestone, Windows Home Server Release Candidate. You can get the RC at the following link: <SNIP, SNIP> The RC (Release Candidate) release is a feature complete build of Windows Home Server. Here are the details: Install options As we stated in a mail earlier in May, we are only supporting one installation option with this RC release: New Installation. Server Reinstallation is not supported. Server Reinstallation will be supported from RC to RTM. The New Installation option will wipe out all drives including drives where your backups and shares reside. Please be sure to backup any critical data off of your Windows Home Server installations prior to installing the RC build. Enable Customer Feedback We ask that you enable providing customer feedback information to Microsoft when you go through setup (or enable it later in Server Settings). We received VERY valuable data from Beta 2 and CTP via this mechanism and it is extremely important that any crash or failure you encounter get reported to us. For privacy reasons we cannot enable this feature by default now that we are this far along in our release schedule. Things we want you to test: Run every app you can think of on your client machines accessing files on the server via SMB. Copy stuff on, copy stuff off, delete stuff, move stuff. Run lots of backups. Do single file/folder restores. Restore full PCs. Remote Access configuration Password policy Password reset OOBE from a home PC (the OEM experience) Full system restore of a home PC (test on a spare box) Adding and removing hard drives through the Windows Home Server Console Again, we thank you for all the great testing and feedback you've given us so far, and look forward to you helping us insure this RC is really ready for release! Thanks, Kevin Beares Windows Home Server Community Lead Enjoy!

June 12th, 2007	Top \| #2
NetRyder Tech Junkie Joined: April 2002 Location: New York City Posts: 13,256 Reputation: 4260 Power: 298	Re: Announcing Windows Home Server Release Candidate Got the email too. Still don't have a spare box to throw it on, so I guess a VM will have to do again. http://kunal.kundaje.net

June 12th, 2007	Top \| #3
ming OSNN Advanced Joined: June 2003 Location: UK Posts: 4,252 Reputation: 1160 Power: 162	Re: Announcing Windows Home Server Release Candidate What a way to save money on resources. Get the public to test the product and feedback any problems to them. No need to employ extra staff to find the problems. EDIT: Actually, don't you guys pay MS to get your hands on the beta/RC versions of these products? Curent system: Intel Quad Core 9450 \| 4GB RAM \| WD Raptor 36GB \| nVidia 8800GT 512mb

June 12th, 2007	Top \| #4
NetRyder Tech Junkie Joined: April 2002 Location: New York City Posts: 13,256 Reputation: 4260 Power: 298	Re: Announcing Windows Home Server Release Candidate Originally Posted by ming What a way to save money on resources. Get the public to test the product and feedback any problems to them. No need to employ extra staff to find the problems. EDIT: Actually, don't you guys pay MS to get your hands on the beta/RC versions of these products? They do extensive testing internally too. It's called "dogfooding" and most good teams at Microsoft do it, as far as I'm aware. During Vista and Office 2007 development, for instance, there was a big campaign on their campus (I remember seeing the posters and stuff), encouraging all their employees to download and run the latest beta/RC builds. Besides, public betas are not just beneficial to Microsoft. Home Server, for example, includes an API so that third-party developers can write add-ons for extra functionality. Windows ISV that want a leg-up over their competitors start building their applications before the product is released and can test them on these beta builds, so that they're mostly ready at launch time. It works out well for both parties. http://kunal.kundaje.net

June 12th, 2007	Top \| #5
Grandmaster Electronica Addict Joined: February 2002 Location: Santa Clara, CA Posts: 10,574 Reputation: 2960 Power: 260	Re: Announcing Windows Home Server Release Candidate It's a very efficient method of testing. The beta testers should revolt and ask for some compensation ;p

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June 12th, 2007	Top \| #6
NetRyder Tech Junkie Joined: April 2002 Location: New York City Posts: 13,256 Reputation: 4260 Power: 298	Re: Announcing Windows Home Server Release Candidate Originally Posted by Grandmaster The beta testers should revolt and ask for some compensation ;p We do luck out sometimes. Getting a free Vista Ultimate license was nice (and would have been even nicer if I didn't already have an MSDN subscription). The Office 2007 testers didn't get anything though. I wasn't in that program. http://kunal.kundaje.net

June 12th, 2007	Top \| #7
Henyman Secret Goat Fetish Joined: June 2002 Location: Dorset, England Posts: More Than You Posts: 9,602 Reputation: 3548 Power: 253	Re: Announcing Windows Home Server Release Candidate i may get around to instaling it on my box at last http://Henyman.com

June 13th, 2007	Top \| #8
madmatt Bow Down to the King Joined: April 2002 Location: New York Posts: 13,312 Reputation: 4090 Power: 297	Re: Announcing Windows Home Server Release Candidate Originally Posted by NetRyder We do luck out sometimes. Getting a free Vista Ultimate license was nice (and would have been even nicer if I didn't already have an MSDN subscription). The Office 2007 testers didn't get anything though. I wasn't in that program. I don't mind not getting anything in return. You get the upper hand on new products and that's what makes it worthwhile.

June 13th, 2007	Top \| #9
NetRyder Tech Junkie Joined: April 2002 Location: New York City Posts: 13,256 Reputation: 4260 Power: 298	Re: Announcing Windows Home Server Release Candidate Originally Posted by madmatt I don't mind not getting anything in return. You get the upper hand on new products and that's what makes it worthwhile. I agree. I just like trying shiny new things, so that makes it worthwhile. http://kunal.kundaje.net

June 13th, 2007	Top \| #10
Electronic Punk The Last High Joined: December 2001 Location: London Posts: 18,510 Blog Entries: 51 Reputation: 3652 Power: 349	Re: Announcing Windows Home Server Release Candidate Still need to steal one of my pcs back from work, haven't been able to install this on something that wasn't virtual yet.

July 1st, 2007	Top \| #11
iowaboy old person Joined: March 2002 Location: Iowa, USA Posts: 118 Reputation: 10 Power: 125	Re: Announcing Windows Home Server Release Candidate I received a fm radio back when xp was being beta tested. after that nothing except the privilege of using the software for free till it ran out. guess thats not so bad LOL

August 8th, 2007	Top \| #12
Steevo Spammer representing. Joined: September 2004 Posts: 2,566 Blog Entries: 2 Reputation: 1630 Power: 136	Re: Announcing Windows Home Server Release Candidate I got a free license for doing nothing. Which is nice. Meow. Equal oppertunity hater.

August 8th, 2007	Top \| #13
Electronic Punk The Last High Joined: December 2001 Location: London Posts: 18,510 Blog Entries: 51 Reputation: 3652 Power: 349	Re: Announcing Windows Home Server Release Candidate Via email? Which beta where you in?

August 8th, 2007	Top \| #14
kcnychief █▄█ ▀█▄ █ Joined: April 2005 Location: Massachusetts Posts: 16,949 Reputation: 4941 Power: 305	Re: Announcing Windows Home Server Release Candidate It took my 4 times to pass my drivers license test. Just wanted to throw that out there XBOX Live Gamertag: kcnychief

August 8th, 2007	Top \| #15
Steevo Spammer representing. Joined: September 2004 Posts: 2,566 Blog Entries: 2 Reputation: 1630 Power: 136	Re: Announcing Windows Home Server Release Candidate MS Connect. I have a spare 400Gb Perp drive at home I will try. And the whole setup for Server 03' is in the setup files. I don't know if the keys will work with just a server 03 install or not. Might have to try. I never graduated from high school. Meow. Equal oppertunity hater.

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