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We fell in love with HP's MediaSmart Server this past fall. You can imagine then, that we're glad to learn about HP adding even more features to its poster child for Microsoft's Windows Home Server, the software at the heart of HP's MediaSmart Server hardware. The three updates will bring server-side McAfee antivirus protection, Windows Vista 64-bit support, and improved data handling for things like quicker photo thumbnails and the ability to stream video. Even better, these updates are all free and will come to current MediaSmart Server owners this February via download.

Microsoft said Monday that it has finished a planned update to its Windows Home Server software, paving the way for Hewlett-Packard to finish its product based on the new operating system.

HP, which had expected to be one of the first to offer a home server based on Microsoft's software, earlier said that it would wait for this update before releasing its MediaSmart Server. The changes are designed to improve the products "usability and out-of box experience," Microsoft said.

The software update is also being made available to other Windows Home Server customers via Windows Update. More details on the software are available on Microsoft's Windows Home Server blog.

When last we left Microsoft's Windows Home Server software, it was off to manufacturing and we expected to see WHS-equipped hardware show up at our doorstep shortly thereafter. After a post on Microsoft's official Home Server blog, we get the company line as to why we haven't seen HP's MediaSmart Server yet. As follows:

"We've identified a number of ways to make the product even better since the initial release. As with most Microsoft products, updates to Windows Home Server will be automatically available throughout the lifecycle of the product, and the WHS team is working on an update that will be available in September. These updates will enhance the usability and improve the out-of-the-box experience of home server solutions. Additional updates will occur over the lifespan of the product as we receive feedback from the user community, our hardware partners, and software partners. Microsoft's current plan is to make this update available as part of the monthly Windows Updates process in September.

HP has decided to include these first software updates in their MediaSmart Server. Both HP and Microsoft believe that these updates are in the best interest of potential customers and will ensure the best out-of-the-box experience. All of our Windows Home Server partners and customers will automatically receive the update once posted to Windows Update."

The post doesn't mention the other Windows Home Server hardware partners, like Medion, Gateway, La Cie, and Velocity Micro. I assume they're all now weighing whether it's worth coming first to market against possible fallout from shipping with enough known issues to slow down a competitor. Any want to enlighten us as to the specific issues? Our experiences with a few WHS betas were fine, but then we didn't qualify our test bed to move 100,000 units.

We don't know its name, what it will cost, or even what its right side looks like, but you can add Velocity Micro's new mystery product to the list of others coming out this fall with Microsoft's newly finished Windows Home Server software. According to Velocity Micro, its Home Server will come in several different configurations, but across all of them it will feature a Conroe-based CPU and a high-end chipset. The idea is to limit bandwidth bottlenecks and account for future third-party software add-ons that may demand more than the basic system requirements of Windows Home Server itself. It will also be selling an expansion module with the goal of making it easy to add extra hard drives.

Velocity also told us that the feet come off, which will let you orient its new product either vertically or horizontally. That looks like a more flexible approach than HP's boxier MediaSmart server, although aesthetics probably matter less with these systems. They don't need a mouse or a keyboard, or even a monitor, so you might as well store it in a closet.

We don't have pricing yet from any of the Home Server hardware makers, Velocity's Chris Morley informed us that his product will likely be less than $1,000, and probably by a fair amount. He also answered with a noncommittal "no comment" when we asked whether it would be selling in Best Buy or Circuit City in addition to its Web site. He also wouldn't tell us exactly when the product is coming out, only that it will be available in time for Windows Home Server's official launch, expected roughly this fall.

Right on schedule, Microsoft announced that its Windows Home Server software is off to the presses. This clears the way for HP, Gateway, LaCie, Medion, and now Iomega and Fujitsu Siemens, (both also announced today, the latter in Europe only) to begin selling their Home Server-powered hardware later this quarter.

If you're unfamiliar, Windows Home Server is Microsoft's attempt to solve the growing problem of fragmented media collections. Through , you can organize and manage access to your media files (or any other kind of data) from one centralized location, rather than having to look through multiple PCs for your various photos, music files, and videos. Windows Home Server even has a Web-based client that will give you full read and write capability from any PC connected to the Internet.

Under Microsoft's current plan, it won't be selling Windows Home Server as a standalone software product. Instead, you need to purchase a full-blown server from one of Microsoft's previously mentioned hardware partners. The good news is that the hardware requirements for Windows Home Server are relatively modest. All you really need is a hard drive and the basic guts of a PC. The servers don't even need mice or keyboards. Unless you really load up on hard drive storage, we don't expect prices of the Home Server-equipped hardware to jump beyond that of a basic home desktop.

I recently had the opportunity to meet with two Microsoft officials to discuss Windows Home Server. According to Microsoft officials, this new solution could solve all of your backup problems and help you immediately restore your entire system to an earlier day if your hard drive dies suddenly. Could this be the saving grace we have all been waiting for? Read on and decide for yourself.

