David Flynn18 July 2009, 3:02 PM
The newly-released ‘Power Pack 3’ beta for Windows Home Server adds support for Windows 7 libraries and other features of the forthcoming OS, as well as better backup for netbooks.
With the October 22nd launch date for Windows 7 barely three months away, Microsoft is prepping other members of its software family to play well with the new OS.
This weekend saw the public debut of the free Power Pack 3 update for Windows Home Server, although it’s currently still in beta stage and can only be downloaded after signing up to the
Microsoft Connect site.
Microsoft says that while “the timing of the Power Pack 3 final release has not been determined” it’s hoped to be released prior to Windows 7.
PP3 supports silent backup and recovery for Windows 7 system, compared to the current WHS behaviour of backing up a Windows 7 PC but also showing a misleading notification by the host PC’s Action Centre which claims there’s no backup in place.
Windows 7’s aggregated storage of user files into virtual folders known as Libraries is also recognised by PP3 with the shared Music, Photos and Videos folders on the home server visible as part of the network’s Library set. Users can add other server-resident folders to personal or shared libraries.
PowerPack 3 adds support to Windows Home Server for Windows 7's Library folders (above) which allows the contents of user folders on the server to be included in user libraries or shared libraries (below)
The client-installed Windows Home Server Connector has been reworked for the smaller screen sizes and lower resolution of netbooks.
Windows Media Centre systems gain a ‘Console View’ through the main menu to check server statistics without having to fire up the browser-based Windows Home Server Console. This allows for a quick check of storage space, drive health, the backup status of networked PCs and a list of all shared folders.
The new Console View option added to Windows Media Centre allows a quick check of server status (above), while recorded TV shows can be 'archived' into formats suitable for a Windows Mobile smartphone or Zune (below)
A new ‘TV Archive’ item for Media Centres enables TV content to be moved to the server and simultaneously transcoded into a WMV format geared for playback on a Windows Mobile smartphone or a Zune portable media player.
The former is spec’d to 320 x 240 pixels at 500 Kbps, while the Zune-friendly settings are 640 x 480 pixels at 1500 Kbps. These functions can of course be used to output content for any device which needs those specifications and supports WMV video.
For a full rundown of what’s new in Power Pack 3, see Microsoft’s
Windows Home Server Team Blog.