Previous versions of iHomeServer were aimed at running iTunes on headless servers, and therefore was limited to installing iHomeServer as a Windows Service to run iTunes in the background.  There was an option to stop iTunes from running in the background and to launch it on the desktop, however, in iHomeServer v2, iHomeServer features were no longer available when running in this mode.

 

iHomeServer v3 removes this restriction.  Even if you have installed iHomeServer as a Windows Service, with iHomeServer v3 you can run iTunes either in the foreground (on your desktop) or in the background (as a Windows Service) and flick between the two by using the iHomeServer Tray Icon.  Whether iTunes is running on your desktop or running as a Windows Service, iHomeServer will connect to it and continue to provide its additional features.

 

If you have installed iHomeServer as a Windows Service, you can even configure iHomeServer to stop iTunes from running as a Service and launch a copy of iTunes on your desktop when you log into your desktop.  Once you have finished using iTunes you can just close it normally.  iHomeServer will detect that you have shut the iTunes user interface and restart it in the background.  If you want to open iTunes again on your desktop, simply use the iHomeServer Tray Icon and click the 'open on desktop' button and again iHomeServer will close the iTunes instance running in the background and re-open iTunes in the foreground.

 

Whether iTunes is running in the background or the foreground, iHomeServer will continue to provide its additional features such as Watch Folder monitoring, iTunes Web Access, iTunes DLNA streaming etc.  Although, please note there may be a brief interruption to these services between shutting down iTunes and restarting it.