Every year the fine editors over at Macworld put together a best-of list from all the products shown at the Macworld Expo. The 2009 list isn't all that different from past years, with notable products like Apple's iPhoto 09, a Bluetooth wireless webcam, and Sling Media's SlingPlayer for iPhone app.

What is unusual, however, is the award handed out to HP's EX-485/487 MediaSmart Server. It's actually quite funny when you think about it... a Windows-based product winning awards at a Mac Expo. Queue the Twilight Zone theme music.

HP has announced several enhancements in their next generation home server that should greatly appeal to families running a mixed Windows and Mac OS environment.

For example, the new MediaSmart Server includes the ability to automatically backup all your Windows and Mac based computers. The MediaSmart Server plays nicely with Time Machine, and while that in itself isn't all that intriguing, the fact that you can use Time Machine with several Macs on the MediaSmart Server is certainly appealing for the multi Mac/PC user.

It wasn't all that long ago that Microsoft unviled Power Pack 1 for Windows Home Server, which among many improvements, fixed an important data corruption issue. Microsoft today released another important patch for Windows Home Server owners, putting behind them what will hopefully be the last of problems associated to data storage and management on the Home Server OS.

As described in Microsoft Knowledge Base article 950193, unpatched users running PP1 could cause files in duplicated folders to become unrecoverable if a hard drive goes unexpectedly missing or fails. The severity of the issue is unknown, or how likely you are to experience any data loss as a result of these events, as the typical user doesn't usually yank drives from the Home Server without removing it properly through the OS. Drive failures are a fact of life in disk based storage, but are hardly an everyday occurance for users. The short time between PP1's release and the patch today means that few users would have seen this problem.

Microsoft and HP are hosting a free HP MediaSmart Server webinar at 10:00 a.m. PST, Wednesday June 25th, 2008

Learn how to do more with your HP MediaSmart Server by watching a full demonstration of the HP MediaSmart Server and find out from Windows Home Server experts how you can take advantage of the leading third-party add-ins!

Hosted by HP's Allen Buckner with guest expert Terry Walsh from WeGotServed.uk.

Register now at Microsoft's Website

Every year Engadget readers and staffers voice nominate and select a single device to be named supreme in multiple product categories. And even though the HP MediaSmart Server couldn't win over the Engadget readers, the Engadget crew named the MediaSmart Server EX-487 "Storage Device or Technology of the Year" for 2008! 

Congratulations to HP for this stellar accomplishment.  You can hop on over to the official results page on Engadget to see some of the fellow winners in each additional category.

[Via Engadget]

Looking for a new PC to pair up with your MediaSmart Server? Yesterday in Berlin, HP took the covers off the successor to the highly successful, touch friendly HP TouchSmart computer.

The successor, the HP TouchSmart 2, takes the whole line up a notch in just about every way, adding in a larger screen, faster Intel Core 2 Duo processor, bigger hard drive, better graphics, and more. Enough upgrades that the TouchSmart 2 has enough under the hood to warrant placement anywhere in the home, and not just relegated to kitchen duties.

Tie it with an HP MediaSmart Server, and you've got yourself a winning combo.

Details and photos at TechLore

Microsoft today unvieled a public beta version of Windows Home Server Power Pack 1, a significant update to the Windows Home Server operating system.

Build 1771, or also known as the Power Pack 1 Release Candidate, includes a wide variety of fixes and enhancements to Windows Home Server. The most important of these improvements is the long anticipated fix to the highly publicized "data corruption bug" (Knowledge Base article #946676).

"...we have high confidence that Power Pack 1 solves the data corruption bug that was first identified late last year..." according to the Windows Home Server Team Blog. "We are running this public beta with the aspiration that we will get thousands of beta testers to help us prove that we not only have fixed "the bug", but have significantly improved all parts of Windows Home Server with new features."

PP1 does include a number of upgrades and new enhancements, and according to the home server team, some of these include:

HP is working on a new website called "HP in Real Life," where they'll be showcasing user submitted stories from individuals who use their HP product(s) in interesting and extraordinary ways.  

Here's your chance to inspire others by telling HP how your HP products help you accomplish special things, or share unique ways you tackle everyday tasks like keeping family connected across the country or the globe, balancing work and play or just planning life and events.

"We’d love to share your story to inspire others to go beyond the ordinary with HP products," says HP.

To submit your story to HP for consideration, visit the story submission page.