The SharePoint 2013 Preview
In case you didn't notice, Microsoft has opened up their preview version of both Office 2013 and SharePoint 2013. You can read the formal announcement and see a video overview here. Within the new version of Office, you'll see a sleek new design, touch-enabled capabilities as Microsoft prepares for their huge Windows 8 push, and cloud capabilities including a revamped SkyDrive (with Pro features) and some very compelling social and subscription additions. As Steve Ballmer stated in his keynote at the Microsoft Worldwide Partners Conference last week in Toronto, this is the biggest release for Microsoft in 17 years, since the release of Windows 95.
Way back in 2001-ish, Microsoft began down the SharePoint path with very little documentation, and that lack of documentation became one of the primary drivers behind the creation of the massive SharePoint community today -- people out there helping other people. Well, Microsoft is doing a much better job these days in providing detailed documentation at each step of the way. You can find download information here, read the server requirements here, and read about all of the new features and capabilities here.
And the volume of content from the press and the SharePoint community has exploded onto the scene:
Microsoft is once again looking to their partners to fill the gaps and extend the capabilities of this new SharePoint platform. Axceler is excited with this new release, and will have updates on product releases over the course of the summer leading into this fall's SharePoint Conference in Las Vegas (November). It will continue to be a busy year for us, and we're looking forward to sharing more news with you soon.
For those of you looking to kick the tires of the new release, CloudShare is now providing test systems loaded with the SharePoint 2013 beta. You can read their press release here featuring Axceler partner StoneShare (and former echoTechnology employee Nick Kellett), and find them online at http://www.cloudshare.com