How to get started with SharePoint 2013

On July 16th 2012, Microsoft has released the preview versions of the 2013 edition of its office products.

This are two of the new logos in Windows 8 style (formerly known as Metro style):

The most remarkable things for me:

• Microsoft managed to keep many (not all) of the details secret.
• Most of the products look already very polished.
• Cloud first approach
  • Same core for platform as a service (SharePoint Online in Office 365) and server versions.
  • Quarterly releases for SharePoint Online and huge demand for Office 365 drive development and will lead to improved functionality and stability that you will also benefit from with your on-premise installations.
  • Hybrid scenarios get more and more interesting.
  • Windows Azure Workflows (WAW) will be a topic to watch closely in the next months. Will be interesting to see what this means for “Nintex Workflow Platform Preview for SharePoint 2013″.
• Integration of the different services and plattforms:
  • The blue bar on the top blends Outlook Web App, My Site, SharePoint Team Sites etc. into one perfect seamless experience.
• The new Cloud App Model and Marketplace
  • The new languages of choice are HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript using OAuth 2.0, REST and OData.
  • You no longer need server side code and programmers that understand C#.
  • Every web developer can now create Office and SharePoint apps!
  • I think the Office Store will do very well.
• Search
  • FAST is now completely integrated. Search in SharePoint Foundation 2013 completely new.
  • Individual previews for different document types.
• The social stuff
  • Very well integrated microblogging and status updates.
  • SkyDrive Pro (think Dropbox for the enterprise)
  • Skype now also used as presence indicator
• Better customizable UI
  • Web designers rejoice!

Here is what I’ve read, watched and what I did in the last 24 hours in order to get started. I hope this collection of links will help you getting started…

Look

• Product website - Start here. Show your customers. Dive deeper.
• Also show this to everyone in the project team: SharePoint 2013 Glossary
• Introductory blog posts from the VIPs:
  • The New SharePoint (Jeff Teper, Corporate Vice President) – Cloud first! SkyDrive Pro, FAST search, Apps, Marketplace, …
  • Office Development with Visual Studio 2012 and “Napa” (S. Somasegar, Corporate Vice President of the Developer Division at Microsoft)
  • Introducing “Napa” – Office 365 Development Tools (Jason Zander, Corporate Vice President for the Visual Studio team)
• Office Store (BETA)
• Workflow Platform Preview for SharePoint 2013 already listed

Read

• TechNet: Explore SharePoint 2013 Preview
  • SharePoint 2013 for IT pros - documentation (explore, plan, deploy, operate)
    • Hardware and software requirements for SharePoint 2013 Preview
    • Administer search in SharePoint 2013
  • SharePoint 2013 training for IT pros - videos and presentations in 14 modules
• MSDN: SharePoint for Developers
  • New features: What’s new for developers in SharePoint 2013
  • API: Choose the right API set in SharePoint 2013
  • Overviews: SharePoint 2013 Development Overview
• MSDN: Build apps for Office and SharePoint
  • Watch this 90 seconds video: Apps in a nutshell for Office 2013 and SharePoint 2013
  • Validation policies for the apps submitted to the Office Store
  • Apps for Office and SharePoint Samples
• MSDN: SharePoint 2013 Preview
• Office help:
  • Discontinued features and modified functionality in Microsoft SharePoint 2013 Preview  (No Web Analytics! No RSS for search results!)
• Models:
  • SharePoint 2013 Preview Upgrade Process (how to upgrade from SharePoint 2012)
  • Enterprise search architectures for SharePoint Server 2013 Preview
• eBooks:
  • Deployment guide for SharePoint 2013 Preview (400 pages)
• Blog posts:
  • Apps in SharePoint 2013 – A new developer paradigm (Christian Glessner, MVP)
  • SharePoint 2013 Apps, parts I-V (Thorsten Hans, MVP)
  • SharePoint 2013 Top 10 New Features (Joel Oleson, MVP)
  • SharePoint 2013 - Navigation using Managed Metadata (Term Store) (Benjamin Niaulin) – friendly urls, flexible menus
  • Top 6 New Features for Designers in SharePoint 2013 (Randy Drisgill, MVP)
  • Microsoft’s Courier-like radial menu for OneNote Windows 8 (hands-on) (The Verge)

Register

• Watch this video: Introducing Office 365 Enterprise Preview (3:06) or this: Introducing Office 365 Small Business Premium Preview (2:31)
• Sign up for a free Office 365 Developer Site in the cloud

Download and install

• Office Customer Preview – Get your copies of the new Word, PowerPoint, Excel, OneNote and Outlook here. Also available: Access, Publisher and Lync.
• Server Products – SharePoint, Exchange, Lync, Office Web Apps Server, Project, Visio
• Microsoft SharePoint Server 2013 Preview
• Microsoft SharePoint Foundation 2013 Preview
• SharePoint Designer 2013
• Other SharePoint 2013 downloads (via search)

Attend

• Microsoft SharePoint Conference 2012