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	<title>Pentalogic Technology &#187; SharePoint 2010</title>
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	<link>http://blog.pentalogic.net</link>
	<description>Company blog and SharePoint Tricks and Tips</description>
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		<title>SharePoint Staff Vacation Planner  &#8211; DIY Guide part 3 &#8211; set up an Absences to Date Dashboard</title>
		<link>http://blog.pentalogic.net/2010/08/sharepoint-staff-vacation-planner-diy-guide-part-3-set-up-an-absences-to-date-dashboard/</link>
		<comments>http://blog.pentalogic.net/2010/08/sharepoint-staff-vacation-planner-diy-guide-part-3-set-up-an-absences-to-date-dashboard/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 04 Aug 2010 12:11:09 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Clare</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[General]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[PivotPoint Web Part]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[SharePoint Ideas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[PivotPoint]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[SharePoint]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[SharePoint 2010]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[WebPart]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blog.pentalogic.net/?p=1270</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[SharePoint Staff Vacation Planner DIY Guide Part 3, set up "Absences to Date" and My Absences dashboards for staff and managers, updated in real time to ensure absence entitlements are not exceeded. 


Related posts:<ol><li><a href='http://blog.pentalogic.net/2010/08/sharepoint-staff-vacation-planner-absence-wall-chart-dashboard/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: SharePoint Staff Vacation Planner &#8211; DIY Guide part 2 &#8211; set up a &#8220;Wall Chart&#8221; Dashboard'>SharePoint Staff Vacation Planner &#8211; DIY Guide part 2 &#8211; set up a &#8220;Wall Chart&#8221; Dashboard</a> <small>Create a SharePoint Staff Vacation and Absence Planner Wall Chart...</small></li>
<li><a href='http://blog.pentalogic.net/2010/08/sharepoint-staff-vacation-planner/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: SharePoint Staff Vacation Planner &#8211; DIY Guide &#8211; Part 1'>SharePoint Staff Vacation Planner &#8211; DIY Guide &#8211; Part 1</a> <small>Create a SharePoint staff vacation Planning system with Pentalogic Planner...</small></li>
<li><a href='http://blog.pentalogic.net/2010/08/sharepoint-staff-vacation-planner-diy-guide-part-5-the-system-in-action-and-out-of-the-box-options/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: SharePoint Staff Vacation Planner &#8211; DIY Guide part 5 &#8211; the system in action and Out of the box options.'>SharePoint Staff Vacation Planner &#8211; DIY Guide part 5 &#8211; the system in action and Out of the box options.</a> <small>See the SharePoint Staff Vacation Planner system in action with...</small></li>
</ol>]]></description>
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<p><em>This is Part 3 of the </em><a href="http://blog.pentalogic.net/2010/07/create-a-sharepoint-staff-vacation-planner/"><em>SharePoint Staff Vacation Planner – DIY Guide</em></a></p>
<p>So having set up our basic SharePoint list with filtered views, and our &#8220;Wall Chart&#8221; dashboard, using SharePoint Planner webpart, we are now ready to get up our &#8220;Staff Absences to date&#8221; and &#8220;My Absences&#8221; dashboards.  This is the bit that allows managers to monitor the amount of absence each of their team members has had:</p>
<p><a href="http://blog.pentalogic.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/absenses-to-date1.png"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-1272" title="absenses to date" src="http://blog.pentalogic.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/absenses-to-date1.png" alt="" width="630" height="123" /></a>Or for individual staff members to monitor their own absences:</p>
<p><a href="http://blog.pentalogic.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/my-absences.png"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-1273" title="my absences" src="http://blog.pentalogic.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/my-absences.png" alt="" width="627" height="75" /></a></p>
<p><span id="more-1270"></span>For this part of the process you are going to need <a href="http://www.pentalogic.net/sharepoint-products/pivotpoint" target="_blank">SharePoint PivotPoint webpart</a>.</p>
<p>If you don&#8217;t have PivotPoint already you can <a href="http://www.pentalogic.net/sharepoint-products/pivotpoint/download-pivotpoint" target="_blank">download the free trial version</a> and view the <a href="http://www.pentalogic.net/sharepoint-products/pivotpoint/pivotpoint-manual?p=installation%2Finstallation.htm" target="_blank">installation instructions.</a></p>
<p>So we need to set up 2 webparts, and you will need to give some thought to where you are going to put them.  &#8220;My Absences&#8221; is intended to be visible to anyone, so that could go on your main team page, or your HR home page.  &#8220;Absences to Date&#8221; however is only meant for managers, so you will need to place it in a location where only your managers have viewing permissions.</p>
<p>The webpart setup is very simple.  Let&#8217;s start with &#8220;Absences to Date&#8221; add the webpart to your chosen page in the same way as we did in part 2.</p>
<p>Now &#8220;edit shared webpart&#8221;.  What PivotPoint is going to do is add all the absences, of each type, that each of your staff members has had in the current year*, then pesent this information to you, in a table which will be automatically updated every time some has more time off approved.</p>
<p><a href="http://blog.pentalogic.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/pivot-ads-td.png"><img class="alignright size-full wp-image-1274" title="pivot ads td" src="http://blog.pentalogic.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/pivot-ads-td.png" alt="" width="399" height="492" /></a></p>
<p>In the webpart configuration tool tell PivotPoint to get its data from the <strong>Staff Absence Planner</strong> List and the <strong>Approved Absences view</strong>.</p>
<p>For the <strong>columns</strong> of our table we want the <strong>Reason</strong> field from our list, and for the <strong>Rows</strong> we want the <strong>Requested By field</strong>.  We will have <strong>Totals</strong> on both columns and rows.  Our <strong>values</strong> will come from the <strong>#Days Absence</strong> field and the <strong>Calculation</strong> we want to perform is a simple <strong>Sum</strong>.</p>
<p>For the set up of the &#8220;My Absences&#8221; webpart, everything is the same other than the view you want to watch, which is <strong>My Absences</strong>.  There is also little point having <strong>totals</strong> on the columns for this one.</p>
<p>So, now we are finished, apart from one little glitch, which is how to handle &#8220;this year&#8221;</p>
<p><em>*Clearly for this dashboard we only want to be displaying absences in the current absence year.  Now luckily, you don&#8217;t actually need to sort this out right now, you have until the end of your current year to think about how you handle it, but it&#8217;s going to need doing sooner or later so best to give it some thought now.</em></p>
<p><em>There are two methods you could use for ensuring these dashboards are only showing data from the current year.  The firs</em><a href="http://blog.pentalogic.net/2009/11/howto-filter-items-current-calendar-month-view-sharepoint/" target="_blank"><em>t is to set up a filter on the list, so that PivotPoint only looks at list events for the current year.</em></a></p>
<p><em>The second possible method is to </em><a href="http://blog.pentalogic.net/2010/04/sharepoint-site-templates-kiss-guide-to-creating-saving-and-using/" target="_blank"><em>set the system up as a site template, and create a new site for each year.</em></a></p>
<p><em>Either one may work for you, and you have a little while to decide which method suits you best.</em></p>
<p><em><strong>Next installment &#8211; set up a simple Absence approval workflow with SharePoint Reminder webpart.</strong></em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em><strong><a href="http://blog.pentalogic.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/staff-vacation-banner2.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-1385" title="staff-vacation-banner2" src="http://static.pentalogic.net/staff-vacation-banner2.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="150" /></a><br />
 </strong></em></p>


