What do you mean you haven’t installed SharePoint 2013 yet ;)

The SharePoint Conference is over and I thought my head was going to explode!  This conference was packed full of information and details about the 2013 releases of SharePoint Online and SharePoint On-Premise (I know on-premise is not a real word).  274 sessions if I recall correctly 😉

My first day of the conference I decided to write two beta exams (they were free so why not!):

• 071-331 Core Solutions of Microsoft SharePoint Server 2013 Preview
• 071-332 Advanced Solutions of Microsoft SharePoint Server 2013 Preview

These exams are more difficult (IMHO) than their previous versions and took me more time to complete.  Less multiple choice, the fact that the exam is harder is a good thing.

Here is a partial list of the reasons to upgrade that jumped out at me:

• 100% compatible with TFS 2012
• Deferred Upgrade
• Shredded Storage (better management of large binary objects like .docx, .pptx, etc.)
• Office Web Apps Read Mode does not require an Office CAL, to Edit Office documents in Office Web Apps requires an Office 2013 Standard or Professional Plus CAL.  External users* can read and edit documents in Office Web Apps for free, no Office CAL is required.
• User License Enforcement can now be controlled by AD Security Group membership (Standard, Enterprise, Project, Duet and WAC); Leverages claims-based authentication
• New Service Applications
•   PowerPoint Automation Services (similar to the conversion capabilities of Word Automation Services)
•   Work Management (collaboration between Exchange, Lync, Project Server and SharePoint Server)
•   Translation Services (cloud-based translation services)
•   App Management (Manage Apps)
• Request Management (route incoming requests through a rules engine)
• FAST Search for SharePoint and Search Server has been integrated in SharePoint Server.  They are no longer available as standalone products.
• SharePoint for Internet Sites is no longer available
• Disk I/O requirements have been reduced considerably
• Distributed Cache Service built on AppFabric Caching
• Performance Feature Improvements (Script on Demand, Minimal Download Strategy, Content Delivery Network)
• Access Services now has a SQL backend, supports new app model, polished look and feel
• Adopt Claims-based Authentication, Windows Classic-Mode is being deprecated, Enhancements to claims infrastructure
• Microsoft SharePoint Workspace replaced by SkyDrive Pro in Office 2013
• Yammer Enterprise now included with Office 365 Enterprise Plans for existing customers, cost for on-premise reduced to $3/user.
• Deferred Upgrade (completely backward compatible upgrade, upgrade can be deferred)
• eDiscovery Center – can discover content from various sources: Exchange, SharePoint and File Shares
• Community Sites provide a forum experience
• Web Content Management improvements (Design manager for branding your site, Managed navigation)
• CAL WAIVER FOR USERS ACCESSING PUBLICLY AVAILABLE CONTENT – CALs are not required to access content, information, and applications that you make publicly available to external users* over the Internet (i.e., not restricted to Intranet or Extranet scenarios).   See the “Product Use Rights” document – PUR.

Note*: External users means users that are not either your or your affiliates’ employees, or your or your affiliates’ onsite contractors or onsite agents

This is a copy of a slide from “Overview of SharePoint Licensing” by Sajan Parihar of Microsoft that was presented at SPC12

If you are looking for more information on SharePoint 2013 you can try some of these links:

• Explore SharePoint 2013 – Download the official eBook from Microsoft here
• SharePoint Server 2013 Software Prerequisites – Bill Baer’s blog post here
• Microsoft SharePoint 2013 Home Page – link here
• Downloadable Content for SharePoint 2013 – link here
• Test Lab Guides for SharePoint 2013 – link here
• Download SharePoint Server 2013 Trial – link here
• Office 365 Enterprise Trial – link here
• SharePoint blogs at Microsoft – link here
• SharePoint 2013 App Model overview – link here

I plan to post some more about SharePoint 2013, the least of which will be about TFS 2012 integration with SharePoint 2013.  Enjoy and hope you come back soon 🙂