A periodic newsletter about SharePoint from the Microsoft Northwest District. (In fact, this newsletter is so periodic that I don’t remember the last time we sent one out. In a perfect world, this would get sent out every 4-6 weeks… In today’s world, who knows? )
14 November 2007
Contact information:
Owen Allen owenall@microsoft.com 425-706-9672 Bellevue, WA
Ben Hickman bhickman@microsoft.com 503-452-6470 Portland, OR
New Search Server Product from Microsoft
Microsoft Search Server 2008 Express and Microsoft Search Server 2008 were announced in early November at Enterprise Search Summit West, in San Jose, CA. Search Server Express will be a free download. A release candidate version is available now at http://www.microsoft.com/enterprisesearch for download and evaluation.
Microsoft also announced free search connectors for EMC Documentum and IBM FileNet, to be available in early 2008.
For full details, see the press announcement at http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2007/nov07/11-06SearchServer08ExpressPR.mspx .
Announcing the Launch of the SharePointPedia
SharePointPedia.com is a web site where people discover and share useful content about SharePoint and SharePoint related products and technologies. It’s a social computing application built on top of Microsoft Office SharePoint Server (MOSS) 2007. Anyone with a Windows Live ID may become a registered user and can then submit content recommendations or requests, leave comments, or just vouch for whatever you like. Note that SharePointPedia is not a wiki. It’s a “pedia” in the sense of being a compendium of useful content, but rather than being limited by just wiki functionality, it leverages the much broader set of capabilities in SharePoint. SharePointPedia is also about community, where you can find and connect with others, who have similar interests as you or who recommend content relevant to you.
http://www.SharePointPedia.com
SharePoint Governance - Joel Oleson
Joel Oleson visited Bellevue on Sep 27 to talk about SharePoint Governance with a few customers. If you are interested in the slides and Live Meeting replay of that talk, you can access them below.
Download the Slides from SkyDrive
View the recording via Live Meeting
Daylight Savings Time information for SharePoint
Daylight savings time ends on November 4th. The issues are not nearly as large as they were last March (primarily because you've most likely already installed the March patches), but better safe than sorry...
Here's the information that you need for Windows Server 2003 and Windows SharePoint Services v3.
for every other product combination, start here at the Daylight Savings Time Help and Support Center.
- Daylight Saving Time Shift Expected To Run Smoothly This Time - CRN.com
BDC MetaMan
Version 2.0.0.4 beta has been released today. Although we've labeled this as a beta it should be taken as our most stable release. We've added a great new feature plus a number of bug fixes.
New Features
-Allow usage of tables and (SQL Server) Views that do not contain key columns
Bug Fixes
-SQL nvarchar stored procedure problem fixed -Improved web service complex data type support
We've also added an exciting new secret feature that we'll tell you more about very soon, see if you can find it out! You can get the new version from our downloads page:
http://www.bdcmetaman.com/pages/download.aspx
Microsoft Office SharePoint Server Deployment Plan Sample
This deployment plan is intended to be a sample that you can modify and use as a starter. There are over 300 items in the project with the goal of sparking ideas and in an attempt to be inclusive. We welcome feedback and encourage people to use this and make it their own.
Download the MOSS Sample Deployment Plan (Project 2007 version)
Download the MOSS Sample Deployment Plan (Project 2003 version)
(free viewer if you don't have Project version x)
Integrating SharePoint with Other Portals and Web Applications
Jose Barreto published an entry a few months ago about integration approaches for SharePoint with other portals and web applications. Worth reviewing and having close by when you are asked about how to make SharePoint work in your environment! http://blogs.technet.com/josebda/archive/2007/04/05/integrating-sharepoint-with-other-portals-and-web-applications.aspx
Open XML Developer Workshop videos Available on MSDN
If you are new to development with the Open XML Formats, take a look at this Open XML Online Training series and learn more about the Open XML file formats architecture, the Open XML schemas, the .NET packaging API, and programmatic generation of rich data-driven Open XML documents. Find the Open XML Developer Workshop page here. Training ppts, hands-on labs, and code samples available here.
SharePoint Product Information / Training Resources
Microsoft Office System Webcasts
Microsoft Office System Podcasts
Tech-Ed 2007 Online (Webcasts, Podcasts, Virtual Labs)
SharePoint Server (Webcasts, Podcasts, Virtual Labs)
New RSS Feeds for SharePoint News from Microsoft
1. MSDN: Office RSS Feed - http://www.microsoft.com/feeds/msdn/en-us/office/rss.xml
2. MSDN: SharePoint RSS Feed - http://www.microsoft.com/feeds/msdn/en-us/sharepoint/rss.xml
3. MSDN Office Developer Center Home Page: http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/office/default.aspx
4. SharePoint Server 2007 Developer Portal: http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/office/aa905503.aspx
5. Windows SharePoint Services Developer Center: http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint/default.aspx
6. MSDN Magazine RSS Feeds: I recently discovered that MSDN Magazine has a page that you can use to build your own RSS feeds: http://msdn.microsoft.com/msdnmag/rss/default.aspx .
7. You can access the MSDN Magazine articles for Office and SharePoint here: http://msdn.microsoft.com/msdnmag/rss/newrss.aspx?tags=office,sharepoint
8. Office Online RSS feeds: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/help/CH102069101033.aspx
9. 2007 Microsoft Office System Virtual Labs: http://rss.microsoftvirtuallabs.com/office2007/rss.aspx
10. Office 2003 Virtual Labs: http://rss.microsoftvirtuallabs.com/office/rss.aspx
11. SharePoint Community feeds: http://sharepoint.microsoft.com/sharepoint/default.aspx
12. Office Development Bloggers (to be updated soon): http://blogs.msdn.com/erikaehrli/archive/2007/01/24/70-office-development-bloggers-and-counting.aspx
Have fun keeping up with the latest news!
Upcoming SharePoint Events
November 5 – 8, 2007 SharePoint Connections
February 10-13, 2008 Office Developers Conference 2008
March 3-6, 2008 SharePoint Conference 2008
If you have not already registered for the SharePoint Conference yet, please hurry! The early bird discount is close to expiration.
The Puget Sound SharePoint Users Group
If you live in the Puget Sound area, then I would like to recommend to you that you register for the mailing list of the Puget Sound SharePoint Users Group. Registration for the email list is free, of course, and there may be some great presentations that would benefit you or your organization that otherwise you may not learn about. You can register at http://pugetsoundsharepoint.org .
Other Products
Have you heard about the latest additions to the Microsoft Expressions line of products?
Download Trials here: http://www.microsoft.com/expression/products/download.aspx
Expression Studio; Expression Web; Expression Blend; Expression Design; Expression Media; Expression Media Reader; Expression Encoder; Expression Blend 2 September Preview... will they never stop? :-)
A Bit of Housekeeping
There has been a small combination of the Microsoft PacWest and the Microsoft NorCal sales districts into one combined Microsoft Northwest sales district. So, while you all used to know us as part of Microsoft PacWest, now we will trail our names with the letters Microsoft Northwest. Ben and Owen are still the same folks, and will still answer your emails with response times ranging from 5 minutes (Ben) to 5 days (Owen), and will still try to minimize their use of PowerPoint and use more demos!
This message was sent by owen.allen@microsoft.com to Scott.Shepherd@us.fujitsu.com . It was sent from: Microsoft Northwest District, 205 – 108th Ave NE, Suite 400, Bellevue, WA 98004.
Please feel free to forward to others.
If you received this email from a friend and would like to register for this newsletter, or if you would like to modify/update your subscription, please send email to owen.allen@microsoft.com .