<p>Related posts:<ol><li><a href='http://blog.pentalogic.net/2010/08/sharepoint-staff-vacation-planner-absence-wall-chart-dashboard/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: SharePoint Staff Vacation Planner &#8211; DIY Guide part 2 &#8211; set up a &#8220;Wall Chart&#8221; Dashboard'>SharePoint Staff Vacation Planner &#8211; DIY Guide part 2 &#8211; set up a &#8220;Wall Chart&#8221; Dashboard</a> <small>Create a SharePoint Staff Vacation and Absence Planner Wall Chart...</small></li>
<li><a href='http://blog.pentalogic.net/2010/08/sharepoint-staff-vacation-planner/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: SharePoint Staff Vacation Planner &#8211; DIY Guide &#8211; Part 1'>SharePoint Staff Vacation Planner &#8211; DIY Guide &#8211; Part 1</a> <small>Create a SharePoint staff vacation Planning system with Pentalogic Planner...</small></li>
<li><a href='http://blog.pentalogic.net/2010/08/sharepoint-staff-vacation-planner-diy-guide-part-5-the-system-in-action-and-out-of-the-box-options/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: SharePoint Staff Vacation Planner &#8211; DIY Guide part 5 &#8211; the system in action and Out of the box options.'>SharePoint Staff Vacation Planner &#8211; DIY Guide part 5 &#8211; the system in action and Out of the box options.</a> <small>See the SharePoint Staff Vacation Planner system in action with...</small></li>
</ol></p>]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>How to edit List forms in SharePoint 2010</title>
		<link>http://blog.pentalogic.net/2010/07/how-to-edit-list-forms-sharepoint-2010/</link>
		<comments>http://blog.pentalogic.net/2010/07/how-to-edit-list-forms-sharepoint-2010/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 29 Jul 2010 13:32:55 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ryan</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[General]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[SharePoint Ideas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[jQuery]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[SharePoint 2010]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tip]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blog.pentalogic.net/?p=1368</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
			
				
			
		
In SharePoint 2007 there is a well known trick for opening up a list&#8217;s forms (New/View/Edit) in design mode &#8211; append ?ToolpaneView=2 onto the url &#8211; this is often used to add instructions or javascript using a Content Editor Web Part (CEWP) e.g.

Showing a records ID on the View and Edit forms
Setting a default duration [...]


Related posts:<ol><li><a href='http://blog.pentalogic.net/2010/07/showing-the-records-id-on-the-view-and-edit-forms/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Showing the records ID on the View and Edit forms'>Showing the records ID on the View and Edit forms</a> <small> ID&#8217;s are a convenient, often short, way to uniquely...</small></li>
<li><a href='http://blog.pentalogic.net/2009/09/setting-default-duration-for-new-calender-events/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Setting a default duration for new SharePoint Calender Events'>Setting a default duration for new SharePoint Calender Events</a> <small>Post provides javascript for setting a default duration for SharePoint...</small></li>
<li><a href='http://blog.pentalogic.net/2010/07/sharepoint-list-superpowers/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: SharePoint List Superpowers'>SharePoint List Superpowers</a> <small>Lists are at the heart of SharePoint and we can...</small></li>
</ol>]]></description>
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<p>In SharePoint 2007 there is a well known trick for opening up a list&#8217;s forms (New/View/Edit) in design mode &#8211; append <strong>?ToolpaneView=2</strong> onto the url &#8211; this is often used to add instructions or javascript using a Content Editor Web Part (CEWP) e.g.</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://blog.pentalogic.net/2010/07/showing-the-records-id-on-the-view-and-edit-forms/">Showing a records ID on the View and Edit forms</a></li>
<li><a href="http://blog.pentalogic.net/2009/09/setting-default-duration-for-new-calender-events/">Setting a default duration for new SharePoint calendar events</a></li>
</ul>
<p>However when I first tried to use my tried and tested shortcut in SharePoint 2010 I came a little unstuck as now the New/View/Edit forms appear in a fake popup window and modifying the URL doesn&#8217;t work.</p>
<p><a href="http://blog.pentalogic.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/new-item-popup.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-1369" title="new-item-popup" src="http://blog.pentalogic.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/new-item-popup.jpg" alt="" width="529" height="265" /></a></p>
<p>There are two ways to do this in SharePoint 2010 &#8211; and once you know where to find them they should actually make life that little bit easier.</p>
<p>The first is to open up the form in a new window and then add <strong>ToolpaneView=2</strong> onto the end of the URL, so</p>
<p>Right click on <strong>Add new Item</strong> or the lists <strong>Title </strong>field and select <strong>Open in New Tab</strong> or hold down CTRL while left clicking.</p>
<p><a href="http://blog.pentalogic.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/Open-in-new-tab.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-1370" title="Open in new tab" src="http://blog.pentalogic.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/Open-in-new-tab.jpg" alt="" width="315" height="120" /></a></p>
<p>Alternatively you can do this using the new-fangled ribbon toolbar &#8211; select under List Tools the List tab, then on the right hand side of the ribbon you should see an icon for Form Web Parts which gives a menu of the different forms associated with the list that you can edit.</p>
<p><br class="spacer_" /></p>
<p><a href="http://blog.pentalogic.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/form-web-parts.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-1372" title="form-web-parts" src="http://blog.pentalogic.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/form-web-parts.jpg" alt="" width="556" height="150" /></a></p>


<p>Related posts:<ol><li><a href='http://blog.pentalogic.net/2010/07/showing-the-records-id-on-the-view-and-edit-forms/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Showing the records ID on the View and Edit forms'>Showing the records ID on the View and Edit forms</a> <small> ID&#8217;s are a convenient, often short, way to uniquely...</small></li>
<li><a href='http://blog.pentalogic.net/2009/09/setting-default-duration-for-new-calender-events/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Setting a default duration for new SharePoint Calender Events'>Setting a default duration for new SharePoint Calender Events</a> <small>Post provides javascript for setting a default duration for SharePoint...</small></li>
<li><a href='http://blog.pentalogic.net/2010/07/sharepoint-list-superpowers/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: SharePoint List Superpowers'>SharePoint List Superpowers</a> <small>Lists are at the heart of SharePoint and we can...</small></li>
</ol></p>]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>SharePoint Versions through the ages &#8211; Confused?</title>
		<link>http://blog.pentalogic.net/2010/06/sharepoint-versions-history/</link>
		<comments>http://blog.pentalogic.net/2010/06/sharepoint-versions-history/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 28 Jun 2010 16:37:47 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Clare</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[General]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[SharePoint Ideas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[SharePoint]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[SharePoint 2010]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blog.pentalogic.net/?p=1098</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[This post gives a brief overview of the different versions and editions of Microsoft SharePoint from 2001 to 2010. 


Related posts:<ol><li><a href='http://blog.pentalogic.net/2010/01/sharepoint-webpart-premium-support/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: New for 2010 &#8211; Premium Support'>New for 2010 &#8211; Premium Support</a> <small> We like to think that the standard support we...</small></li>
<li><a href='http://blog.pentalogic.net/2009/08/were-now-a-microsoft-certified-partner-with-software-that-works-with-windows-server-2008/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: We&#8217;re now a Microsoft Certified Partner &#8211; with Software that &#8220;Works with Windows Server 2008&#8243;'>We&#8217;re now a Microsoft Certified Partner &#8211; with Software that &#8220;Works with Windows Server 2008&#8243;</a> <small>SharePoint webpart specialists Pentalogic Technology have achieved Microsoft Certified Partner...</small></li>
<li><a href='http://blog.pentalogic.net/2010/05/sharepoint-2010-ready-phew/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: SharePoint 2010 Ready &#8211; PHEW!'>SharePoint 2010 Ready &#8211; PHEW!</a> <small> Well, OK so it probably hasn&#8217;t been quite as...</small></li>
</ol>]]></description>
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<p>Last year, when I first started having dealings with SharePoint, I was mightily confused by all this &#8220;MOSS&#8221;, &#8220;WSS&#8221;, &#8220;SPS&#8221; -stuff.   What did all these acronyms stand for? What was the difference between all these different versions of SharePoint? And did it really matter?</p>
<p>Well, one year on and I&#8217;m slightly less confused, but only slightly!  So I thought it might be useful, for me and for anyone else out there who suffers similar confusion, to list out the different versions of SharePoint, their usual acronyms and key distinguishing features &#8211; I hope it helps:</p>
<p><a href="http://blog.pentalogic.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/spv-graphic-2.png"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-1100" title="spv graphic 2" src="http://blog.pentalogic.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/spv-graphic-2.png" alt="" width="622" height="403" /></a></p>
<p>So, in the begining, back in 2001, SharePoint emerged as two distinct products.  SharePoint Team Services was a bottom up team collaboration product, SharePoint Portal Server was a top down, portal, search and document management product.</p>
<p>By 2003 Microsoft had gathered that although customers liked both products what they would <em><strong>r</strong><strong>eally</strong></em> like was the capabilities of both, combined.  So in 2003 what most of us would recognise as SharePoint: collaboration, search, content management and portal capabilities all under one roof &#8211; was born.</p>
<p>WSS was the basic version, free with Windows Server OS. SPS, the premium version, built on the foundations of WSS, incorporating extra functionality primarily around the areas of search and document management.<a href="http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-gb/magazine/cc163948.aspx" target="_blank"> Jason Masterman and Ted Pattison</a> writing in MSDN Magazine put it quite neatly:</p>
<blockquote><p>In essence, WSS gives you a place to put all your content while SPS provides the means to navigate and search through your content when you need it.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>In 2007 much the same formula was followed, with Windows SharePoint services as the free version for windows server users and Microsoft Office SharePoint Services the premium version.  The MOSS designation references the greater level of integration with the Office suite.</p>
<p>In <a href="http://blog.pentalogic.net/2010/05/sharepoint-2010-resources/" target="_blank">SharePoint 2010</a> it&#8217;s all change again and Microsoft have dropped references to both Office and Windows, leaving SharePoint to stand alone in 3 basic flavours: foundation, the free version, Standard &#8211; the premium version, which adds lots of functionality primarily around the area of search, and Enterprise &#8211; super premium, where the extras are pricipally in the area of content management.</p>
<p>This is very much a whistle stop tour, not an attempt to give an all encompassing overview of what is in each of the many SharePoint versions we have seen over the years &#8211; but we hope it might help you to at least get the acronyms straight!</p>


