Microsoft has announced the release of Software Development Kit (SDK) for Windows Home Server, available for download on the Microsoft Developer Network. This kit allows developers to start creating applications specifically for Microsoft’s forthcoming Windows Home Server product.

As Microsoft explained, “SDK will enable hobbyist and professional developers to build applications that run on Windows Home Server and extend the functionality of the Windows Home Server Console on home computers, or to build applications that run on a home computer and connect to Windows Home Server.”

Typically, SDK for Windows Home Server consists of API files (such as HomeServer.dll, HomeServer.idl and HomeServerExt.dll), SDK documentation and sample code.

To use the SDK, developers must sign up and download the Windows Home Server beta on its Web site.

The forthcoming Windows Home Server product, is the company’s attempt to offer consumers a centralized PC with a host of features to let you synchronize, backup, and secure a number of PCs around the home.

Windows Home Server is expected to be released its final version later this year and was originally planned to be an OEM only product to be shipped with hardware. Microsoft’s general manager of the Windows Home Server group, Charlie Kindel, has now said this may no longer be the case, and feedback from beta testers means the company is looking to see if it is viable as a separate product as well.

With Windows Home Server SDK, Kindel said developers might build applications such as those for system protection, media sharing, home security and home automation. Development of such applications requires the SDK, Visual Studio, and C#.

He also added that Microsoft will continue to update the SDK beta as more information and APIs become available.

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Entry was posted on Friday, April 6th, 2007 at 5:21 am under Microsoft.

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