Microsoft PacWest SharePoint Server Newsletter – July 2006
Update on Download Availability of MOSS 2007 Beta 2
Just a bit of a heads up Microsoft is going to begin to charge $1.50 per download of the Beta 2 applications, perhaps as early as the end of July, so get your downloads now! J
Download here.
DevelopWithoutBorders.com
If you have a favorite charity, here’s a contest to help get your idea implemented. Build a demo and if you win, prizes are awarded to pay towards the implementation of your project. Check out the rules at http://www.developwithoutborders.com.
News Items
Article describing some specifics with Web Browser support in MOSS 2007.
To jumpstart your training with MOSS 2007, review the steps outlined in this article. SharePoint 2007 Technical Training.
This post references a Beta 2 Technical Resources DVD. I have copies of this DVD for those of you who haven’t received this yet. Let me know and I will send one out to you. It was printed in May, and includes a collection of all the documentation available, architecture diagrams, and even a configured Beta 2 installation of MOSS 2007 within a Virtual PC image. You can expand the compressed form of the Virtual Hard Disk to your machine and use Virtual PC or Virtual Server to start exploring MOSS 2007.
Why the New UI? If you’ve been asking yourself why did Microsoft change the Office User Interface *again*, and feel like you may become the brunt of company jokes when you start demonstrating it to your colleagues, here’s the information that you need. First, subscribe to Jensen Harris’ blog. Then, listen to the podcasts that he has produced so you can hear how he describes the changes to the interface. New Office User Interface Podcast – Part 1 [35:29], and New User Interface Podcast – Part 2 [39:43].
New File Formats. A good article by David Gainer that talks about some of the internals of the new file formats and presents some ideas about how to choose which file format to use. One more What are the Open XML File Formats, and How Do I Get Started?
What is Groove, and Isn’t It the Same as Windows SharePoint Services (WSS)? Here’s an article that describes Groove in relation to WSS. The level of integration between Groove and WSS is going to raise questions within your organization. Here’s a way to stay a step ahead. Call me if you’d like to see this integration work or if you’re not sure how to interpret this article for your organization, and we can chat about it.
Wall Posters (PDF files) describing the SharePoint Developer Map and the InfoPath Object Model. Display your SharePoint colors with pride!
Virtual PC 2004 SP1 is free and now available for download. If you don’t have any MOSS 2007 images to run with Virtual PC 2004, let me know, and I’ll supply you with a virtual image of a configured Beta 2 system
If you haven’t seen CodePlex, yet, check it out. It’s a new community and code-sharing site that includes SharePoint and WSS solutions, among others. One solution that you can explore is the SharePoint Learning Kit, which is similar to Class Server, if you’re familiar with that. It’s an e-learning delivery and tracking solution.
A second CodePlex project to check out is the SharePoint Community Kit, which is a starter site for creating a community-oriented SharePoint site.
Brian Jones is a program manager with Microsoft who works with the new file formats in MOSS 2007. I’ve linked to him before, but he has a recent article describing MSFT’s support for ODF.
Records Management is a new collection of functionality in MOSS 2007. The Records Management team has started a blog, the RecMan Blog. Check the archive of this blog for June for some training and detailed discussions about content types, the document information panel, and document policies.
A Workflow Developer Starter Kit is available for download. This includes Visual Studio project templates and a sample workflow for WSS v3 Beta 2.
“WinFX sounds great, but what happens to .NET?” Have you asked this question or have you been asked this question? Somesagar’s Weblog answers this.
Previous Items
Beta 2 is Available
The long awaited release of MOSS Beta 2 happened at the end of May. Please download responsibly! Here’s the link (http://www.microsoft.com/office/preview/beta/getthebeta.mspx) to download your copy. The SharePoint team has posted a “Please read this before installing” blog entry. I have a limited supply of already printed DVDs – I will share them with anyone who emails me, asking for a copy.
E-Learning for MOSS 2007
There is a collection of free E-Learning classes available for Microsoft Office 2007 and Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007. See the catalog at https://www.microsoftelearning.com/catalog/default.aspx.
SharePoint Server 2007 Skills Assessment
Now that you’ve got MOSS Beta 2 installed and you’re feeling pretty good about yourself, we’ve posted a self assessment site where you can prove your mad skillz. Let me know how you did. Here are the steps:
- Go to http://www.microsoft.com/learning/assessment/
- Click on the “Assess Yourself” link.
- Click on “I already know my topic area”, and login with your Passport account.
- Click on “2007 Microsoft Office System” and underneath Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 207, click on “Take the assessment”
Tech-Ed 2006 Information
Tech-Ed was last week in Boston, and while I wasn’t able to attend, I did hear that there was some great stuff handed out in relation to MOSS 2007. Check out these downloads.
A free book titled: 7 Development Projects for Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 and Windows SharePoint Services 3.0. whew. That’s a long title. The link will take you to a downloadable .pdf version of the book.
Forrester report: Developers, Get Ready: 2007 Microsoft Office System Is A Serious Application Platform.