<p>Related posts:<ol><li><a href='http://blog.pentalogic.net/2010/01/sharepoint-webpart-premium-support/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: New for 2010 &#8211; Premium Support'>New for 2010 &#8211; Premium Support</a> <small> We like to think that the standard support we...</small></li>
<li><a href='http://blog.pentalogic.net/2009/08/were-now-a-microsoft-certified-partner-with-software-that-works-with-windows-server-2008/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: We&#8217;re now a Microsoft Certified Partner &#8211; with Software that &#8220;Works with Windows Server 2008&#8243;'>We&#8217;re now a Microsoft Certified Partner &#8211; with Software that &#8220;Works with Windows Server 2008&#8243;</a> <small>SharePoint webpart specialists Pentalogic Technology have achieved Microsoft Certified Partner...</small></li>
<li><a href='http://blog.pentalogic.net/2010/05/sharepoint-2010-ready-phew/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: SharePoint 2010 Ready &#8211; PHEW!'>SharePoint 2010 Ready &#8211; PHEW!</a> <small> Well, OK so it probably hasn&#8217;t been quite as...</small></li>
</ol></p>]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>SharePoint 2010 Resources</title>
		<link>http://blog.pentalogic.net/2010/05/sharepoint-2010-resources/</link>
		<comments>http://blog.pentalogic.net/2010/05/sharepoint-2010-resources/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 27 May 2010 15:05:54 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Clare</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[General]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Training]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[SharePoint 2010]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blog.pentalogic.net/?p=863</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
			
				
			
		




Last week we had an email from a customer who was confused about his  options for SharePoint 2010.
He was planning to move his 5 WSS site across to SharePoint 2010 Foundation &#8211;  but had found this document from Microsoft:





http://sharepoint.microsoft.com/en-us/buy/Pages/Licensing-Details.aspx
which seems to suggest that sites and Workspaces were not available in Foundation, only in [...]


Related posts:<ol><li><a href='http://blog.pentalogic.net/2010/03/sharepoint-2010-whats-hot-and-whats-not-3-social-networking/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: SharePoint 2010: What&#8217;s Hot and What&#8217;s Not &#8211; #3 Social Networking'>SharePoint 2010: What&#8217;s Hot and What&#8217;s Not &#8211; #3 Social Networking</a> <small> This is the final part in our occasional series...</small></li>
<li><a href='http://blog.pentalogic.net/2010/05/sharepoint-2010-gets-into-the-groove/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: SharePoint 2010 gets into the Groove'>SharePoint 2010 gets into the Groove</a> <small> With all the furore surrounding the business release of...</small></li>
<li><a href='http://blog.pentalogic.net/2010/03/sharepoint-2010-end-users-fast-search-google/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: SharePoint 2010: What’s Hot and What’s Not for End Users — #1: Hot'>SharePoint 2010: What’s Hot and What’s Not for End Users — #1: Hot</a> <small> Along with many others in our part of the...</small></li>
</ol>]]></description>
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<p>Last week we had an email from a customer who was confused about his  options for SharePoint 2010.</p>
<p>He was planning to move his 5 WSS site across to SharePoint 2010 Foundation &#8211;  but had found this document from Microsoft:</p>
</td>
<td><a href="http://blog.pentalogic.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/gI_sharepoint2010.png.jpg"><img class="alignright size-full wp-image-864" title="gI_sharepoint2010.png" src="http://blog.pentalogic.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/gI_sharepoint2010.png.jpg" alt="SharePoint 2010Resources" width="250" height="123" /></a></td>
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<p><a title="SharePoint 2010 Features" href="http://sharepoint.microsoft.com/en-us/buy/Pages/Licensing-Details.aspx" target="_blank">http://sharepoint.microsoft.com/en-us/buy/Pages/Licensing-Details.aspx</a></p>
<p>which seems to suggest that sites and Workspaces were not available in Foundation, only in SharePoint 2010 standard edition or above.  Well we knew this wasn&#8217;t right;  but that wasn&#8217;t what the info from Microsoft seemed to be saying.</p>
<p>This gave us a reminder of just how confusing our friends at Microsoft can make things.  So we thought we would gather together some handy resources for all of you who may be thinking of moving over to SharePoint 2010. As always we have focussed mainly on users and administrators.  I hope you find it useful.</p>
<p><span id="more-863"></span></p>
<p>First a proper list of <strong>features</strong> for the different SharePoint 2010 versions:</p>
<p><a href="http://sharepoint.microsoft.com/en-us/buy/Pages/Editions-Comparison.aspx" target="_blank">http://sharepoint.microsoft.com/en-us/buy/Pages/Editions-Comparison.aspx</a></p>
<p>If you want to<strong> download the free SharePoint 2010 Foundation</strong> version here&#8217;s the link:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=49c79a8a-4612-4e7d-a0b4-3bb429b46595&amp;displaylang=en" target="_blank">http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=49c79a8a-4612-4e7d-a0b4-3bb429b46595&amp;displaylang=en</a></p>
<p>Or for the 180 day<strong> free trials of the paid versions of SharePoint 2010</strong> try this one:</p>
<p><a href="http://sharepoint.microsoft.com/businessproductivity/products/pages/try-it.aspx?bannerId=2#fbid=xIIGCkpQnQK" target="_blank">http://sharepoint.microsoft.com/businessproductivity/products/pages/try-it.aspx?bannerId=2#fbid=xIIGCkpQnQK</a></p>
<p>For a <strong>Virtual Hard Drive</strong>, pre-configured with everything you need to get a trial up and running quickly try this:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=751FA0D1-356C-4002-9C60-D539896C66CE&amp;displaylang=en" target="_blank">http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=751FA0D1-356C-4002-9C60-D539896C66CE&amp;displaylang=en</a></p>
<p>Then take a look at the <strong>walk through guide:</strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&amp;FamilyID=8c619bef-008b-4af2-9687-8a05848fea97" target="_blank">http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&amp;FamilyID=8c619bef-008b-4af2-9687-8a05848fea97</a></p>
<p>Take a look at Microsoft&#8217;s SP 2010 end user <strong>training materials </strong>here:</p>
<p><a href="http://sharepoint.microsoft.com/en-us/resources/Pages/End-User-Training-Guide.aspx" target="_blank">http://sharepoint.microsoft.com/en-us/resources/Pages/End-User-Training-Guide.aspx</a></p>
<p>Online training sessions on installing, upgrading, branding and social media coming up in June 2010, from SharePoint 911 &#8211; $99 per session.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.sharepoint911.com/training/Pages/2010Training.aspx" target="_blank">http://www.sharepoint911.com/training/Pages/2010Training.aspx</a></p>
<p>Basic free end user training videos from point8020.  These aren&#8217;t really highlighting differences between 2010 and earlier SP versions, but they are all done in 2010 and there are lots of them, so could be good for the new user:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.point8020.com/SharePointEndUserTraining.aspx" target="_blank">http://www.point8020.com/SharePointEndUserTraining.aspx</a></p>
<p>On the <strong>books</strong> front, Amazon already has an impressive list. You can get SharePoint 2010 for Dummies on paper or Kindle (I do like my &#8220;Dummies&#8221; books !)</p>
<p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/SharePoint-2010-Dummies-Vanessa-Williams/dp/0470476435/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;qid=1274957537&amp;sr=1-2" target="_blank">http://www.amazon.com/SharePoint-2010-Dummies-Vanessa-Williams/dp/0470476435/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;qid=1274957537&amp;sr=1-2</a></p>
<p>or &#8220;Professional SharePoint 2010 Administration&#8221; in the generally reliable Wrox series:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Professional-SharePoint-2010-Administration-Klindt/dp/0470533331/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;qid=1274957537&amp;sr=1-3" target="_blank">http://www.amazon.com/Professional-SharePoint-2010-Administration-Klindt/dp/0470533331/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;qid=1274957537&amp;sr=1-3</a></p>
<p>And in the same series &#8220;Professional Workflow 4 in SharePoint 2010&#8243;:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Professional-Workflow-SharePoint-2010-Solutions/dp/0470617888/ref=sr_1_13?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;qid=1274959947&amp;sr=1-13" target="_blank">http://www.amazon.com/Professional-Workflow-SharePoint-2010-Solutions/dp/0470617888/ref=sr_1_13?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;qid=1274959947&amp;sr=1-13</a></p>
<p>&#8220;Building the SharePoint 2010 user Experience&#8221; from Apress also looks interesting for anyone who is a SharePoint champion within their organization:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Building-SharePoint-2010-User-Experience/dp/1430227753/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;qid=1274957537&amp;sr=1-11" target="_blank">http://www.amazon.com/Building-SharePoint-2010-User-Experience/dp/1430227753/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;qid=1274957537&amp;sr=1-11</a></p>
<p>There are lots more books out there, but mostly aimed at developers or focussed on specific features like BCS.</p>
<p>If you&#8217;re a<strong> developer</strong> you might want to take a look at these:</p>
<div>
<p>Setting up a  development environment:</p>
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<div>
<p><a href="http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee554869.aspx" target="_blank">http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee554869.aspx</a></p>
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<p>Getting Started Developing in 2010:</p>
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<p><a href="http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint/ee513147.aspx" target="_blank">http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint/ee513147.aspx</a></p>
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<p>Hands  on Lab:</p>
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<div>
<p><a href="http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=c010fc68-b47f-4db6-b8a8-ad4ba33a35c5&amp;displaylang=en" target="_blank">http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=c010fc68-b47f-4db6-b8a8-ad4ba33a35c5&amp;displaylang=en</a></p>
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<p>And of course you should always RTFM! &#8211; the 2010 SDK:</p>
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<p><a href="http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=f0c9daf3-4c54-45ed-9bde-7b4d83a8f26f&amp;displayLang=en" target="_blank">http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=f0c9daf3-4c54-45ed-9bde-7b4d83a8f26f&amp;displayLang=en</a></p>
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<p>And then finally <strong>the most valuable SharePoint 2010 </strong>resource of all is clearly our own fabulous range of <a title="Pentalogic SharePoint webparts" href="http://www.pentalogic.net/" target="_blank">Pentalogic webparts for SharePoint</a>, which are all 2010 ready!</p>
<p>Sorry, I just couldn&#8217;t help myself!</p>


