HP delays Home Server

HP has pushed back the release of its Windows Home Server product, ostensibly to allow for last-minute bug squashing.

The delay of the system, previously due out imminently, now takes the release back by a vague period of 75 to 120 days quoted by HP - that's anywhere between November and January.

Home Server software went out to manufacturers in July, having had a long beta period with which to work, and yet we are still waiting for the first products to ship from a big-name brand. Meanwhile, enthusiasts have been groping around for a copy of the software to build their own box.

Microsoft's typical spin suggested that the company "identified a number of ways to make the product even better since the initial release." Which means, presumably, taking some of the bugs out.

Meanwhile, Medion has taken advantage of the lull in systems shipping to throw details of its own Home Server system out of the door. The system looks a little sleeker than HP's and comes with a choice of a low-cost Sempron/RS690 package, an AMD X2 processor or an Intel Mobile Celeron chip, bizarrely. Quite how those are tiered we can't make out.

Otherwise, the system appears to be a fairly standard config, with four screwless HDD racks and plenty of USB ports.

We eagerly await the first Home Server product to land on the INQ's doorstep. Can it really handle all home media, and the kitchen sync, as Microsoft promises? Inquiring minds need to know. µ