Here are the first 10.

11. Torrent friendly

It’s easy to turn your WHS into a torrent monster. Just install utorrent – or any other program I guess – and setup a network share on the server that the program watches for new torrents. This way you can initiate a download from any network-based computer by just dropping a torrent into the share. Remote Desktop Connection makes it easy to manage everything from any computer including OS X machines.

12. Stream even more media

WHS has streaming software built in but you can turn it off and install more powerful options like PlayOn and TVersity. It’s the perfect solution since your WHS is probably turned on all the time already.

13. DIY

My first WHS was a random collection of old PATA hard drives ran by an AMD Athlon 1900+. I think the largest was a 250GB out of seven drives, but WHS easily combines all the drives into one RAID cluster on any hardware.

[via MS Windows Home Server]

By Chris Scott Barr

I’ve been enjoying being able to stream Netflix to my 360 for a while now. What I don’t enjoy is paying for a Gold subscription in order to use it. One could argue that most 360 gamers already keep themselves at Gold status so they can play games online. That’s great for them, but I rarely play anything on my 360 with people online (I do most of my online gaming with my PC). I have both a PS3 and a Wii as well, and I’ve been hoping to hear something about getting Netflix on one of those, since neither charge for their online experience. Well finally we’ve heard something.

It seems that Microsoft has managed to sign an exclusive deal with Netflix, making them the only ones with a console that streams movies from the service. There’s no word on just how long the exclusive deal is, but I’m guessing it’s no less than a year or two. I’ll give Microsoft one thing, it does add more value to a Gold subscription. It’s one more thing for them to cite when people complain about Sony offering online play for free.

On a related note, PlayOn seems to be an interesting alternative that lets you stream Netflix (along with Hulu, YouTube and several others) to your TV with a PS3, Xbox 360 (without paying for a Gold Membership) and soon a Wii. I haven’t had a chance to test it out myself, but I’ll let you guys know when I do.

[ Microsoft ] VIA [ CrunchGear ]

Microsoft might have scored an exclusive deal to keep Netflix Xbox 360 only and off both the PS3 and Wii. But if you’re willing to forgo the fancy UI on the Xbox, there is still a way to get Netflix on the PS3 and eventually the Wii too.

MediaMall has a software pack called PlayOn that uses the DLNA system built into almost every networked AV device. Right now I use the software on my Xbox 360, Moxi HD DVR, Helios X5000 and Archos Gen 5 hooked up to my bedroom TV with a DVR station.  

The user interface isn’t spectacular as the program uses the device’s DLNA system. The great thing is that the software pack not only supports Netflix, but also Hulu, YouTube, ESPN, CBS, and Revision3. There are some drawbacks like the $39.99 cost after a 14-day trial ends, and the YouTube support isn’t exactly stellar. In the end though, the software gives you access to a lot of content not official supported by the devices.

We still have questions about the authentication system and if the service will have an open API that will allow developers to build it into streaming software PlayOn or Boxee. Those details will probably drop later, but if Comcast can continue to add premium content online from the big names, they might be onto something. Now, how about Showtime for some Californication and Weeds action.

But that’s not why I’m excited. I’m stoked that this update finally, finally brings .avi and .mkv support to the Moxi HD DVR. If you’ve followed my coverage of the TiVo-competitor, you should know that the lack of support of those file extensions was one of my biggest complaints against the DVR. But MediaMall has stepped up where Digeo dropped the ball.

So far I have played around with the updated feature – that also happens to be in beta mode – for a few minutes on the Moxi HD DVR and it seems to work as advertised – both .avi and .mkv files play. I have always ran DLNA services including TVersity and the previous version of PlayOn off of a Windows Home Server, but this time around, the Intel Atom-powered CPU didn’t have enough juice to transcode and stream the files without lagging a bit. I’ve chalked the performance issues up to the software still being in beta for now. The service ran just fine on my quad core desktop though. I didn’t have any issues at all.

What’s so strange about this feature suddenly being available on the Moxi HD DVR is that I tried almost every DLNA software listed here before chatting with Digeo only to find out that it couldn’t be done. The first couple of techs and reps I spoke with told me it had something to do with the Broadcom chip used in the DVR not liking those file types, and the CEO later explained he personally had choose to focus on other areas of development before fixing that issue.

All that matters now is that the Moxi HD DVR can finally playback all the content stored on a local network, which is a huge step in the right direction. The DVR still has major issues to address, but I finally feel confident enough because of this feature alone to upgrade my recommendation from “Wait until the bugs are worked out” to “Buy if you’re okay with the $799 price and lack of ATSC tuner.”

PlayOn is normally $39.99, but it can be had for only $19.99 until June 31 with the coupon code PLAYON1999. Also, MediaMall is allowing everyone to try the software for 14-days for free – even those that have tried it before.

He brought up in our 45 minute conversation that there will be an update coming this summer that will address some of the usability concerns that annoyed the hell out of me in my review. No longer will you have to confirm twice that you want to watch a program on the guide. Other small issues will be addressed, but I’m hoping this update will pave way for more built-in apps including one for viewing online media.

Gudorf indicated that they are working on a true online media app instead of relying on the lackluster PlayOn DLNA service. He didn’t seem to agree when I mentioned that Hulu would be the TiVo-killing app. But maybe I’m wrong so I’m asking all of you.