<p>Related posts:<ol><li><a href='http://blog.pentalogic.net/2010/03/sharepoint-2010-whats-hot-and-whats-not-3-social-networking/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: SharePoint 2010: What&#8217;s Hot and What&#8217;s Not &#8211; #3 Social Networking'>SharePoint 2010: What&#8217;s Hot and What&#8217;s Not &#8211; #3 Social Networking</a> <small> This is the final part in our occasional series...</small></li>
<li><a href='http://blog.pentalogic.net/2010/05/sharepoint-2010-gets-into-the-groove/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: SharePoint 2010 gets into the Groove'>SharePoint 2010 gets into the Groove</a> <small> With all the furore surrounding the business release of...</small></li>
<li><a href='http://blog.pentalogic.net/2010/03/sharepoint-2010-end-users-fast-search-google/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: SharePoint 2010: What’s Hot and What’s Not for End Users — #1: Hot'>SharePoint 2010: What’s Hot and What’s Not for End Users — #1: Hot</a> <small> Along with many others in our part of the...</small></li>
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		<title>SharePoint 2010 gets into the Groove</title>
		<link>http://blog.pentalogic.net/2010/05/sharepoint-2010-gets-into-the-groove/</link>
		<comments>http://blog.pentalogic.net/2010/05/sharepoint-2010-gets-into-the-groove/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 17 May 2010 09:00:08 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Clare</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[General]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[SharePoint Ideas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[SharePoint 2010]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blog.pentalogic.net/?p=811</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
			
				
			
		
With all the furore surrounding the business release of SharePoint 2010 it would have been easy to miss the launch (or relaunch) of another little Microsoft product in the SharePoint space which quite neatly addresses some of my personal SharePoint bug bears.



Wonderful though SharePoint is there are always a few things we wish it would [...]


Related posts:<ol><li><a href='http://blog.pentalogic.net/2010/03/sharepoint-2010-whats-hot-and-whats-not-3-social-networking/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: SharePoint 2010: What&#8217;s Hot and What&#8217;s Not &#8211; #3 Social Networking'>SharePoint 2010: What&#8217;s Hot and What&#8217;s Not &#8211; #3 Social Networking</a> <small> This is the final part in our occasional series...</small></li>
<li><a href='http://blog.pentalogic.net/2010/03/sharepoint-2010-whats-hot-and-whats-not-2-not/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: SharePoint 2010 What&#8217;s Hot and What&#8217;s Not? #2 NOT!'>SharePoint 2010 What&#8217;s Hot and What&#8217;s Not? #2 NOT!</a> <small> So here we are with the second installment in...</small></li>
<li><a href='http://blog.pentalogic.net/2010/03/sharepoint-2010-end-users-fast-search-google/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: SharePoint 2010: What’s Hot and What’s Not for End Users — #1: Hot'>SharePoint 2010: What’s Hot and What’s Not for End Users — #1: Hot</a> <small> Along with many others in our part of the...</small></li>
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<p>With all the furore surrounding the business release of SharePoint 2010 it would have been easy to miss the launch (or relaunch) of another little Microsoft product in the SharePoint space which quite neatly addresses some of my personal SharePoint bug bears.</p>
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<td>Wonderful though SharePoint is there are always a few things we wish it would do better.  Personally I have always been a little frustrated by the limitations on sharing with people outside of your own organization, the difficulties around working off-line and with the difficulties of moving documents from your PC and other applications, into, and out of SharePoint.</td>
<td><a href="http://blog.pentalogic.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/disco-ball.png"><img class="alignright size-medium wp-image-815" title="disco ball" src="http://blog.pentalogic.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/disco-ball-300x225.png" alt="Sharepoint 2010 groove" width="300" height="225" /></a></td>
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<p>I collaborate a lot with people outside of the organization, dealing with designers, writers and partners, often on an ad hoc basis.  Getting things set up to share SharePoint content with someone who you may only be working with on one project, for a few days or weeks, can be a real pain.  I have to admit to resorting to Google Docs from time to time.</p>
<p>I am lucky enough to have a lot of flexibility in where and when I work. But SharePoint puts limits on this.  Although &#8220;cloud computing&#8221; is definately the flavor of the month &#8211; if not the year &#8211; anyone who has tried to access the &#8220;cloud&#8221; from a plane, a train or even a remote part of the country will know just what I&#8217;m talking about.</p>
<p>Then there is the whole businesses of getting content from other applications into and out of SharePoint.  I&#8217;m a drag and drop girl myself and anything that requires more effort just puts my hackles up.  So I end up with a stack of documents on my desktop, waiting for me to find a moment to save them to SharePoint &#8211; and as you can imagine, quite often that &#8220;spare moment&#8221; just never arrives.</p>
<p>So I was really pleased when I noticed that Microsoft have now relaunched Groove as <a title="Microsoft SharePoint Workspace 2010" href="http://www.microsoft.com/showcase/en/us/details/755f7866-f95c-4d8a-a904-d80154413444" target="_blank">SharePoint Workspace 2010</a> &#8211; which seems to address both of my problems.</p>
<p>When Microsoft bought Groove back in 2005 many people wondered what they were up to &#8211; did they want Groove or did they really want its creator Ray Ozzie?  Well they got both, and Groove has now been relaunched as SharePoint Workspace 2010 and now seems to make much more sense.</p>
<p>Microsoft say that Workspace will be easier to deploy than Groove and will offer organizations the opportunity to &#8220;provide a more consistent enterprise information strategy based on SharePoint technology.&#8221;</p>
<p>For those of us on the coal face it addresses the issues of ad-hoc collaboration, working on and off line, and moving content between SharePoint and desktop applications with drag and drop quite neatly.</p>
<p>Workspace might present real competition for companies like <a title="Colligio" href="http://www.colligo.com/products/sharepoint/" target="_blank">Colligio</a> who&#8217;s products address these issues within SharePoint.</p>
<p>But Colligio and similar companies should probably not panic just yet, as sadly it seems that it&#8217;s going to be quite difficult for us mere mortals to actually buy SharePoint Workspace 2010.  Workspace isn&#8217;t part of the <a title="SharePoint 2010 Licensing" href="http://blogs.charteris.com/blogs/colinn/archive/2009/10/21/sharepoint-2010-licensing.aspx" target="_blank">17 different versions of SP 2010</a>, you can&#8217;t buy it as a stand alone product, the only way you can get it is as part of Microsoft Office Pro +, which can only be purchased through volume licensing, so is only really going to be accessible to large corpoarates.</p>
<p>Come on Microsoft &#8211; give us a break! SharePoint Workspace 2010 looks really useful &#8211; can we buy it please?</p>


