Hot off the presses, we’re extremely pleased to report that our newest OEM, ASUS, has just announced that they’ll soon be introducing a new Home Server to the market here in the US – and in other markets across the globe. Their TS Mini Home Server, powered by a 1.66 GhZ Intel Atom chipset and running Windows Home Server, will come in two configurations:

• 500GB Hard Drive (with 1 empty HDD bay) @ $349 MSRP
• 1 TB Hard Drive (with 1 empty HDD bay) @ $529 MSRP

The form factor is pretty sleek and comes packed with 6 USB ports and an eSata port for additional external storage options. In addition to all the great features of the underlying Windows Home Server operating system, the TS Mini will also come bundled with a free year long subscription to a 500 GB online storage service, a feature that automatically synchronizes files stored on the TS Mini with external drives, and a real time system monitoring tool.

Not to be outdone, ASUS also points to the device’s ‘green’ credentials: it’s certified ‘Energy 5.0’ compliant and consumes on average only 24.5W.

The TS Mini is now available for pre-order at online retailers Amazon.com and NewEgg.

A hearty welcome to ASUS in joining the Home Server family!

- Mark

Dell is jumping in to help business (commercial) customers get ready for Windows 7 by offering Windows 7 drivers for their commercial desktop and laptop PCs. They are posting their Windows 7 drivers here (see Drivers and Downloads on left-hand navigation).

By offering drivers for their commercial desktop and laptop PCs, Dell is helping business customers with Dell PCs in their environments prepare for Windows 7 deployments.

For more information, see this blog post on Dell’s Inside Enterprise IT Blog.

Recently both Samsung and Chimei gained Windows Vista Premium certification on their 20 and 22″ lcd’s. As I’m still waiting on my 22″ Samsung 225BW lcd’s to arrive I thought I would find out what exactly that meant. If anything. What does certification mean for an lcd? It is not like it will not display Windows Vista. This begs the question…

What is Windows Vista Premium Certification?

Pat Azzarello, an employee of Microsoft writes…

The Premimum logo requirements are available to computer makers to help them get quality components to deliver on their systems. The Logo program is a guideline, and it doesn’t mean that other components won’t work on Vista, or that other components are not high quality. It will (in the very least) help you identify components that have been tested and work at a certain level

Basically this means for OEM manufacturers and partners to market their products with Windows Vista support, they need to gain Microsoft’s certification to do so. When it comes to marketing, the ‘Windows Vista ready’ logo is a strong force. I would argue this is something more important for manufacturers and marketing techniques than anything else. Depending on the type of user, it may not make muc of an impact. Though you do have to realise the connection between the two.

Slightly more tech savy people aren’t really going to care too much about this Windows Vista certfication in most cases. They will already know (or can easily find out) if a particular piece of hardware is properly supported under Windows Vista. The average consumer however doesn’t know better and will be looking for this seal of approval before making a purchase.

Why would you Want Vista Certification

To system builders and OEM manufactuers it means selling systems with Windows Vista branding power and the added benefit of being able to submit their drivers to Microsoft, making them available for download via the Windows Update service. To end users, this is a nice convenience.

It’s a good thing system builders have to earn Windows Vista certification (through the user of higher end products). It raises the demand for higher level components, bringing more expensive components into mainstream market that are in high demand.

For further information on Windows Vista’s OEM hardware requirements