Windows Server 2012 Essentials Beta Now Available: First Look
Microsoft released details and pricing for the Windows Server 2012 family of products last week and today (July 11) they released the Essential Beta into the wild for public consumption. You can find it at the link below
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=30327
The install was not really that different than installing a Windows 8 client. Took all the defaults and was forced to enter the product key to continue.
I used the one provide by Microsoft: K9NCW-DGB22-2J6KW-P6PXR-HQRGJ
Watch the Windows Server 2012 Essentials Beta First Look Video with John Zajdler, Christian Johnson and Jim Collison
http://theaverageguy.tv/2012/07/12/window-server-2012-essentials-beta-first-look/
Below are screenshots. Click on any image to make them larger.
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Screen Shots from Metro Tiles
 Metro |
 Windows PowerShell |
 Computer |
 Desktop |
 Administrator Tools |
 Store |
 Task Manager |
 Control Panel |
 IE 10 |
The Dashboard – Tool Bar
 Home |
 Users |
 Devices |
 Storage – Folders |
 Storage – Hard Drives |
 Applications |
The Dashboard – Settings
 General |
 Media |
 Anywhere Access |
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Category: Windows Home Server, WIndows Server 2012 Essentials
Nice write up Jim, you beat me to it. Just downloading now.
Yep, nice first look Jim. I picked the wrong time to be traveling without a spare server!
Nice Jim! Thanks for the great posting. I'm not going to be able to get to it myself till next week sometime so I grateful to see these postings. (I picked a bad time to tear down BOTH of my test setups and have parts scattered all over my basement — thought this was going to be a quiet time #$%@!#).
[...] Come back and refresh this page for more details and screenshots, more good stuff right over here:homeservershow.com/windows-server-2012-beta-essentials-now-available-first-look.html Trying out a client backup and restore next…so far, acts and behaves very much like [...]
Great work Jim! Works fine on VMware ESXi 5.0.
Trying a beta client backup and restore now (client connector takes much much longer to install but otherwise behaving very much like WHS2011 so far).
Are you able to test if Vista clients can be backed up? According to specs, they can't. I have Vista computer with a piece of hardware which can't run under Win 7.
Mike, did you ever get this question answered? I would assume Vista would work just fine. I do a quick VM set up and see if you haven't already tried?
Nice job. I am wondering however, why Microsoft thinks I need a "store" on a server?
[...] WinSupersite, Home Server Show, Gwen Demulder Windows Home Server, Windows Server, Windows Small Business [...]
All we need is the Newegg App……………….
[...] Windows Server 2012 Essentials Beta available : First Look [...]
Anyone know if Server 2012 has a minimum hard drive size requirement? It was 160 before, and you had a use a cfg.ini file to install on smaller SSD drives. I'm hoping they didn't limit the size to 160 yet again, and it will install on my 128 without the cfg.ini
it appears that 100GB (that is what I used to install my WS2012) is a good size if you want to install the OS without trickery. I have been reading that the cfg.ini file trick is still working for some if you wanted to get it on a small SSD. Hope that helps
[...] The Home Server Show have published over 20 screen shots of what the Metro Tiles look like, and the tool bar and [...]