Ship it!
Woo-hoo! We did it. Today we are announcing that Windows Home Server has been released to manufacturing (RTM). We have finalized the software and now handing it off to our OEM partners. The evaluation version (with 120 day evaluation period) and the system builder version are also heading into the distribution channels and will be available in the next couple of months. French, German and Spanish versions will be finalized shortly, and OEM products will hit retail shelves this fall.
We're also excited to announce Iomega and Fujitsu-Siemens Computers (FSC) as new OEMs planning to ship Windows Home Server products later this year.
Here's the toast I gave to the team at our RTM ship party last Friday night.
It started with a vision that an always available device on the home network was an essential ingredient of a Microsoft platform for the home. At first there was only one of us, then three, then five... We put together a plan for a plan and executed. The result was an ambitious, yet pragmatic product plan that would deliver real value to consumers. We formed a team of extremely passionate, diverse, and hard working people. Some will say we had great luck but we know the best luck of all is the luck you make for yourself. We had a spirit of getting it done, no matter what. We broke some rules but never any laws. A community of highly enthusiastic customers rose around us. We made them part of the development process and rewarded them and they amplified our efforts. We made some mistakes…and corrected them. We took a few risks…and they paid off. In April 2005 we said we’d ship V1 in the first half of 2007. It wasn’t always easy and it wasn’t always fun, but we said what we were going to do and then we did it. You know what they say…the fourth time’s a charm.† Congratulations and thanks for helping ship the coolest version of Windows ever: Windows Home Server.
The party was a blast and I'm glad to say everyone got home safely :-).
This has been an exciting and rewarding journey for me and the team.† For me it's been a labor of love for over 8 years. The “Quattro” project began in February 2004 and we became a product group in April 2005. As you can imagine, I am extremely gratified that we have built a great V1 product on time and on budget.
There's more to come! The partner community is blossoming. We now have six OEMs on board, including Fujitsu-Siemens, Gateway, HP, Iomega, Lacie and Medion. The ISV support and software Add-ins keep rolling in, and the Code2Fame contest should drive even more cool 3rd party products.
Lastly, I'd like to extend a Big tip-of-the-hat to the enormous passion and contributions from our beta testers and community. 100,000+ participants, high volume of forum discussions, 1 million+ views/month on this blog, etc. all attest to the fact that Windows Home Server addresses a big need out there. The right product at the right time!
Now for a little time off...
-Charlie Kindel, GM, Windows Home Server
† I wrote my first thought paper about a Microsoft home server product in 1999 and Windows Home Server is my fourth project to build one. The first "effort" resulted in not much more than a PowerPoint presentation and my managers saying "Charlie, this is interesting, but you really need to focus on your real job." The second effort was actually a series of incubations focused on home automation and family applications (codenamed "Bedrock"). We actually showed off Bedrock (and the "Bbox") at CES in 2000. Alas, we were way ahead of our time and truth be told, while our user experience was brilliant and our technology was great, we couldn't actually spell the word "business". The group that built Bedrock merged with another team and we became "eHome". I consider my deep involvement with Media Center Edition (and Media Center Extenders) my 3rd effort regarding home servers.
This explains "Quattro": When I was given the opportunity to focus full time on another incubation project for a home server I had to give it a cool codename (I've always enjoyed the codename game; its' not an accident that all of the original Media Center codenames are skiing related). Quattro means "4".
When we transitioned from being an incubation project to having an actual product plan we needed a different codename. The letter “Q” was convenient, simple, and seemed cool. Windows Server Code Name “Q” is now officially Windows Home Server.
