There is an interesting article at ZDNet discussing some merits of using the upcoming Windows Home Server from Microsoft. It makes a bit of a case for Windows Home Server in the NAS(Network Attached Storage) device for relatively painless backups for homes with multiple desktops. I feel it makes some good points.

It already has the Microsoft and Windows names, which are very familiar with consumers. It will integrate as well or better with users computers than other offerings in this realm. It should be much easier for the average consumer to set this up at home than it would be to get a similar Linux or BSD offering up and running in this mode.

One of the features that may certainly help is the print server function. For the average informed Windows user, getting a printer attached and in sharing mode should be as easy as being a few clicks away. After this any computer on the network can use the printer. Driver compatibility/availability for Windows should be a non-issue. The same can definitely not be said for Linux or BSD.

The back up features could be an answer to the getting home users to do regular back ups. Everything can be automated so that Mom doesn’t have to do a thing. All her recipes, or whatever, can be safely and automatically copied to the server. Should anything go wrong with her computer, it can be restored to the condition of the last backup from a cold state with a new hard drive. All that is needed is to boot and restore.

Of course, most of the above is assuming that there is at least a somewhat computer informed person within the family. But, it would seem that there are no shortage of those around. Given this, Microsoft Windows Home Server does seem to have some merit within the home network. Time will tell how the market accepts this idea.