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  (Source: AnandTech)
Newegg lists Windows Home Sever OEM for $190

Microsoft is finally ready to roll with its Windows Home Server software platform. The Redmond, Washington-based software company pushed out a release candidate version of the software in June and released it to manufacturing in mid-July.

Microsoft Windows Home Server (32-bit) is now available to purchase by anyone looking to turn an old PC into a multi-functional storage/media/backup/remote access hub. Newegg lists the OEM version of the software on its website for $189.99.

Windows Home Server doesn't feature outlandish system requirements and will likely run just fine on a machine that is four or five years old. The bare minimum requirements are a 1GHz Pentium III processor and 512MB of RAM and many users have found much success with similar hardware.

For those that would prefer to buy a pre-built Windows Home Server system, there are plenty of solutions on the way. HP has a $599, 500GB EX470 server and a $799, 1TB EX475 server while competing solutions from Velocity Micro are also in the works.

Other companies who will produce Windows Home Server systems include Fujitsu-Siemens, Gateway, Iomega LaCie and Medion.

For more information on Windows Home Server and all of its features, be sure to check out AnandTech's preview.

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sticker shock
By Quiksel on 10/11/2007 10:24:54 AM , Rating: 5
$190? I was ready to plop down upwards of $125-ish, but call me crazy, I didn't expect to see $190 for a license of this thing.

Guess I'm out. For old machines, I guess it can breathe new life as a great fileserver, but doing this at $190 makes me feel like throwing the old one out the window and building a new one... $190 is not trivial, might as well go all out, eh?




RE: sticker shock
By FITCamaro on 10/11/2007 10:29:47 AM , Rating: 2
Yeah $190 is too much. You can achieve the same thing through XP Pro and free software. This should be priced the same as Vista Home Premium or XP Pro. Interesting that its designed to run on a Pentium III.

I've got a dual processor 1.1GHz PIII system with 1.25GB of SDRAM lying around now. Was thinking of doing something with Linux on it just for the hell of it.


RE: sticker shock
By phreaqe on 10/11/2007 10:32:45 AM , Rating: 3
i agree. i would be willing to pay around 100 for it. but if its almost 200 oem thats is absurd. i can get vista ultimate for that. i used to think this was a promising product and was excited about it. but i will not be buying it for 190 bucks.


RE: sticker shock
By LogicallyGenius on 10/11/2007 10:43:37 PM , Rating: 1
How much can we upgrade a 5 year old hardware ie. if we sell that first and try to get the cheapest in the market as new one with that price + 190$ (excluding the monitor keyboard etc ?


RE: sticker shock
By afkrotch on 10/14/2007 9:27:07 PM , Rating: 2
Worst price ever. I was truely excited about WHS. Was thinking it'd be $120 retail and like $70 OEM. That's a ludicrious price. I already have my file server running Win2k. I'm definitely not going to change. Really looked promising, but will ultimately fail among home system builders.


RE: sticker shock
By Lord 666 on 10/14/2007 10:09:29 PM , Rating: 2
Difference of opinion. I would gladly pay $200 more if it supported Domain Controller features and Group Policy or the ability to be joined to a domain.

WHS has many potential uses, particulary in the SOHO segment or remote office environment. With printer server, backups, and file storage... this is great for many of my clients.


RE: sticker shock
By Comdrpopnfresh on 10/11/2007 10:39:13 AM , Rating: 2
not "designed" for a PIII, just happens to be the minimal system requirements. Although, a low-clocked early p4 this might not run on- PIII's were beating up their big brothers for some time...


RE: sticker shock
By FITCamaro on 10/11/2007 11:00:44 AM , Rating: 2
I meant that its designed so that it will run on a Pentium III.

But yes, the Pentium IV didn't start to outperform the Pentium III until it got to about 1.8-2.0 GHz. But people still bought them like hot cakes (literally too since the thing ran so damn hot). I worked at Best Buy in college when the P4 came out and people only noticed the clock speed number. Intel did a great job of convincing people clock speed was all that mattered.


RE: sticker shock
By psyph3r on 10/11/2007 12:01:02 PM , Rating: 2
I spent several years of my life explaining over and over how AMD could be faster than intel with less clock speed....unfortunately that is digital marketing for you and the common humanoid


RE: sticker shock
By darkfoon on 10/11/2007 2:48:25 PM , Rating: 2
Just stick with the "linux thing" you alluded to.
No, I'm not a linux fanboi, but I like a nice performing system, and with those specs, you could get a very nice file server going in Linux. Might not be "Apple Easy"TM to set up (or even Microsoft EasyTM) but it would utilize the resources better than Windows.
I have a 1.4GHz PIII with 512MB RAM and I have it running a file server, LAN webserver, and Counter-Strike: Source dedicated server. It runs like greased lightning.
And as always, the price is just the cost of a CD-R and the electricity to power all the electronics needed to download the ISO ;)

Just my opinion/experience.


