Frustration, anticipation, and, in some cases, jealousy. I consider those to be some of the feelings I currently have when I read blog posts about the SharePoint 2010 information that is out on blogs, online publications, and other ways that I hear about the new product. I said it and I feel better, because since I attended the Microsoft SharePoint Conference I have seen VMs (Virtual Machines) running the product, screen shots with the new User Interface (UI), and documents with dialog boxes and checkboxes from the latest bits.
Why do I feel frustrated? The biggest reason is because I expected Microsoft to release the SharePoint 2010 Public Beta in October at the SharePoint Conference. Now it’s mid-November and I think SharePoint 2010 is getting closer to seeing the light of day for the Beta, the current wisdom is SP2010 will be publicly available before Thanksgiving (specifically November 18, 2009).
Why am I excited? This is just the start of the race to learn the new product, deploy the latest capabilities, and work through the issues. I also want to document the newest features in details on “The SharePoint Blog”. One area that I am happy about it is the Microsoft has significantly improved its release cycle so when the Beta is available, I feel it will be far more stable than the SharePoint 2007 Beta . I appreciate all the work that the Microsoft engineers have spent to make the product the best it can be before I get my hands on it. I also appreciate the work the MVPs and Microsoft Gold Partners have spent working through the bugs and other defects that will never be seen by the rest of us.
With all this said, I am putting my money that I will have installed SharePoint 2010 by Thanksgiving and hope that everyone else who wants to learn about SharePoint 2010 will have the same opportunity. Here’s hoping for a November 18th release.