<p>Related posts:<ol><li><a href='http://blog.pentalogic.net/2010/03/sharepoint-2010-whats-hot-and-whats-not-3-social-networking/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: SharePoint 2010: What&#8217;s Hot and What&#8217;s Not &#8211; #3 Social Networking'>SharePoint 2010: What&#8217;s Hot and What&#8217;s Not &#8211; #3 Social Networking</a> <small> This is the final part in our occasional series...</small></li>
<li><a href='http://blog.pentalogic.net/2010/03/sharepoint-2010-whats-hot-and-whats-not-2-not/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: SharePoint 2010 What&#8217;s Hot and What&#8217;s Not? #2 NOT!'>SharePoint 2010 What&#8217;s Hot and What&#8217;s Not? #2 NOT!</a> <small> So here we are with the second installment in...</small></li>
<li><a href='http://blog.pentalogic.net/2010/03/sharepoint-2010-end-users-fast-search-google/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: SharePoint 2010: What’s Hot and What’s Not for End Users — #1: Hot'>SharePoint 2010: What’s Hot and What’s Not for End Users — #1: Hot</a> <small> Along with many others in our part of the...</small></li>
</ol></p>]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>SharePoint 2010 Ready &#8211; PHEW!</title>
		<link>http://blog.pentalogic.net/2010/05/sharepoint-2010-ready-phew/</link>
		<comments>http://blog.pentalogic.net/2010/05/sharepoint-2010-ready-phew/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 04 May 2010 09:08:19 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Clare</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[General]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[SharePoint webparts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Beta]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[SharePoint]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[SharePoint 2010]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[WebPart]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blog.pentalogic.net/?p=797</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
			
				
			
		




Well, OK so it probably hasn&#8217;t been quite as much effort as climbing Everest &#8211; but sometimes it&#8217;s felt that way!
Last week Microsoft made the &#8220;final&#8221; release version of SharePoint 2010 available to developers and large corporates.  So we have been able to get on with our &#8220;final&#8221; set of compatibility tests and we can [...]


Related posts:<ol><li><a href='http://blog.pentalogic.net/2010/01/sharepoint-webpart-premium-support/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: New for 2010 &#8211; Premium Support'>New for 2010 &#8211; Premium Support</a> <small> We like to think that the standard support we...</small></li>
<li><a href='http://blog.pentalogic.net/2010/03/sharepoint-2010-whats-hot-and-whats-not-3-social-networking/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: SharePoint 2010: What&#8217;s Hot and What&#8217;s Not &#8211; #3 Social Networking'>SharePoint 2010: What&#8217;s Hot and What&#8217;s Not &#8211; #3 Social Networking</a> <small> This is the final part in our occasional series...</small></li>
<li><a href='http://blog.pentalogic.net/2009/08/were-now-a-microsoft-certified-partner-with-software-that-works-with-windows-server-2008/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: We&#8217;re now a Microsoft Certified Partner &#8211; with Software that &#8220;Works with Windows Server 2008&#8243;'>We&#8217;re now a Microsoft Certified Partner &#8211; with Software that &#8220;Works with Windows Server 2008&#8243;</a> <small>SharePoint webpart specialists Pentalogic Technology have achieved Microsoft Certified Partner...</small></li>
</ol>]]></description>
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			<a href="http://api.tweetmeme.com/share?url=http%3A%2F%2Fblog.pentalogic.net%2F2010%2F05%2Fsharepoint-2010-ready-phew%2F"><br />
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<p>Well, OK so it probably hasn&#8217;t been quite as much effort as climbing Everest &#8211; but sometimes it&#8217;s felt that way!</p>
<p>Last week Microsoft made the &#8220;final&#8221; release version of SharePoint 2010 available to developers and large corporates.  So we have been able to get on with our &#8220;final&#8221; set of compatibility tests and we can now announce that all of our products are SharePoint 2010 Compatible.</p>
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<td><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-798" title="sp2010" src="http://blog.pentalogic.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/sp2010.png" alt="sp2010" width="394" height="272" /></td>
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<p>When you make software that works on a particular platform &#8211; whether it&#8217;s Windows, SharePoint, or the iPhone &#8211; the introduction of a major new version is really exciting, but it can also be very stressful. The introduction of a new feature might open up lots of new possibilities, but it could equally well present new problems for the way your own software works with the platform, or even make your application completely redundant.</p>
<p><span id="more-797"></span></p>
<p>So as you can imagine we were all over the public beta version of SP2010 as soon as it became available last November. We were very pleased to see that whilst there are lots of <a title="SharePiont 2010 new features" onclick="linkClick( this.href );" href="../2010/03/sharepoint-2010-end-users-fast-search-google/" target="_blank">fantastic new features</a> in SharePoint 2010 Microsoft haven&#8217;t introduced anything within the Out of the Box functionality that undermines our own products. For users of SharePoint 2010 our <a title="Pentalogic PivotPoint" href="http://www.pentalogic.net/sharepoint-products/pivotpoint" target="_blank">PivotPoint,</a> <a title="Pentalogic SharePiont Planner" onclick="linkClick( this.href );" href="http://www.pentalogic.net/sharepoint-products/planner" target="_blank">Planner</a> and <a title="Pentalogic SharePoint Reminder" onclick="linkClick( this.href );" href="http://www.pentalogic.net/sharepoint-products/reminder" target="_blank">Reminder</a> will continue to add valuable planning, reporting and alert functionality to the Out of the Box offering, and we have also spotted some interesting new possibilities for product development.</p>
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<div><img style="margin: 10px 5px;" src="http://ww1.prweb.com/prfiles/2010/04/28/1913034/gI_sharepoint2010.png.jpg" border="0" alt="Microsoft SharePont 2010" align="right" /></div>
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<td>Over the past few months we have carried out extensive in house and third party testing on all of our products in the beta version of SP 2010. There are some significant changes in this latest version of SharePoint and we have been busy making sure that our products function properly with these changes.</td>
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<p>But we know from past experience that there can be significant differences between the beta version of any piece of software and the final release candidate &#8211; that&#8217;s what a beta is for after all.  so we know we wouldn&#8217;t be finished until we saw the final release candidate &#8211; and last week we got it and were able to run our final set of tests.</p>
<p>So we can now say, with confidence &#8220;Yes, we are SharePoint 2010 ready.&#8221; SharePoint 2010 versions of all of our products are available to download from the website for existing customers who are upgrading to 2010 or new customers who are running or trialling a SP2010 deployment.</p>
<p>Although there is a lot of excitement about SharePoint 2010 we know that many people won&#8217;t be upgrading overnight. We know 15% of our clients are still using SharePoint 2003. SharePoint 2010 only runs on 64 bit servers. This means that anyone currently running on 32 bit servers will need to upgrade their hardware before they can upgrade to SP2010. Though this would be normal practice for many large corporate, for smaller businesses on tighter budgets it introduces extra costs and could be a potential barrier to upgrades.</p>
<p>So whilst we are now fully SharePoint 2010 compatible, all of our products also remain compatible with all previous versions of SharePoint and we intend of continue to support all previous versions for the foreseeable future.</p>
<p>And now we are done with compatibility testing for the time being we can get on with some new product development &#8211; which should be much more fun!</p>
<p>SharePoint 2010 will be available on general release in May. There are 8 versions and as yet Microsoft have made no announcements regarding pricing.</p>


