Welcome to Windows Server Code Name Vail Preview Refresh

After 18 months of development, the preview of Windows Home Server “Vail” is finally here! Or, to use its official name, “Windows Server Code Name “Vail””. There has been a huge amount of conjecture pinging around the web for well over a year ever since Microsoft hinted that the next version of Windows Home Server was in development – a leaked build in January, duly pulled apart by the usual online commentators, provided a number of hints to the future direction of the platform. Microsoft have now officially lifted the curtain to allow the public the chance to kick the tyres on their development work to date.

We Got Served has a massive preview of what you can expect to find in Windows Server Code Name “Vail” Preview. Before we dig into the detail, as seasoned beta testers, we’d advise you to remember that this is an early build of the product, and as such, there’s always a risk that features you see in today’s build may not make it into the final product, and features that Microsoft may not be ready for us to see may appear at a later date.

Downloading the Beta

We’ve got a lot for you to read and see, so it’s a great idea to head over to Microsoft Connect now, sign up for the beta and download the latest build. It’s over 4GB, so unless you’re on the kind of internet connection I’d really like, it’s going to take a while to come down the line. What better way to spend your time waiting than by checking out the WGS Vail Preview?

To sign-up and download the beta:

1. Visit Microsoft’s Windows Home Server beta site at: http://connect.microsoft.com/windowshomeserver
2. If you haven’t registered, you’ll need to do so with a Hotmail or other Windows Live email address
3. Apply to join the beta
4. When you get access, hit the Downloads section, where you’ll find the following:

- Windows Home Server Code Name “Vail” Preview Refresh Installation DVD (4.2 GB)
- Windows Home Server Code Name “Vail” Preview Refresh Server Recovery CD (196 MB)
- Windows Home Server Code Name “Vail” Preview Refresh Client Restore CD (467 MB)
- Windows Home Server Code Name “Vail” Preview Refresh QFE (KB2314472) (360KB)

Unlike the first iteration of the beta (released in April 2010), the current Vail Preview Refresh’s Release Notes are now available online, although at the time of writing, the website Microsoft point to is down. The link is http://onlinehelp.microsoft.com/vail/release-notes-2.aspx. However, a temporary home for the release notes is available here: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/release-notes-2.aspx

Once you’ve downloaded the beta files, they’ll be available in the folder you downloaded them to.

At this stage, note that only the English language build is available. German and Japanese versions of the Vail Preview Refresh will not be made available to the public.

Beta Basics – Hardware

One of the first things to check is that your test hardware (you’re going to run the beta on test hardware, right? You wouldn’t think of trusting a beta OS with your data, would you?) is sufficiently capable to run Vail.

As we’ll see in our Remote Access preview, you should consider the above a minimum specification. One of the major new features of Windows Home Server “Vail” is the ability to transcode and stream video on the fly to a remote PC over the web. Real-time transcoding takes a lot of processing power and as such, if this feature is interesting to you, we’d recommend a home server with a far faster processor and RAM. For the record, I’ll be running the beta on an Intel Core i5-based system with 4GB RAM. In a recent interview with Intel, we discussed what type of processor would be required for real-time video transcoding on Vail. Whilst not an official view, the Core i3 or Pentium processor was suggested as a suitable minimum. Intel Atom processors are likely to struggle with on the fly video transcoding.

With regard to testing on OEM hardware (e.g. a HP or Acer home server) – in theory this is possible via an unattended install using a USB hard drive, but is not for the feint-hearted. Remember, Windows Home Server OEM machines are headless, and therefore you’re unable to attach a monitor to them. Using a vanilla WHS Vail build on one of these machines would be considered experimental, and is likely to cause pain. Lots of it.

For more on hardware requirements, check out our Vail Hardware Requirements Deep Dive.

Beta Basics – Bug Reporting

If you’ve skipped downloading the log collector, head back to Connect and download it!

Beta Duration and Structure

At this point, we do not know how long the beta is expected to last or how many releases there will be before an RTM build is announced. My guess would be that we may be looking at an extended period lasting quite a few months, with multiple builds released, but that’s conjecture. For now, work on the basis that we’ll see a beta, plus one or two release candidates before we get to the final release.

Vail Preview’s release history is as follows:

April 26th 2010 – Vail Preview released
August 16th 2010 – Vail Preview Refresh released