Microsoft Offers Home Server Update To Testers

In a Monday blog post, Charlie Kindel, general manager of the Windows Home Server group, said one of Microsoft's goals is to "get thousands of beta testers to help us prove" that Microsoft has fixed the data corruption bug, which "a few users have experienced."

"For us to feel our testing has been validated we need a large number of beta testers to work through these scenarios and regular Home Server operation for a period of time," Kindel wrote in the blog post.

Now available for download from Microsoft Connect, Power Pack 1 also adds the ability to back up Home Server shared folders and fine tunes the software's remote access features. But for many Microsoft channel partners, the data corruption bug has been the biggest issue to arise since Microsoft launched Windows Home Server last September.

Microsoft won't ship the final release of Windows Home Server Power Pack 1 until testers have had a chance to work with the software and ensure that it does, in fact, cure the glitch, according to Kindel. Microsoft expects to release Power Pack 1 sometime in the second half of the year.

Microsoft announced Home Server Power Pack 1 in January at CES and touted a feature that would allow users to back up the backup database, but in May revealed that the feature wouldn't be included in Power Pack 1.