<p>Related posts:<ol><li><a href='http://blog.pentalogic.net/2010/01/sharepoint-webpart-premium-support/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: New for 2010 &#8211; Premium Support'>New for 2010 &#8211; Premium Support</a> <small> We like to think that the standard support we...</small></li>
<li><a href='http://blog.pentalogic.net/2010/03/sharepoint-2010-whats-hot-and-whats-not-3-social-networking/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: SharePoint 2010: What&#8217;s Hot and What&#8217;s Not &#8211; #3 Social Networking'>SharePoint 2010: What&#8217;s Hot and What&#8217;s Not &#8211; #3 Social Networking</a> <small> This is the final part in our occasional series...</small></li>
<li><a href='http://blog.pentalogic.net/2009/08/were-now-a-microsoft-certified-partner-with-software-that-works-with-windows-server-2008/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: We&#8217;re now a Microsoft Certified Partner &#8211; with Software that &#8220;Works with Windows Server 2008&#8243;'>We&#8217;re now a Microsoft Certified Partner &#8211; with Software that &#8220;Works with Windows Server 2008&#8243;</a> <small>SharePoint webpart specialists Pentalogic Technology have achieved Microsoft Certified Partner...</small></li>
</ol></p>]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>SharePoint 2010: What&#8217;s Hot and What&#8217;s Not &#8211; #3 Social Networking</title>
		<link>http://blog.pentalogic.net/2010/03/sharepoint-2010-whats-hot-and-whats-not-3-social-networking/</link>
		<comments>http://blog.pentalogic.net/2010/03/sharepoint-2010-whats-hot-and-whats-not-3-social-networking/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 22 Mar 2010 13:55:53 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Clare</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[General]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[SharePoint Ideas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[SharePoint]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[SharePoint 2010]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blog.pentalogic.net/?p=646</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
			
				
			
		



This is the final part in our occasional series on what’s hot and what’s not for the end user in SP 2010.



A couple of weeks ago we focused on our favorite new feature for end users: FAST Search, which we think is going to make a huge impact on how people store and search for content in [...]


Related posts:<ol><li><a href='http://blog.pentalogic.net/2010/03/sharepoint-2010-whats-hot-and-whats-not-2-not/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: SharePoint 2010 What&#8217;s Hot and What&#8217;s Not? #2 NOT!'>SharePoint 2010 What&#8217;s Hot and What&#8217;s Not? #2 NOT!</a> <small> So here we are with the second installment in...</small></li>
<li><a href='http://blog.pentalogic.net/2010/03/sharepoint-2010-end-users-fast-search-google/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: SharePoint 2010: What’s Hot and What’s Not for End Users — #1: Hot'>SharePoint 2010: What’s Hot and What’s Not for End Users — #1: Hot</a> <small> Along with many others in our part of the...</small></li>
<li><a href='http://blog.pentalogic.net/2010/05/sharepoint-2010-gets-into-the-groove/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: SharePoint 2010 gets into the Groove'>SharePoint 2010 gets into the Groove</a> <small> With all the furore surrounding the business release of...</small></li>
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<td>This is the final part in our occasional series on what’s hot and what’s not for the end user in SP 2010.</p>
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<p>A couple of weeks ago we <a href="http://blog.pentalogic.net/2010/03/sharepoint-2010-end-users-fast-search-google/">focused on our favorite new feature for end users: FAST Search</a>, which we think is going to make a huge impact on how people store and search for content in SharePoint 2010.  <a href="/sharepoint-2010-whats-hot-and-whats-not-2-not">Last week we took at pop at Business Connectivity Services</a> – which we feel could cause more problems than it solves.</p>
<p>Today we are throwing stones at SharePoint 2010 Social Networking – which gets our vote for joint top turkey in terms of new features that have been heavily hyped, but in our opinion are not likely to deliver much real value for the end user.</p>
<p>The thing with SharePoint 2010 Social Networking is that we just don’t understand why its there.  This is enterprise software – it’s not supposed to be fun, it’s supposed to help you get the job done.  Have Microsoft added these features just because “social” is so darned sexy at the moment?</p>
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<p><span id="more-646"></span></p>
<p>Director of Collaborative Product Management Christian Finn presented at last year’s SharePoint conference and said that their goal for Social in SP 2010 was to have it be &#8220;as much about people and <strong>seem</strong> as much about people as it is about documents.&#8221;</p>
<p>There are three main areas to the social features in SharePoint 2010:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Social Networking</strong></li>
<li><strong>Social Content</strong></li>
<li><strong>Social Feedback</strong></li>
</ul>
<p>So, we have a whole range of social features: profile pages that look like Facebook, blogging, status updates &#8211; like twitter, central photo sharing &#8211; like flickr, tags, notes and votes – like Digg (OK, so we admit we quite like this, but that’s because it’s going to have huge benefits in content rating outside the social domain).</p>
<p>OK, so if you are using SharePoint to run some sort of a club or social group – great.  But for the corporates, we just don’t see it.</p>
<p>Microsoft claim that the social functionality within SP2010 will allow people within the organization to “connect, share ideas and find solutions”. Well if that was what people were going to use it for great.  But in reality we all know that what people are really going to do with it is spend hours, pimping their profile page, sharing photos of their last holiday and “tweeting” about how rough Sarah in accounts looks this morning.  As an “enterprise” why would you even switch it on?</p>
<p>Added to that, even if people were using it to “connect, share ideas and find solutions” in a business-related way, we need to remember that that kind of creative behavior falls way outside the job description for most workers.  Those of us who have the opportunity to express some creativity in our work need to remember that we are part of a tiny, privileged minority.  For the vast majority of workers in corporations around the world the brief for the working day is not “connect, share ideas and find solutions” its “keep your head down, get on with the job, and follow the set procedures.”</p>
<p>If you have a good boss you might get to go out for a drink after work to connect, share some ideas and maybe solve a few problems, but the world of free-flowing ideas and intercourse envisaged by Microsoft just does not exist within the workplace of most of their clients.</p>
<p>Our next problem is that Social Networking outside of the enterprise <strong><em>is</em></strong> cool, sexy and on-trend, it moves really fast.  By the time Microsoft actually roll out SP2010, the social networking platforms they have modeled its social features on could well be passé. Social Networking functionality in SharePoint 2010 is always likely to be behind the curve.  Because it’s enterprise software created by one of the biggest corporations in the world and it’s never going to be able to move at the speed of a disruptive start up that goes viral, like Facebook.</p>
<p>And let’s face it, unless you work for someone like Google or Apple your company social network is never likely to be really “cool”.</p>
<p>So those corporates who use SharePoint’s social networking functionality in an effort to channel the “unstoppable force” of social networking in a corporately acceptable direction are likely to be disappointed: employers won’t be using SP2010 social at work instead of LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter, they will be using it “as well as”.</p>
<p>There has been much talk of “controlling” the social buzz around your product or service by giving employees an internal social channel within which to express themselves.  My thought on this is just “Get Real!” Is the employee who has negative things to say about your product, service or personnel really likely to say them on internal “corporate twitter”?  What would be the point?  We should all know by now that you can’t “control” social.</p>
<p>So, we just don’t get the whole SharePoint 2010 social networking thing.  Don’t get us wrong, we love Microsoft really, we just think sometimes, like all of us, they go a bit off track – and the introduction of social networking features into SharePoint 2010 could be one of those times.</p>
<p>Do you agree, or do you think we are way off mark?</p>


