We Got Served

“On the heels of a tremendous reception by customers for version 1 of Windows Home Server, the team just released power pack 1 last week, and is beginning the planning of the next big release. To staff up a rock solid team for delivering the top notch UI for the next release, we are looking for a developer with a strong passion for slick UI. You would be responsible for designing and coding the very visible and highly confidential UI capabilities that we are adding to Windows Home Server. Just to give a couple of examples ? Time Machine compete UI for backup and restore, Windows Media Center integration UI, Live Mesh integration UI etc.. are three of the top UI deliverables for our next version. Yes, we are positioning ourselves as THE backup and Media Server within the home by this release. We do not take UI lightly and have assembled a team that will bring the concept of ?servers? into the home with rave reception by both analysts and consumers.”

I have my fingers crossed that this is the real deal, but I do have some doubts. I tried to find the posting over at Microsoft’s career site to confirm the legitimacy of the posting, but the site seems to be down at the moment. Frankly, it seems a little too good to be true.  Every feature that the community has been clamoring for laid out to the public in a job posting? 

What do you think?

Update: A Program Manager’s job has also been posted online - job role involves working with the Windows Live and eHome Teams (seemingly confirming that Live Mesh and Media Center integration are on the product roadmap for Vail (Windows Home Server v2) and also pointing to a two SKU strategy for the product (”Premium” and “Basic”)

Here’s the detail on the position (in case you want to apply!)

Job Title: Program Manager
Job Category: Software Development
Product: Windows Home Server
Date Posted: 09/03/2008
Job Code: 241847
Location: WA - Redmond
Travel Required:

Do you want to work in a small entrepreneurial team where you own key decisions for one of Microsoft’s hottest consumer products - Windows Home Server?

We are looking for passionate program managers to define and deliver customer-focused solutions for the next major release of Windows Home Server. You will be challenged with developing customer experiences for the connected home that are simple and seamless. The challenges include innovating new connected home capabilities “headless” (no monitor/keyboard) setup, multiple SKUs: “premium” and “basic”, and driving reliability and ease-of-use to greatly exceed the expectations for a consumer product.

This position is for a Program Manager to drive feature execution across Windows Home Server installation, setup, local and remote recovery scenarios as well as working closely with our OEM and ISV partners in the creation of an integrated experience for Windows Home Server. As the owner of one of the core pillars of Windows Home Server, you will get to work with teams both inside and outside of Windows Home Server, including eHome and Windows Live teams. Windows Home Server Code Name “Vail” will be a great project to have on your future resume.

Responsibilities include:

Drive Windows Home Server setup, configuration and recovery features - managing the feature team, creating specs, triaging bugs, and owning and closing any issues

Developing expertise and driving planning for new features that enhance the simplicity of the product

Coordinating the integration of multiple code bases into a single package

Representing the feature team in planning meetings

Requirements include:

Excellent cross group collaboration and project management skills

Excellent written and verbal communicative skills

Proven history managing feature work through at least one full software product development life cycle

A minimum of 3 years shipping software experience in a PM, dev or test role

Experience in Windows Deployment technologies such as Component Based Setup is a plus

One word of caution here - just because a product feature is communicated on a job ad, and even if that feature exists on the product roadmap, there’s no guarantee it actually will end up in the product. But it certainly seems that pthe lanning on features for Vail is progressing and the team are building resource towards a great release. No word in dates at this point, and if the features mentioned above are indeed planned for the product then the development cycle for Vail will not be trivial, so don’t expect the release of that product any time soon.

More Info: Microsoft.com