Microsoft announces Windows Server 2012 line up and Windows Home Server is gone

July 5, 2012 by 15 Comments

Today Microsoft announced their Windows Server 2012 line up, and one server noticeably missing is Windows Home Server!

2012 Server Line up

This little piece of news is something that we MVP’s have known about for some time but because of NDA’s haven’t been able to say anything.

This is one of a few reasons why we changed the name of this site from Using Windows Home Server to Connected Digital World!

So if you want similar functionality to Windows Home Server in a 2012 Server product then you will be looking for Windows Server 2012 Essentials, which will cost you around $425! So that’s quite a price hike from Windows Home Server 2011!

Some additional information could be found in the Windows Server 2012 Essentials FAQ:

Q: Will there be a next version of Windows Home Server?
A: No. Windows Home Server has seen its greatest success in small office/home office (SOHO) environments and among the technology enthusiast community. For this reason, Microsoft is combining the features that were previously only found in Windows Home Server, such as support for DLNA-compliant devices and media streaming, into Windows Server 2012 Essentials and focusing our efforts into making Windows Server 2012 Essentials the ideal first server operating system for both small business and home use—offering an intuitive administration experience, elastic and resilient storage features with Storage Spaces, and robust data protection for the server and client computers.

Q: How long will customers be able to purchase Windows Home Server 2011?
A: Windows Home Server 2011 will remain available as an OEM embedded product until December 31, 2025, and will remain available in all other current channels until December 31, 2013.

So what do you think of this news? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

If you want to read the full line-up of Windows Server 2012 products, click here.

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Microsoft, News, Windows, Windows Home Server
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About Andrew Edney

This post was written by who has written 5943 posts for Connected Digital World. I am the owner and editor of this site. I have been interested in gadgets and tech since I was a little kid. I have also written a number of books on various tech subjects. I also write for The Huffington Post. And I am honoured to be a Microsoft MVP for Windows Home Server since January 2008.
View all posts by Andrew Edney →

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  • http://twitter.com/jam3ohio Jim McCarthy

    Not exactly a shock…

  • Joe F

    I think essentials would be fine except for the price. I don’t really see why they would just assume most WHS users would spend that much considering most don’t need the extra business functionality and that many users. Why can’t they wack out the business related features and knock it down to 10 users and offer it for $100 or less.

    • http://connecteddigitalworld.com/ Andrew Edney

      I think that they are really not interested in home users – they want businesses and they will pay that sort of money

      • Joe F

        I wonder if too many small businesses were buying WHS for a simple storage and client backup system and MS is trying to force them to pony up to the more expensive OS. It could also be the slow adoption of WHS which I think the lack of WHS 2011 OEMs is partially to blame but MS didn’t help themselves by not continuing with some form of Drive Extender.

        I almost want to try a Win 8 server build (depending on the price of a full license) but I also want to drop MS for turning their back on the WHS community and go with a Linux Server or a NAS enclosure.

  • http://www.facebook.com/mark.picker Mark Picker

    Maybe they want us to all have TechNet subscriptions? :) Works out cheaper even if it may not be true to the licence agreement.

  • http://mcmcomputers.homeserver.com/ mikmock

    They are already pushing Windows 8 for cheaper than WHS 2011 before it’s released ($39). Not a good sign, I predict “End of Life” for Microsoft if they keep this up. $425 for the 2012 Server??? They don’t care about the home users anymore and just want the big $$ from the corporate side(good luck with that). Microsoft have just lost their mind!

    • Joe F

      Actually, the $39 price for Win 8 Pro is only if you are upgrading from XP, Vista or 7. They have not released official pricing for new copies of Win 8. If they would have made a WHS2012 with storage spaces, plus windows media center and gotten some OEMs to package some server in a box solutions, it would have done well. Now, we will never know. Maybe they’ll do their usual “kill a product, skip a release, then revive it on the next cycle” tactic like they did with Drive Extender which turned into Storage Spaces.

      • http://mcmcomputers.homeserver.com/ mikmock

        Ya the upgrade price is $39 but Microsoft is pushing their new platform as a smooth transition to Win 8 in lieu of the old mind set of “Clean” installs from one OS to the other. To me, It just has that same feeling. Anyway after calling MS many unmentionable names and realizing that we do have a core of “Server 2008 R2″ which is a solid product. I think I’ll ride along for a while in the world of my newly renamed: “Home Server 2008 R2/Windows 7″ because they will be around for some time to come and then see which alternative OS rises to the top and go from their. MS will not get a nickel of my Piggy Bank in the near future. As far as EOL for MS, I really hope not, maybe they know what their doing…you think??? Not! Maybe they will pump out a home version of 2012 after they hit bottom…ah wishful thinking, that would be too cool.

    • disappointed

      I’m just now finding out this news but when you look at the big picture; it’s not surprising and more than anything disappointing. Microsoft is following Apple’s lead here; the smart move is to NOT encourage home users with their own servers. The world is quickly moving to cloud based deliveries. Hollywood does not want us to own our media content. The future of music, movies, video and pictures is delivered to you via a cheap device such as an iPhone or iPad from the cloud. No more DVD’s or CD’s This way, they control the content, they control has its delivered and they control how much it will cost us. All the while Apple, Microsoft and Google can charge a delivery fee on top. It really is a smart business decision. This way they can charge us a monthly fee or a fee for every one time use. These computer giants are becoming media controllers much like Verizon and Comcast. I think we can all thank Steve Jobs for seeing this future 10 years ago when he built iTunes. The sad part is, Microsoft use to enable the do-it-yourself hackers, this might too be disappearing. How hard is Linux?

      Having been a WHS user since 2007, I hoped this was the future. It still is but will cost us more. It may be worth it for the sake of privacy and one’s own control of my content.

      For those heading to Apple, beware of the pretty walled garden….the playground rules are on their terms.

  • James Bruce

    Ahh, now it makes sense Andrew. You did seem rather coy when we were talking about it.

    I’m not surprised, I’m just really annoyed. I’ll be converting all my machine to mac or hackintoshes now; screw it. They’ve done nothing on the media center front (it’s clear the xbox 720 is designed to replace that), and now killing off home server? My two favourite products, gone; and all I have to look forwards to is a joke interface of child-like coloured squares in windows 8? Nah, screw it. I’m done with Windows.

    • http://connecteddigitalworld.com/ Andrew Edney

      Yeah, I’m not surprised either, and it’s been really hard not being able to say anything. And I am very disappointed that MS buried the news in an FAQ!

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1632391897 Michael Wright

    Strangely I’m kind of relieved, I have only last weekend decommissioned my whs2011 & mothballed the microserver. Moved all my movies onto my windows 7 workstation. using trusty old whs ver to back it all up in my garage. Sad to see whs go

  • infinidim

    It’s not un-expected is it but it is still sad :-( . I have stayed with V1 but do have a copy of WHS2011 which I could load on my server. My server is mounted on the wall in the TV room and looks like a small radiator and just seems to work.

  • MSFrustrated

    MS blew it. Essentials unfortunately won’t be the WHS savior hoped for.

    Install is DOMAIN ONLY. Damn…..

    • http://connecteddigitalworld.com/ Andrew Edney

      Yeah, its designed for businesses who want or need AD, which most home users don’t!

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