Jul19Written by:SuperUser Account
7/19/2010 9:02 AM 
By Alan Stevens
Following months of beta testing, the latest incarnation of Microsoft’s massively popular Web-based collaboration platform, SharePoint 2010, has finally hit the streets.
More than just a makeover, the 2010 product drops the ‘Microsoft Office’ tag of the previous 2007 implementation and sports both a swish new management interface and support for PowerShell scripting. Business oriented social networking features have also been added and Office integration enhanced, with an optional new FAST enterprise search engine among a raft of other improvements.
What is it and who is it for?
Microsoft describes SharePoint as ‘the business collaboration platform for the enterprise and the Web’. It can be used to run both internal (Intranet) and external, public-facing Web sites with everything required to build and run Web applications included. No specialist developer skills are required with, in the 2010 release, numerous enhancements to enable end users to get even more involved in managing SharePoint applications and content.
Pricing & setup
How much you have to pay for SharePoint 2010 will, depend on whether buying from scratch or upgrading, whether you have a software assurance agreement and so on. There are different licences, too, for internal and public-facing (Internet) use, plus Standard and Enterprise editions all of which can take a little unravelling.
Does it do it well?
SharePoint has come in for criticism over the years, but that hasn’t stopped it being widely adopted across a broad range of companies. Indeed, in many respects it’s one of Microsoft’s best sellers and one of the most widely used platforms for corporate portals, collaboration apps and document management systems.
Performance and scalability are enhanced in this release which will please large enterprises, while support for emerging technologies and standards, such as AJAX and XHTML, will benefit everyone. As will support for browsers other than IE and much improved email capabilities.
Where does it disappoint?
On the downside, existing SharePoint customers may have to invest in new 64-bit hardware to upgrade and, likewise, invest in 64-bit Windows and other server software in order to fully exploit the capabilities of SharePoint 2010. Other than that, however, the only other complaints are likely to be a lack support for older versions of Internet Explorer and the costs involved in deploying the product.
Would we recommend it?
As well as addressing the many shortcomings of the ageing 2007 product, SharePoint 2010 equips the platform well to cope with new technologies and the ever changing IT landscape. Alternatives may have started to overtake it, but the new release more than restores the balance in Microsoft’s favour.
Read more details here.