<p>Related posts:<ol><li><a href='http://blog.pentalogic.net/2010/03/sharepoint-2010-whats-hot-and-whats-not-2-not/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: SharePoint 2010 What&#8217;s Hot and What&#8217;s Not? #2 NOT!'>SharePoint 2010 What&#8217;s Hot and What&#8217;s Not? #2 NOT!</a> <small> So here we are with the second installment in...</small></li>
<li><a href='http://blog.pentalogic.net/2010/03/sharepoint-2010-end-users-fast-search-google/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: SharePoint 2010: What’s Hot and What’s Not for End Users — #1: Hot'>SharePoint 2010: What’s Hot and What’s Not for End Users — #1: Hot</a> <small> Along with many others in our part of the...</small></li>
<li><a href='http://blog.pentalogic.net/2010/05/sharepoint-2010-gets-into-the-groove/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: SharePoint 2010 gets into the Groove'>SharePoint 2010 gets into the Groove</a> <small> With all the furore surrounding the business release of...</small></li>
</ol></p>]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>SharePoint 2010 What&#8217;s Hot and What&#8217;s Not? #2 NOT!</title>
		<link>http://blog.pentalogic.net/2010/03/sharepoint-2010-whats-hot-and-whats-not-2-not/</link>
		<comments>http://blog.pentalogic.net/2010/03/sharepoint-2010-whats-hot-and-whats-not-2-not/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 19 Mar 2010 14:32:39 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Clare</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[General]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[SharePoint Ideas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[SharePoint]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[SharePoint 2010]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blog.pentalogic.net/?p=639</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
			
				
			
		




So here we are with the second installment in our occasional series on SharePoint 2010 features for the end user.
In part 1 we looked at the new features in SharePoint 2010 that we thought would be most welcomed by end users.  Our vote went to FAST Search, because it’s going to make search within SharePoint [...]


Related posts:<ol><li><a href='http://blog.pentalogic.net/2010/03/sharepoint-2010-whats-hot-and-whats-not-3-social-networking/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: SharePoint 2010: What&#8217;s Hot and What&#8217;s Not &#8211; #3 Social Networking'>SharePoint 2010: What&#8217;s Hot and What&#8217;s Not &#8211; #3 Social Networking</a> <small> This is the final part in our occasional series...</small></li>
<li><a href='http://blog.pentalogic.net/2010/03/sharepoint-2010-end-users-fast-search-google/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: SharePoint 2010: What’s Hot and What’s Not for End Users — #1: Hot'>SharePoint 2010: What’s Hot and What’s Not for End Users — #1: Hot</a> <small> Along with many others in our part of the...</small></li>
<li><a href='http://blog.pentalogic.net/2010/05/sharepoint-2010-ready-phew/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: SharePoint 2010 Ready &#8211; PHEW!'>SharePoint 2010 Ready &#8211; PHEW!</a> <small> Well, OK so it probably hasn&#8217;t been quite as...</small></li>
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<p>So here we are with the second installment in our occasional series on SharePoint 2010 features for the end user.</p>
<p>In <a href="http://blog.pentalogic.net/2010/03/sharepoint-2010-end-users-fast-search-google/">part 1 we looked at the new features in SharePoint 2010 that we thought would be most welcomed by end users</a>.  Our vote went to FAST Search, because it’s going to make search within SharePoint much more like search in Google – which has to be a good thing.</p>
<p>This provoked a lot of debate and whilst some of you agreed with us, others had different candidates for the top spot.</p>
<p>A lot of people liked the improved UI and the introduction of the Office Ribbon, others loved the new Metadata features, tagging and voting, and others thought Records Management was going to be a winner.</p>
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<td><img class="alignright size-medium wp-image-661" title="turkey2" src="http://blog.pentalogic.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/turkey2-257x300.jpg" alt="turkey2" width="257" height="300" /></td>
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<p>But enough of all this positivity: (we are British after all: skepticism is our default setting!) this week we are looking at our pick for the #1 &#8220;turkey&#8221; feature SharePoint 2010, the feature that has been really hyped but that we believe could easily sink without a trace.</p>
<p>And our vote goes to . . . . well, we have a tie for top spot actually:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Business Connectivity Services</strong></li>
<li><strong>Social Networking</strong></li>
</ul>
<p>So, today we are going to talk about Business Connectivity Services, and on Monday we’ll come back to Social Networking- we wouldn’t want to bore you by gong on for hours!</p>
<p><span id="more-639"></span></p>
<p>So, Business Connectivity Services.  This is the successor of the Business Data Catalogue, which allowed integration of Line of Business Data into SharePoint.  It wasn’t all that well used as a feature (according to the <a href="http://www.aiim.org" target="_blank">AIIM 2009 State of the Market Report)</a> and where it was used it was almost always used in a read-only capacity – read/write was not available out-of-the-box, and was very tricky to implement through 3<sup>rd</sup> party applications.</p>
<p>BCS goes a lot further and encourages the set up of 2 way, read/write links between SharePoint and Line of Business applications.  It sounds great: you will be able to access, amend, even create data for your line of business applications from within SharePoint 2010.</p>
<p>Well, nice idea, but we don’t think it’s going to fly.</p>
<p>Two way synchronization between any two complex applications is a minefield, both politically and technically.</p>
<p>On the technical side, two-way synchronization is a two-way street. SharePoint 2010 may be all set up for seamless integration into your line of business applications, but things may not run so smoothly at the other end.</p>
<p>So Microsoft may very well be able to set up SharePoint 2010 so that they can run a search in SP2010 for “Steve Jobs”, see the receipt for the Xbox 360 Mr. Jobs just bought in the accounting system, find his customer record in Salesforce, and change the record of his address and banking details. All done from within SharePoint.  But the problems start when we try to push those changed records back into Salesforce and the accounting system.</p>
<p>This is really a very complex process and the potential for error is huge. There is a lot of development time involved in making sure that the two (or maybe even more) applications work correctly together.  It’s not just a one-off investment in development time either – every time there is a change, or an upgrade or a patch in either system time needs to be spent on figuring out what implications that has for the link – and making changes where needed.</p>
<p>Things that look really impressive in the laboratory conditions of a demo can very easily turn into a nightmare when subjected to the constantly changing environment of the real world.</p>
<p>The political issue is around security and governance.  Line of Business data is generally sensitive and closely guarded stuff.</p>
<p>The accounts department might be happy to print out (or these days maybe even email!) endless reports on what’s going on with the numbers – but do they want the rest of the business poking around <strong><em>inside</em></strong> the accounting system?  I don’t think so!</p>
<p>So in our scenario above, Mr. Jobs returns his Xbox, (because he’s found he gets a much better gaming experience on his new iPad) and asks for a refund.  Sales pass the request to accounts, who duly refund the money to Mr. Jobs debit card – only they don’t because the helpful soul who amended the records from within SharePoint has miss-keyed, the card number. The money goes to some random person in Guatemala, accounts have no chance of retrieving it and Mr. Jobs is fuming because he hasn’t got his refund.  The head of Accounts can’t even fire anyone, because the person who made the error isn’t in her department!</p>
<p>All in all we feel that BCS may fail to live up to the hype once businesses start to look at the implications of this in the the real world. From both development and governance points of view they may well decide that a BDC type read-only connection is going to be good enough – if indeed they feel the need to integrate line of business data into SharePoint at all.</p>
<p>The AIIM report seems to bear out our feeling.  Of those surveyed who had deployed SharePoint but then stopped using it, the two most common reasons for ceasing use were security concerns, and problems with integration into existing systems.</p>
<p>Do you agree with us on this one, or do you have your own #1 candidate for a SP2010 turkey?</p>
<p>Let us know your thoughts, and check back on Monday when we will be taking a pot shot at SP2010 Social Networking.</p>