RE: sticker shock
By omnicronx on 10/11/2007 3:15:51 PM , Rating: 5
If windows server did not make things easy than there would be no point. I can do everything that WHS can do with windows xp and 3rd party software. I was part of the beta and i have to say WHS's usability far outweighs anything you can get out of nix or xp with 3rd party apps. When my sister understands and is able to use all the features, you know they are on the right track =P


RE: sticker shock
By SirLucius on 10/11/2007 3:29:21 PM , Rating: 3
That's exactly why I plan on building a WHS system for my dad. He's been wanting to setup a file server for use at home, and while he's fully capable of understanding and maintaining a server using Linux or XP, he doesn't have the time or energy to do so. A system that's more "plug and play" so to speak is what he's looking for, and WHS delivers just that.


RE: sticker shock
By Blight AC on 10/12/2007 10:11:19 AM , Rating: 2
Agreed, WHS just works so very well. The backup is the best I have ever seen, with the option for complete re-imaging or just individual files, it is ZOMG! awesome. The backup alone makes it a good product, but then it also does so much more. A Media Server with the ability to play music, video and picture slideshows on my Xbox 360. A file server, that, once it's setup works as easy as Active Directory permissions, and a Web Server that works the same.

I do however agree that $190 is more then I was anticipating to pay. At that price I'd rather just pay the $500 and get new hardware and know that I'm getting full driver support, as well as low power hardware. Which is unlike my PC running the Release Candidate now, which... works, but currently the Gigabit NIC (Asus A7N8X Deluxe) doesn't work, and backups won't run on it, keeps reporting an issue with the backup service. So either it doesn't like my hardware/drivers or I got a bad download (I wish Microsoft listed the MD5 hash for the download).

Right around $125 would be perfect, $149 would be the highest we should see for it, considering it's OEM.


RE: sticker shock
By porkpie on 10/11/2007 5:43:42 PM , Rating: 2
I'm actually very excited about this software. After struggling with Linux for over a year for a home server, the thought of something simpler and easier is a real godsend.


RE: sticker shock
By RjBass on 10/11/2007 10:38:07 AM , Rating: 2
Agreed. I service many homes where the family's have multiple computers and their were some people out there who were actually pretty excited about this product. But at nearly $200 to redo an older machine, it's just not worth it.


RE: sticker shock
By Lord 666 on 10/11/2007 11:14:21 AM , Rating: 3
Honestly, what difference does $65 make? WHS is a decent product. Being a WHS beta tester, it does work best on modern equipment, its right now on a P-D 930 and three gigs of ram and runs smooth for me.

I work in NYC and live in NJ:

1. To park a car sometimes costs $55
2. The daily rate to get to work is $42 by "mass" transit
3. A decent dinner for two easily costs $65+

I have never understood on Dailytech why a $50 delta of cost really makes a difference? "When Xbox 360 drops by $50, then I'll buy it" or something similar for HD-DVD players.


RE: sticker shock
By Anosh on 10/11/2007 11:20:01 AM , Rating: 3
Well I guess either people don't have jobs, they have families or they (want to) buy so many gadgets that 50 actually determines if they can afford it or not.


RE: sticker shock
By omnicronx on 10/11/2007 11:26:45 AM , Rating: 5
If you have an extra 2ghz computer lying around, chances are you can afford the 50 bucks. If MS added in MCE support (for use with an extender) i would pay $200 in an instant.


RE: sticker shock
By Oregonian2 on 10/11/2007 1:56:54 PM , Rating: 3
Or it has to do with being frugal and only wanting to pay what you think it's worth, on principal if anything. At $200 the software would cost more than an old machine is worth, and that would ruffle a few frugal feathers just for that reason.


RE: sticker shock
By VooDooAddict on 10/11/2007 8:37:17 PM , Rating: 2
Agreed.

I was really expecting to pay about as much as a Vista Buisness OEM or MCE OEM.

Will I buy it? Probably. I've got an old Dual Xeon 2.6Ghz (Netburst) with a well aged student copy of Windows 2000 that I should probably replace with a non-student copy of an OS. Maybe I'll toss on a Linux Distro ... but I'd really like to be able to show a few people what WHS can do.


RE: sticker shock
By glennpratt on 10/12/2007 1:57:07 PM , Rating: 2
Student licenses should be OK even after school if you graduated from the school that provided it. Or are you talking about another kind of student copy.