“In addition to its assault on Windows Server and Exchange in office workgroups, Apple has also quietly released a paralyzing attack on Microsoft’s future server plans for home users. Disguised as the new AirPort Extreme wireless base station, it adroitly blows Microsoft’s plans out of the water months before any can even ship,” Daniel Eran writes for RoughlyDrafted.
Eran writes, “At the Las Vegas Consumer Electronics Show in January, Microsoft unveiled its plans for Windows Home Server, a centralized storage box aimed at home users who have data to back up and media files to share among PCs.”
When Microsoft visualizes a solution to a problem, it’s always a PC running Windows:
• Xbox is a PC running Windows for games
• WinCE is a small PC running a small Windows
• WebTV, Ultimate TV and Windows XP Media Center were all PCs running Windows as a DVR
Eran writes, “Unsurprisingly, the new Windows Home Server is a PC running Windows, albeit a version of Windows Server. It also serves as Microsoft’s latest conceptual product introduction in a long line of embarrassing failures that are unleashed every year at the CES tradeshow.”
Eran writes, “In contrast, Apple has designed products that solve some of the same problems as the plans offered by Microsoft every year, but in original ways that just make more sense.
• iPod made no effort to capitalize on rental DRM subscriptions
• iPhone made no effort to duplicate Microsoft’s spectacular failure with WinCE / Windows Mobile
• Apple TV blazes a trail unlike the unwieldy, expensive Media Center PC.
Eran writes, “In a similar fashion, the new AirPort Extreme delivers the idea behind Windows Home Server in a unique and different way that simply makes a lot more sense.”
Full article here.
Related articles:
Hands-on with Apple’s superspeedy 802.11n AirPort Extreme Base Station – February 19, 2007
Apple’s new AirPort Extreme offers increased speed and range – February 18, 2007
High-quality Apple AirPort Extreme 802.11n unboxing photos – February 04, 2007
Apple ships new Airport Extreme Base Stations two weeks early – February 01, 2007
Apple AirPort Utility 1.0 screenshots, 802.11n AirPort Extreme Base Station manuals – January 26, 2007
Apple releases AirPort Extreme Update 2007-001 – January 26, 2007
Apple’s new AirPort Extreme ‘AirPort Disk’ feature: cheap, simple network storage for home networks – January 15, 2007
Apple’s new AirPort Extreme supports 802.11n, enables wireless streaming of HD media – January 10, 2007
Apple introduces new AirPort Extreme with 802.11n – January 09, 2007
Do you have an Apple packaging fetish, too? – September 15, 2005
More of the same.
I want more Leopard rumors. Like what are the “secret features.”
What is the recommended external hard drive to be used with the new AirPort Extreme. If you were ordering it from the Apple Store.
i would buy those mac mini looking ones from OWC
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Newer Technology/U2MS080GB8/
stackable, hubs, no footprint issues
cheers
I have no doubt that at some point in the future everything in a house will computerized to some degree, everything will be networked, there will be a server of some sort were your data is stored or at least distributed or something of that nature. To me it seems that Microfost want to just plug full computers into everything regardless of whether it really suits the purpose or if the technology is really ready both in terms of what they can make and in terms of what the public are ready to use. Apple, whilst not perfect seem so turned on in terms of their overall progression of products. They’re making constant improvements across the board, adding new features and adding new devices that complement existing products in a way that makes sense. In scope obviously an airport express is not strictly comparable to home server but in terms of practicality and what a large number of people are gonna be ready to use it makes more sense. Rather than buying another computer to manage stuff you can buy a device to augment and work with what you’ve got.
@ John
I wouldn’t buy hard drives from the Apple store – too expensive – look on the web for good deals. Someone is always running a sale. Try one of the price comparison sites, like Froogle.
What in the world is unique and different in the new Airport Extreme?
Let’s face it, it is a high quality wireless “n” router. Comperable products have been on the market for literally years.
Give Apple kudos for making the software more intuitive this time around, but there there are still many features in this relatively crowded space that apple fails to deliver on, whereas their competitors (not microsoft) have had them in place for years.