<p>Related posts:<ol><li><a href='http://blog.pentalogic.net/2010/03/sharepoint-2010-whats-hot-and-whats-not-3-social-networking/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: SharePoint 2010: What&#8217;s Hot and What&#8217;s Not &#8211; #3 Social Networking'>SharePoint 2010: What&#8217;s Hot and What&#8217;s Not &#8211; #3 Social Networking</a> <small> This is the final part in our occasional series...</small></li>
<li><a href='http://blog.pentalogic.net/2010/03/sharepoint-2010-end-users-fast-search-google/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: SharePoint 2010: What’s Hot and What’s Not for End Users — #1: Hot'>SharePoint 2010: What’s Hot and What’s Not for End Users — #1: Hot</a> <small> Along with many others in our part of the...</small></li>
<li><a href='http://blog.pentalogic.net/2010/05/sharepoint-2010-ready-phew/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: SharePoint 2010 Ready &#8211; PHEW!'>SharePoint 2010 Ready &#8211; PHEW!</a> <small> Well, OK so it probably hasn&#8217;t been quite as...</small></li>
</ol></p>]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>SharePoint 2010: What’s Hot and What’s Not for End Users — #1: Hot</title>
		<link>http://blog.pentalogic.net/2010/03/sharepoint-2010-end-users-fast-search-google/</link>
		<comments>http://blog.pentalogic.net/2010/03/sharepoint-2010-end-users-fast-search-google/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 04 Mar 2010 16:41:21 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Clare</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[General]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[SharePoint Ideas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[SharePoint 2010]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blog.pentalogic.net/?p=599</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
			
				
			
		
Along with many others in our part of the technology industry, we&#8217;ve spent the past few months with our heads firmly buried in SharePoint 2010, getting our products compatible, and along the way getting really familiar with the wealth of new features on offer.
So as we&#8217;re now at the “been there, done that” stage with [...]


Related posts:<ol><li><a href='http://blog.pentalogic.net/2010/03/sharepoint-2010-whats-hot-and-whats-not-2-not/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: SharePoint 2010 What&#8217;s Hot and What&#8217;s Not? #2 NOT!'>SharePoint 2010 What&#8217;s Hot and What&#8217;s Not? #2 NOT!</a> <small> So here we are with the second installment in...</small></li>
<li><a href='http://blog.pentalogic.net/2010/03/sharepoint-2010-whats-hot-and-whats-not-3-social-networking/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: SharePoint 2010: What&#8217;s Hot and What&#8217;s Not &#8211; #3 Social Networking'>SharePoint 2010: What&#8217;s Hot and What&#8217;s Not &#8211; #3 Social Networking</a> <small> This is the final part in our occasional series...</small></li>
<li><a href='http://blog.pentalogic.net/2010/05/sharepoint-2010-gets-into-the-groove/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: SharePoint 2010 gets into the Groove'>SharePoint 2010 gets into the Groove</a> <small> With all the furore surrounding the business release of...</small></li>
</ol>]]></description>
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<p>Along with many others in our part of the technology industry, we&#8217;ve spent the past few months with our heads firmly buried in SharePoint 2010, getting our <a href="http://www.pentalogic.net/" target="_blank">products</a> compatible, and along the way getting really familiar with the wealth of new features on offer.</p>
<p>So as we&#8217;re now at the “been there, done that” stage with SP 2010 we thought it might be useful to share our thoughts on what the killer features are, and where to watch out for the white elephants!</p>
<p>This week — killer features.</p>
<p>There&#8217;s a lot to get the developers excited: Just do a quick Google search and you&#8217;ll come across bags of blog posts on all the great new developer features. But here we want to take a slightly different tack and focus on the features that we think will make the most difference to the end user.</p>
<p>Our vote goes to FAST search.</p>
<p><span id="more-599"></span></p>
<p>In days gone by, we used to store things electronically and search for things electronically in much the same way as we store and search in the real world. We&#8217;d store things in the appropriately labelled folder in the correct virtual “drawer” of a virtual file cabinet.  When we needed to find things electronically, we&#8217;d then be relatively happy to trawl through our virtual file cabinets until we located the item we needed.</p>
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<p>That has all changed now. For a start, we no longer “file” electronically. For the most part we just leave our stuff in a disorganized heap with a bunch of “tags” attached. Our electronic lives look a bit like a teenager’s bedroom.</p>
<p>And yet, despite our virtual untidiness, we expect to be able to find things at the click of a mouse. We expect logical search results ranked for relevance, maybe displayed with images or other media and delivered instantly. And on the Web we get this with Google, but we&#8217;re rarely so lucky when searching within a Web site, or worse still when searching internal corporate data.</p>
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<p>Google&#8217;s magic relies on links to pages being like votes. Given enough votes the best content for any subject becomes apparent. But you don&#8217;t get the same high level of interlinked content inside organizations so this doesn&#8217;t work as well. Hence the scenario we&#8217;ve all faced of being unable to find that document that we know is hiding somewhere.</p>
<p>So, going back to our virtual teenagers bedroom, if we search for &#8220;Xbox&#8221; on Google it will most likely direct us first to the console, or the controllers or maybe our current favorite game &#8211; because those are the things that are being used most (linked to most), so Google reckons they are most likely to be what we are looking for.</p>
<p>If we search our virtual bedroom for &#8220;Xbox&#8221; on a corporate search it is just a likely to send us to the Xbox packaging gathering dust under the bed, or the Xbox receipt stuck in a book we gave up reading six months ago. Because &#8211; well &#8211; they both say &#8220;Xbox&#8221; on them, don&#8217;t they?</p>
<p>FAST search for SharePoint 2010 has the potential to change this. FAST was the Norwegian company that provided the technology behind Alltheweb and Lycos (Remember them?). Acquired by Microsoft in 2008 FAST Search for SharePoint 2010 is?? the first FAST product deployed by Microsoft, and if the integration of FAST with SharePoint delivers all that it promises it should offer the end user plenty to smile about.</p>
<p>There are a huge number of features we could talk about, but these are the three key things we think end users will really notice:</p>
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<li><strong>Findability.</strong> The main pitfall with much enterprise search to date has been that you just couldn’t find things. Meta data is key to findability in enterprise search and problems occur because many unstructured documents are stored with no Meta data giving the search engine very little to work on. FAST has the ability to automatically and quickly generate Meta data for unstructured documents which would mean that the user will be able to actually find what they&#8217;re looking for. </li>
<li><strong>Relevance. </strong>We&#8217;re all used to the sheer randomness of server search results. FAST should improve things here greatly. Not only does it have advanced linguistic capabilities, but it also offers contextual search capabilities which can tailor search results to user profiles. All this offers the promise of far more relevant search results. </li>
<li><strong>Speed.</strong> How long have we all spent looking at that little spotlight icon endlessly scanning an empty screen as we wait for our file search results to appear? In this respect FAST lives up to its name. It promises to maintain speed and performance levels on searches of 100 million documents or more which will offer a real time saving for many users. </li>
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<p>FAST Search for SharePoint 2010 is an add-on, not part of the out-of-the-box solution, and there are those pundits who believe the OOTB search has been improved so much in SharePoint 2010 that for most deployments the investment in FAST cannot be justified.   We disagree and feel that the improvements in the end user experience will result in higher usage rates and so improved productivity.</p>
<p>So. FAST search is definitely on the top of our list of killer features in SharePoint 2010 – what’s on top of your list?</p>


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