Free copy of Microsoft Windows Home Server for a blog reader...

I have a copy of Microsoft's Windows Home Server (software only) that I don't need, so I figured the best way to give it away would be to someone who has been following my blog. Just leave a comment on my blog, with some way for me to reach you, and I'll randomly pick one person on January 15, 2009 to send it to. I will happily pay for shipping, but the recipient will be responsible for any duty/tax charges if they are applicable (I will be shipping from Canada).

What is Windows Home Server?

Windows Home Serverhelps you centralize and connect your digital "stuff," enabling you to share, store, access ad automatically help protect your most important pictures, videos, music and files.

Product Highlights

• Provides you with peace of mind by automatically backing up your home computers and your important files every night, making it easy to restore an entire home computer or just a file to a previous point in time.
• Creates centralized storage for your photos, music, home videos, and documents.
• Enables you to easily and more securely access your files and personal computers from inside and outside your home.
• Centrally monitors the health of your home computers running Windows XP and Windows Vista to proactively identify and resolve problems.
• Easily expand the storage of your home server by adding additional internal or external hard drives of any size.
• Use Xbox 360 or other Windows Media Connect-supported devices to enjoy digital media stored on your Windows Home Server.

For more information, visit Microsoft's Windows Home Server page.

Updates for Media Center for Windows Vista and Media Center TVPack for Windows Vista (KB959485 and KB957209) released on December 4, 2008

Microsoft released the Update for Media Center for Vista (KB959485) and the Update for Media Center TV Pack for Windows Vista (KB957209). After you install this item, you may have to restart your computer.

For complete listing of issues resolved by these updates, please see the following lists.

Update for Media Center for Windows Vista (KB959485)

• Addresses an issue introduced in the October 2008 Cumulative Update for Media Center for Windows Vista (KB955519) where on systems with digital cable card tuners, back to back recordings would not record properly. The first recorded TV show plays back correctly. However, the second recorded TV show plays back only audio.

Download links

• Update for Media Center for Windows Vista, 32-bit versions
• Update for Media Center for Windows Vista, 64-bit versions

Update for Media Center TVPack for Windows Vista (KB957209)

• Addresses an issue where Media Center crashes after you replace a TV tuner.
• Addresses an issue where the guide data in Media Center stops downloading.
• Addresses an issue where recordings on systems that have in-band schedule data are split into multiple recordings.
• Addresses an issue where scheduled recordings disappear from Media Center.

Download links

• Update for Media Center TVPack for Windows Vista, 32-bit versions
• Update for Media Center TVPack for Windows Vista, 64-bit versions

Note that these updates are not intended to be cumulative updates; however, these fixes will be included in a future cumulative update.

December 5 Update - amended blog entry to reflect the fact that these updates are not cumulative updates.