WHS is not a full-featured print server, but it does share printers perfectly well and it’s simple to configure. I have two printers connected to mine that are accessible to every client on my network, appearing as if they were locally connected to the client. It works flawlessly. So answer this: what features do home users require that are not available via printer sharing?

WHS doesn’t currently back itself up, true, but it’s coming in the power pack. I personally don’t really care. I can’t think of many realistic use cases that would risk loss of data because WHS isn’t backed up. Shares are duplicated between drives so they’re protected. Backups are, well, backups. So that data exists on the client machine as well as WHS, so it’s almost always duplicated anyway. I suppose if you coincidentally lost both a client as well as WHS at the same time then it would be an issue. Barring a catastrophe like house fire or virus I don’t think this is realistic, and I don’t see how WHS backups will protect against fires and viruses anyway. The only other case I can imagine is if I needed an older version of a file and coincidentally WHS crashed and lost all of it’s data. Not very likely IMO.

You’d sound a bit more objective and less biased if you shared this kind of information along with your bashing. Of course, that would contradict your FUD so I’m sure we shouldn’t expect anything like this from you.

“WHS doesn’t even back itself up, so when the WHS HDD fails or crashes there is no backup to restore for all your PC clients…”

See the upcoming Power Pack. But you probably already have and will insist that the late delivery is further “proof” that WHS isn’t ready for the mainstream. No matter what anyone tells you, you won’t listen anyway, you’ll just spout off the same tiresome drivel.

I think true lovers of technology will appreciate the breadth and power of what WHS is providing to the home user. WHS removes the complexity that would be required for non-techies, ie. Mom or Dad to successfully backup and maintain their precious data.

We as techs and geeks sometimes are too quick to point out flaws and abnormalites and would rather express a blind devotion to an MS -or- non-MS platform before really trying to understand the spirit of the product in the first place.

Keep up the good work. I need to get back to my WHS box and tinker some more!

Oh, yes, please fire me! Oh wait, if I work for MSFT then surely I should be entitled to some paychecks first. So pay me, then fire me. And maybe a severance package too? Anyway, exactly which customers am I disrespecting?

Regardless, it’s nice to see your trademark response about the data corruption issue, in your very first sentence no less! Nice job! Just as irrelevant as usual! What will you do when June rolls around and the issue is fixed? Still wandering blind with your head up your butt, bashing WHS with even less substance and more FUD?

By the way, did you care to do an ounce of research into your comment on web server security? Here’s a hint: It has to do with poorly written web sites that are vulnerable to SQL injection, not any inherent security flaw in IIS. Nice try again! It’s all about FUD with you!

“WHS doesn’t even turn off when NOT in use.”
I honestly can’t tell if this is a joke. Seriously, is it? You do know that WHS hosts web access for remote access……right??? Um, so I wonder what happens if it turns itself off. Seriously, I think this is your best comment ever.

Especially, being how this serious problem does effect everyone using Windows Home Server in one way or another. In addition, to having been reported and established last year in 2007. Making everyone using WHS still waiting for RELIEF, which isn’t even expected until June 2008.

Customers need resolution, working and functional products as advertised by Microsoft to actually deliver what was claimed.

What Microsoft Windows Home Server customer can be happy about a proven design defect that causes data corruption?

And how many Microsoft customers using a server is going to be happy about the latest reports of ‘Hundreds of thousands’ of Microsoft web servers hacked?

Using WHS is really like playing Russian Roulette. That’s because your data is at risk of being corrupted by a proven design defect (KB 946676) in WHS Drive Extender code. Then one must wonder about how WHS does use the older Windows 2003 Server kernel which was replaced in Vista with Windows 2008 Server kernel in Vista SP1 to offer better security that obviously WHS never got.

Which is worse, having your data corrupted or having your data hacked? Some choice that is for Microsoft customers to ponder about… in addition to the lack of providing energy saving features lacking in WHS…

WHS doesn’t even turn off when NOT in use. No Wake-to-Lan turn on either… No printer server included…

sigh….