Comments
Anonymous
January 01, 2003
Windows home server , permite centralizar el ocio y la información domestica en un servidor que se encargaAnonymous
January 01, 2003
Read all about it: Windows Home Server moved from Beta to RTM I am always between two scenarios, maintainingAnonymous
January 01, 2003
Microsoft has shipped Windows Home Server to its OEM's partners and has annouced the addition of twoAnonymous
January 01, 2003
Woo-hoo! We did it. Today we are announcing that Windows Home Server has been released to manufacturingAnonymous
January 01, 2003
The final version of Windows Home Server (WHS) has shipped! There are already multiple add-in's for WHSAnonymous
January 01, 2003
Windows Home Server has RTM'd ! I've played with it a bit and think it's a fabulous productAnonymous
January 01, 2003
Windows Home Server has RTM'd ! I've played with it a bit and think it's a fabulous product. UnfortunatelyAnonymous
January 01, 2003
There was not such a great buzz about this edition (at least not here in Belgium) but nevertheless itAnonymous
January 01, 2003
Depuis lundi, la première version (anglaise) de Windows Home Server, le serveur Windows pour la maisonAnonymous
January 01, 2003
Arlindo's Blog has this entry: Windows Home Server is RTM . Check out the announcement on the WindowsAnonymous
January 01, 2003
The Windows Home Server Blog announced RTM today. ...Anonymous
January 01, 2003
The Windows Home Server team is growing and we're looking to hire a bunch of great new people! We haveAnonymous
January 01, 2003
E' stato annunciato dal blog del team di WHS il completamento di Windows Home Server, che adessoAnonymous
January 01, 2003
Likely you've already seen this elsewhere, but if not, WHS has RTMed! http://blogs.technet.com/homeserverAnonymous
January 01, 2003
There was not such a great buzz about this edition (at least not here in Belgium) but nevertheless itAnonymous
January 01, 2003
หลังจากที่ microsoft ได้พัฒนา windows home server มาได้ระยะหนึ่งแล้ว ก็ได้เวลาที่ product ตัวนี้จะออกสู่ตลาดเสียทีAnonymous
January 01, 2003
E' stata finalmente rilasciata la versione RTM del nuovo sistema operativo Windows Home Server. TodayAnonymous
January 01, 2003
http://blogs.technet.com/homeserver/archive/2007/07/16/ship-it.aspxAnonymous
January 01, 2003
קול ישראל מרדמונד ;-) שלום רב, השעה 23:41 (בחיים לא תשמעו מהדורה בשעה הזו ;-) ), הנה החדשות מפי נתנאלAnonymous
January 01, 2003
Take a look at the announcement on their blog: http://blogs.technet.com/homeserver/archive/2007/07/16Anonymous
January 01, 2003
Depuis lundi, la première version (anglaise) de Windows Home Server, le serveur Windows pour la maisonAnonymous
January 01, 2003
Microsoft says its Windows Home Server software has been released to manufacturing. Iomega and Fujitsu Siemens will join HP in making home-server products; various editions of the software will also be distributed a la carte. [Technet]...Anonymous
January 01, 2003
In case you don't know: Microsoft Windows Home Server (WHS) has gone RTM a while ago . The problem isAnonymous
January 01, 2003
Via de Windows Home Server blog: Woo-hoo! We did it. Today we are announcing that Windows Home Server...Anonymous
January 01, 2003
A few months back at the CES show in Las Vegas, Microsoft announced a new product called Windows HomeAnonymous
January 01, 2003
หลังจากที่ microsoft ได้พัฒนา windows home server มาได้ระยะหนึ่งแล้ว ก็ได้เวลาที่ product ตัวนี้จะออกสAnonymous
January 01, 2003
Windows Home Server, la versión de Windows Server orientada a las necesidades del hogar moderno, acabaAnonymous
January 01, 2003
We had a lot of really great feedback about this product when it was shown at the Vista After Hours eventsAnonymous
January 01, 2003
Congratulations to the Windows Home Server team. Today they announced it has been RTMed (released toAnonymous
January 01, 2003
Windows Home Server, codenamed "Q" RTM'ed! If you like the inside scoop and history, you'll want to checkAnonymous
January 01, 2003
Windows Home Server just RTM'd . Six OEMs will ship Windows Home Server’s including Fujitsu-SiemensAnonymous
January 01, 2003
I blogged about this yesterday , and admittedly, this video doesn't look half as cool and funky as theAnonymous
January 01, 2003
Ship it! Woo-hoo! We did it. Today we are announcing that Windows Home Server has been released to manufacturingAnonymous
January 01, 2003
A few months back at the CES show in Las Vegas, Microsoft announced a new product called Windows HomeAnonymous
