I’m not sure that many would. The biggest use of a home server would be for storing recorded video in its original high-quality state.
Most consumers don’t know what they would need a server for and those that have moved into recording or watching video content are using services like SlingBox or Orb. These types of services allow them to watch live TV over the Internet from anywhere with a broadband connection.
What else would consumers use a server for? Let’s try some ideas:
- Email: No, Yahoo, GMail, Live Mail, and many others have that tied up – why host or store your email anymore?
- Streaming Media: Why, with YouTube, online audio services, iPod/iTunes, and the like would you want to manage all those files and stream them?
- Web Server: Huh, all the free blogging services, hosting services and such – even the fee-based services are cheap! Why bother with managing a server?
- IM: Nope, GTalk, Live Messenger, Yahoo Messenger, etc… is where your friends are. Not “Bob’s Messenger” with you and your mom.
Well, I can’t come up with much more in the time I have, but you get the drift. A year ago, I still would have thought this was a great idea, but now I think MS would be better served coming up with better Vista licensing plans for consumers with multiple computers – Office too!
Via: Neowin.net – Microsoft to unveil Windows Home Server at CES
