HP has announced is to retire its MediaSmart Server (MSS) line, which includes Windows Home Server (WHS), according to the Windows Home Server Blog.
The blog says HP said it had no plans to provide a platform for the WHS V2, code named “Vail”, and that it will honour service and support agreements, carrying the MSS through to the end of the calendar year 2010.
The blog says: “This news is in no way related to recent announcements about feature changes in Windows Home Server ‘Vail’,” the blog said, and revealed that Microsoft would continue to work on delivering Vail to its customers, in association with partners Acer, Tranquil and “many system builders to bring the best solution to the market”.
Media environment
The blog features comments from Microsoft partners that reassure Microsoft customers that Vail will have “a big impact on the home media environment” and that the company is “entirely committed to the future of Windows Home Server V1 And V2”.
The blog entry concluded by stating that “HP and Microsoft have a long-standing strategic relationship across both consumer and commercial markets and will continue to work together moving forward.”
The announcement follows Microsoft’s statement that it intends to drop a popular feature in the Vail – the Drive Extender – which enables the user to pool the storage of multiple hard drives to increase total storage.
Windows Home Server V2 is a home server operating system in development by Microsoft to succeed the WHS operating system designed for small office/home office.