January 01, 2003
I have been beta testing Windows Home Server for a while now, and even though the second release would never install correctly I am really excited to see that that WHS has been released to manufacture. I am going to purchase...Anonymous
January 01, 2003
http://blogs.technet.com/homeserver/archive/2007/07/16/ship-it.aspxAnonymous
January 01, 2003
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January 01, 2003
PingBack from http://blogs.zdnet.com/microsoft/?p=577Anonymous
January 01, 2003
Over on the Home Server Blog they've announced that Windows Home Server has been Released to Manufacturing.Anonymous
January 01, 2003
Windows Home Server, codenamed "Q" RTM'ed! If you like the inside scoop and history, you'llAnonymous
January 01, 2003
The Windows Home Server team has RTMed , em, Windows Home Server... Well, what else?! :) Check out theAnonymous
January 01, 2003
http://blogs.technet.com/homeserver/archive/2007/07/16/ship-it.aspx ... Woohoo!!! It would've been niceAnonymous
January 01, 2003
Nearly 10 years ago, I went to Marine Corps Boot Camp at MCRD San Diego . Those were good times... AAnonymous
January 01, 2003
Last week Nick announced that the Windows Live OneCare 2.0 Beta Program has begun. Windows Live OneCareAnonymous
January 01, 2003
The final version of Windows Home Server (WHS) has shipped! There are already multiple add-in's forAnonymous
January 01, 2003
Microsoft says its Windows Home Server software has been released to manufacturing. Iomega and FujitsuAnonymous
January 01, 2003
The Windows Home Server team are celebrating as they have released Windows Home Server on schedule andAnonymous
January 01, 2003
We don't spend much time discussing Windows Home Server, which is in and of itself one of Microsoft's more brilliant recent maneuvers. But earlier this week Windows Home Server officially released. Here's a post from the Windows Home Server team on theirAnonymous
January 01, 2003
If you did no already read it somewhere else: it is RTM: Windows Home Server .Anonymous
January 01, 2003
When will WHS be available on Tehnet/MSDN?Anonymous
January 01, 2003
Congratulations to the Windows Home Server team. Today they announced it has been RTMed (released to...Anonymous
January 01, 2003
Ship it! Woo-hoo! We did it. Today we are announcing that Windows Home Server has been released...Anonymous
January 01, 2003
A massive congratulation to the whole team!Anonymous
January 01, 2003
Congratulations WHS Team! Now....how much is the OEM DVD going to cost ;0)Anonymous
January 01, 2003
It has been announced yesterday the team had their Windows Home Server RTM signoff and the software isAnonymous
January 01, 2003
Congrats and thanks to WHS Team! Enjoy your well deserved time off.Anonymous
January 01, 2003
pingback from http://soapboxrants.net/2007/07/17/windows-home-server-rtm/ Awesome job guys...keep the good stuff comingAnonymous
January 01, 2003
Can't wait to start using RTM. Thanks for a great productAnonymous
January 01, 2003
PingBack from http://blog.sebastianfoss.com/2007/07/22/windows-home-server-rtm/Anonymous
January 01, 2003
PingBack from http://sebastian-foss.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!BD4F6506994ABEF5!151.entryAnonymous
January 01, 2003
PingBack from "http://chapmans.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!291E3B86A03ABC84!682.entry" Great Job guys, i look forward to using and promoting the use of Windows Home ServerAnonymous
January 01, 2003
[... Windows Home Server has gone RTM, as of last Friday the team went for a celebration after a couple of years of hard work... congrats boyz! For more info Charlie Kindel, General Manager for this group, has a thoughtful post in the groups blog plus given some background information at the history of this product and his role through his life @ Microsoft since '99 ...] ping back from http://samiqbits.blogspot.comAnonymous
January 01, 2003
Great news, is home server going to be avalable via MSDN, afterall it's going to be an interesting alternative development platform? SteveAnonymous
January 01, 2003
It's been a real pleasure to test this - thanks for a great time and a great product.Anonymous
January 01, 2003
Looking to buy the OEM software online at NewEgg. Keep up the good work..Anonymous
January 01, 2003
Looking to buy the OEM software online at NewEgg. Keep up the good work..