Microsoft has NEVER been about energy saving, or for the ecology and environment. NOT even for it’s own anti-competitive behavior.

Data-loss bugs are bad, bad, bad. When files on the customer’s computer are lost or damaged by a program they installed, they tend to be just a bit cranky. This Windows Home Server bug is an order of magnitude worse. Normally when software hoses the user’s data, the support guy’s glib retort is, “Can you restore from your last backup?” In this case, WHS was supposed to be keeping the backups! Gulp.

Wait, uTorrent isn’t supposed to work because of the dreaded bug…

and yet it did… wow. Perhaps the well documented KB946676 bug is an extreme edge case, like the text says.

That said, keep going Ubuntu and canonical competition is good, good competition is better.

My God, folks – Aren’t we tried of this already?

OK – You hate MS. We get it. You hate WHS. We get it. You hate commercial software and multi-billion dollar companies. W-E G-E-T I-T !!!!

Your constant ranting and raving about all of this crap is boring us to tears! Your efforts are chewing up valuable bandwidth and are basically a drain on the world’s oxygen supply. You keep regurgitating the same bile over and over again like cows chewing their cud. It is tiresome. One person lets go with their rant, and then another has to chime in with essentially the same rant again, in slightly a different form, then other – all of them venting their spleens on such triviality, in the vain attempt to give meaning to their pathetic lives.

Wait. Hold on. I think I get it now – It is a virtual “group hug” for the truly pathetic! Oh – isn’t that special.

Hey, I have an idea. Why don’t you all get out of your respective parent’s basements where you live and actually get out in the sun and out among REAL people. Maybe you can actually all meet in person and then you can rant and rave to your heart’s content about M$ and the injustices of the corporate world together in person. Wouldn’t that be nice?

You can just feel the love from here – can’t you? It’s a beautiful thing.

I’d much rather wait for a well tested and bulletproof fix, than a hastily fashioned patch or hack that might make things work but bring in more edge cases…

but I really don’t think I’m talking to people that want to reason about the process of creating the fix… they just want the magic bunny in the black box to make the pictures in the picture frame look right.

Unfortunately, many customers purchasing are NOT told about the data corruption proven design flaw. So why should Microsoft profit on this, and at the same time delays all resolution in fixing it?

Soooo.. posting this here, where ignornant customers won’t come and find out about how to use a product, does what exactly… Fulfills an inner need to get back at the man?

MS has posted and re-posted guidance on the ‘design-flaw’ admitted it… Its constantly reported by the WHS community and blogs and we’re all waiting for a fix (even if I’ve yet to find anyone in the community that is effected by it…). Perhaps a mass-mailing to all potential customers would be the next step.

What Drashna and I question is why? Every post here, we’re reminded of the same thing? Did the first 1300 posts slamming MS for the ‘design-flaw’ not get read? This is community site, really for people interested in and using WHS in their homes. Why not provide help and assistance to the poor rubes that are ‘forced to buy’ a Microsoft product. Are you also ‘forced to buy’ gas, food, McDonalds?

Seriously…

I’ll sit here with my home build WHS just steaming along, enjoying secure back-ups and my files shares (that I don’t edit, and wouldn’t edit if there wasn’t a bug, online) streaming movies to four separate computers.

Best $170 I’ve spent on computers.

(and I’ve actually used it.. have you?)

Wouldn’t you want your WHS working correctly, or is data destruction you kind of thing?

How about fixing a proven desgin flaw that causes data corruption? If that’s hating, you ought to hate Microsoft for NOT fixing their own design flaw instead of complaining about other customers wanting their WHS products fixed!

Telling us to waiting half a year, isn’t reasonable for such a serious design flaw. Wake up!

As for this system, and all the associated stuff it is totally awsome. And there was only on HDD in it, so it would be immune to the data corruption bug anyways!!! Read up before flaming.

By the way, really, everyone is unhappy with it? Even the Tibetan monks?

Is it any wonder as why everyone, is NOT happy with how WHS is sold today?

How about fixing the proven data corruption design flaw in WHS for one thing, right? KB 946676, for which continues to be delayed without resolution! June 2008?