HexOS just showed up and I genuinely think it could change what “normal” home servers look like. In this video I tested the HexOS beta myself (I paid for it—no sponsor, no free license) and tried to figure out what it actually is: basically TrueNAS SCALE with the difficulty set to story mode. You still get the TrueNAS benefits like ZFS, pools, shares, apps, and the TrueNAS UI in the background, but HexOS wraps it in a super simplified dashboard that’s clearly aimed at people who want a home server without living in documentation and forums. I installed it on an HP Z440, ran into one big issue right away with my SSD pool (ended up being drives not wiped properly), and that experience kind of highlighted both the promise and the risk of HexOS being a “wrapper” around TrueNAS. Once it was working, the good stuff was really good: clean UI (even on mobile), easy users/shares/permissions, one-click curated app installs like Plex, smart default media folders, and email alerts for drive failures without me setting up SMTP. The bad stuff was mostly beta quirks, missing features (snapshots/replication, more curated apps, VMs), and a few confusing notification/networking gaps. Then there’s the price: $300 lifetime after early access. I can see how it’s almost reasonable if you’ll run a home server for years, but it’s also a big ask for the exact beginners HexOS is targeting—so I’m really curious how they evolve pricing and features from here.