Specific examples include support for dynamic DNS services, VPN integration, QoS features.
Let’s not pretend that a network router is anything more than a commodity applicance at the end of the day.
I believe I have less flattering comments for MS Home Server, but I’ll save those for another day….
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Ok, let’s not compare these two products. Microsoft Windows Home Server (or whatever the name) does much much more than Airport Extreme.
for example, it’s a full computer allowing an infinite (theoretically) number of USB drives. Also, it allows for internal drives.
And lastly, it gives me the ability to pipe through to my home PCs and files when I’m on the go (granted I had windows). Please, this guy is making something else out of Airport. Give me a comparison feature by feature and WHS will have much more features than the AP.
Cheers
I like sense. Sense makes sense which makes more sense until you get a lot of little senses. Kind of like roots…only not roots.
Nonsense on the other hand is the offspring of parents with psycotic episodes…….like when you think your the box office
toad in your own life movie and the script requires you throw a chair at your co-stars if they start to make a little sense
because you’re all about nonsense and you can’t afford to be undermined by costars.
I like sense because it doesn’t throw chairs….it may throw up but so what if it’s just a little thing you’ve got to do
before you get your big epiphany. The trouble with Redmond is that noone there’s ever even got a little nauseous….kind of
like the guy whos brains were being stirred by Hannibal but kept smiling anyway. Sense is nauseous in Cupertino and that’s
a good thing.
Memo to Ballmer
Subject: Potential acquisition
Targets: Max Factor / Cover Girl [P&G]; Revlon; Maybelline….
Benefit: We’re gonna need tons of the stuff.
WHS will also cost far more than AirPort Extreme, have security issues, plus all of the other glorious “goodies” that you receive as a bonus with any Windows PC. No thanks.
his point is that Apple don’t take the same solution to different products.
And that overall the solution Apple offers is overall more powerful and useful because of this.
Finally somebody understands what was evident as this Airport was introduced.
Granted, Windows Home Server will have more features. But this delivers today what home users need: fast wlan, printer and HD sharing. And you can set it up with ease.
These rally are not directly comparable products … not on the surface. Starting with the price … well, $200 vs $1,000? Oh, and the Mac item is the one with only three digits! Then there’s the built-in HDs. Or not. And the built-in OS, or not!
The Apple hardware offers less capability for much less money. It is more like Cisco’s now-entry-level LinkSys 5-port-with-Wi-Fi than MS’s big-box server. So … why compare them? Well, because they are targeting the same consumers? Apple is targeting its usual top-of-the-line consumer while MS is trying to grab the bottom of the Pro family – and these are much the same buyers!
I want my “home server” to include an HD of its own – to provide a modest amount of “NAS” to be shared.
I want my “home server” to offer several powered USB 2.0 ports.
I want my “home server” to offer several FireWire 400 and 800 ports.
I want my “home server” to include 4 Giga-Ethernet ports as well as “N”.
I want my “home server” to run a minimal OSX to support Apache for Firewall, E-Mail, etc.
Other than the internal HD and the FireWire, it’s already there.
DLMeyer – the Voice of G.L.Horton’s Stage Page
Xbox on Windows?
I thought they used PowerMac G5s to code it all in a unix language… right?
People who have actually purchased the new base station and attached a USB drive to it are reporting ver y slow HD access speeds, slower than the max wireless speed.
The article does show that it produces a cheap home soln. Raids etc are not needed in an average household with a laptop or two plus a desktop, one printer, one USB drive.
The La Cie produce mac mini sized HD’s. These have built in USB hubs and allow you to hang a printer of the side etc.
It’s a neat soln and I can vouch for its effectiveness – I’ve set just that network in place at home
p.s. if the home is to be networked together then you will have lots of separate devices on the network, not a single device housing all the storage. I would image that HD enclosures in future will just come with a built in WIFI card and a bit of cuircuitry to serve files. Much simpler
John,
I’ve had the usb drive streaming DVDs over the network to a G5 imac with a 54MB card. The H264 QT files also work well. VLC is stuttering.