Although the product is still in development, the Windows Home Server (WHS) is very much a new category of home products. Accommodating almost 15 million households in the U.S. alone, WHS is designed for homes that run more than one computer. The premise is simple: the WHS software installs on each computer in your home and helps centralize all of the data on each system in one central location. Once each machine is setup, all of the data on each computer is backed up and protected for future use.

The sad fact is most people just don't back up their data. For example, the last time I backed up my systems was probably a good two or three months ago. If one of my computers crashes, tons of sensitive data will be gone forever. Windows Home Server will try to fix this problem by automatically performing a full-system backup the first time you set up a computer and will back up any modified folders from then on. In essence, mistakes can be fixed in a flash.

Much like Windows Vista, Windows Home Server is a software solution. But to get the system up and running, you will need to purchase a hardware server from a third party. As of this writing, HP and about eight other companies have signed on to manufacture third-party servers. HP--a "Premier" Microsoft partner--is currently working on a MediaSmart server that will feature four internal drive bays and four USB ports so you can plug up to eight hard drives into the system. Priced in the sub-$1,000 range, the HP server will come with 500GB to 1TB of storage built-in, but you can easily add empty hard drives to the server if you need more storage space. When you get the product, Microsoft's software will be preinstalled on the server and it will come with a program to install on your home PCs.

I don't know about you, but I'm pretty sick and tired of drive letters and evidently, Microsoft is as well. In the WHS, all drive letters will be gone and all of the information will be centralized in one area. Although I haven't had the opportunity to use the product yet, Microsoft assured me that an intelligent file folder system will accompany the product making it easy to find files from any day and either copy them back to your computer or copy them to a different system. For a bit more organization, the server will feature different user names that will correspond to the computers. So, if you don't want to search all of the machines and you want a specific file from your son's computer, simply click on his user name and you will only see his computer.

The current version of WHS is Windows only. That said, you can still back up material on a Mac or Linux machine, but the auto-backup feature that runs every night will only work on a Windows system.

Perhaps the most useful feature in the WHS platform is the ability to access files and folders remotely. Upon installing the software and backing up your data, you will be given access to a Web server and a unique Web address through Windows Live Domain. While you're away from home, simply surf your way to the specified address and input your admin user name and password. Upon doing so, you will immediately have access to any file or folder you may have left at home.

Besides backing up, Windows Home Server is also a media device that effectively shares music, movies and photos throughout the home. The HP MediaSmart server will also include a PhotoShare and iTunes server feature so you can quickly view your pictures or play your favorite songs on any computer in the house.

Because of the obvious copyright implications, music will only play on a different computer if it has the same software installed. In other words, Yahoo music songs from your computer will only play on your mother's computer if she has Yahoo music installed as well. If not, then you're out of luck.

Windows Home Server also streams music to devices like your Xbox 360 or a Roku Soundbridge. Although streaming isn't exclusive to these two products, Windows Media Connect must be supported by any device you want to stream music to.

Although it's being billed as a family device that connects the home like never before, it seems the Windows Home Server may be aimed at those who know the perils of spyware and antivirus. Although the server will most likely copy harmful code onto your Home Server, it will also keep a full image of your drive in case you lose all of your data. Having lived through the awful system restore process, the ability to get my system back up and running in a matter of minutes would be just one reason to purchase this product. That said, I haven't had the chance to use it yet (I should be getting it in a few weeks), so while this may sound nice on paper, it may not work as planned when I test it out.

Look for an exhaustive hands-on evaluation with the Windows Home Server in the coming weeks to see if the product lives up to the high expectations. Until then, surf on over to the Windows Home Server page for more information.

You can check out our slide show, posted last week, for a rundown of the main features of Windows Home Server. We don't want to award anyone before the final product is out, but we'll say that we came out of the closed beta very impressed. We suspect it will take a while for the non-tech-savvy to really grasp the benefits of Home Server, but thankfully, this week Microsoft threw the doors open to the general public to download and check out its newest Home Server release candidate.

Go here for the download. You'll of course need a dedicated PC to install it on as well. The activation period is only good for 30 days, so it's not a long-term free trial. We also learned that the release candidate will be only be available to download for a brief period, as Microsoft is apparently very close to sending the final code to off for manufacture. If you're curious about what Home Server has to offer and want to try it before it's out, now's the time.

Update: Microsoft sent us an email correcting what it previously told us. You get 30 days to play with the Home Server Release Candidate without activating it at all, followed by 180 days to use it after activation.

Microsoft's Home Server software is one step closer to reality.

The software maker on Tuesday released a near-final "release candidate" version of Windows Home Server, a custom version of its Windows Server 2003 operating system. A final version is expected to come out later this year. Microsoft is pitching the software as an option for multi-PC households to manage burgeoning collections of media files.

Chairman Bill Gates announced plans for the product at the Consumer Electronics Show in January, saying that HP would build a product based on the software. At last month's Windows Hardware Engineering Conference (WinHEC), Microsoft announced additional partners, including Gateway and Medion.

Microsoft said that those interested in testing the new software can register on Microsoft's Web site. More than 100,000 people have already been testing earlier versions of the software.