Microsoft Posts Tools for Windows Home Server

Microsoft last week released a beta of documentation for a free software development kit (SDK) that helps developers build applications for its forthcoming Windows Home Server product.

The SDK documentation is available for download on the Microsoft Developer Network. It provides guidance on how developers can use the API and services in Windows along with the Visual Studio integrated development environment and Visual Studio C# tool to build new applications for Windows Home Server, which is currently in its second beta release.

Developers also must sign up and download the Windows Home Server beta on its Web site to use the SDK.

Typically, an SDK would also have libraries developers can use to build applications, but the developer libraries for Windows Home Server are available in the OS itself, said Charlie Kindel, general manager of Windows Home Server group at Microsoft.

He also said developing new applications for the product should be easy for developers because under the covers it is essentially the Windows client OS, except with tweaks aimed at specific functions. Those include features that help home users set up a network for several home PCs; store data and files from those PCs centrally; set up a security hub for the PCs; and allow users to access content from their PCs even when they are away from home.

Microsoft unveiled Windows Home Server, formerly known by the code name Quattro, at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January, and it is the first Microsoft server OS aimed specifically for home use. At the time of its launch, Microsoft said it did not plan to sell the product out of the box; instead, it said the OS will be distributed through original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) only on hardware built specifically to run it.

On Thursday, however, Kindel, said there might be a change in that plan. He said Microsoft may sell Windows Home Server out of the box when it becomes available later this year, alongside new MediaSmart Servers from Hewlett-Packard Co. that will be the first hardware available with the new OS pre-installed.

"We got a lot of feedback [from testers] and we want to satisfy them, so we are investigating whether [selling it separately] might be an option," he said.

Kindel said applications developers might build using the Windows Home Server SDK include those for system protection, media sharing, home security and home automation. Microsoft will continue to update the SDK beta as more information and APIs become available.