Max, yes but the problem is with n speeds.
FTA:
You can’t buy Windows Home Server and put it on an old PC or one you assembled yourself; you have to buy a prebuilt Windows Home Server, just like Windows Media Center.
And the APE is better because you….can’t do that either. Hmmm.
File and Printer Sharing is a useful feature, but that’s as far as Windows Home Server goes. There is no Active Directory, so no roaming profiles or shared accounts.
Again, the APE is better because it….can’t any of those things either. Hmmm.
Backup and Disaster Recovery is an excellent reason to have a home server; Microsoft’s Single Instance Store technology attempts to determine when it finds duplicates or unnecessary files and doesn’t back them up. So users with two copies of their music collection on different PCs won’t have duplicate songs copied twice.
Sounds great, but how does Windows know what files are duplicates?
So this “great” feature is counted as a liability because the author doesn’t understand how it works? Hmmm.
Apple’s AirPort Extreme fits the same needs as Windows Home Server, but at a much lower price poin[sic]: under $200 rather than around $1000.
Wow. The APE has integrated RAID storage? In that small case?? Ives is a GENIUS!!
Unlike Windows Home Server, it’s not solely available as a prebuilt system. Users can plug in an existing USB external hard drive, or build their own, even a USB RAID array for additional data security. It servers multiple drives and multiple printers, using a standard USB hub.
Also unlike WHS, none of these things are included in the price quoted in the article. Hmmm.
The real difference is its much lower cost
Really? THAT’S the real difference? Not the fact that WHS includes advanced backup/restore capability — TO THE INCLUDED RAID ARRAY!?!?! Or that WHS allows remote file access? Or includes Gigbit ethernet? Hmmm.
Users who want Gigabit speed can either connect two Macs together directly using an Ethernet cable, or use an external Gigabit switch.
Except that this doesn’t allow Gigbit access to the shared storage (not included), just between the two computers. And remember, that Gigabit switch is sold separately. Hmmm.
Of note: Magic Word = DRIVE — you know, those things that the APE DOESN’T include.
“I want my “home server” to include an HD of its own – to provide a modest amount of “NAS” to be shared.”
Why? Why do I want to pay for a centralized server where I have to migrate all the files, applications, and devices I want to share? Why do I have to run yet another device 24/7 when my two G5 PowerMacs are on and sharing files, external drives, printers, etc. 24/7 anyway? One of them runs my automated backup process across the network for all active devices daily. All I need is a wireless bridge to my two iBooks so they can grab files and send output to shared printers, etc. So far it works just fine for me without the headaches of a central (Windoze) server.
if i was going to buy either (which i ahve no intention to), i would buy Apples product: they all look good (why would you buy stuff that looks like a chunk of cheap plastic), connect to each other with ease and arent confusing. dont need the ‘extra features’ that makes Microsoft products so ‘desirable’, so i wont bother with them. rant over.
Thank you Bryan!
When I saw this headline, I had to start laughing. Comparing an advanced capability, easy to use home server with a simple N router? I can go get a Netgear N Router that does everything the Airport does (and then some!), for $50 less.
That fact aside, Windows Home Server is in its first generation here. It’s the first time anyone has done this (and believe ie, Apple will come out with a similar device in the future) and it will get more features in future versions. And really, it’s a brilliant idea. You guys may not find as great of a benefit because you’re more advanced users (presumably) and can get similar results out of a regular ol’ router. Home Server is intended for the less tech-savy. It will be extremely easy to set up out of the box. For those unfamiliar, it’s got two ports: 1 for power and 1 for ethernet. A very simple device!
As simple as the AE is to use, this may be almost as easy to use if not as easy, with a lot more capability. You will get what you pay for, and these two devices under no circumstances should be compared. At that, neither should Media Center and Apple TV.
Not sure how an over priced wireless router can be compaired to a server…. Now compair WHS to a MAC, storing shared files and providing a backup service and you will have a better comparison. In either case you will still need a router (wired or wireless).