SharePoint 2010 pre-requisites installer and other setup refinements point the way to more consisten
Small things can make a big difference. But what seems small and simple often isn’t. I personally wouldn’t want to be the guy who looks after the myriad pre-requisites for SharePoint Server 2010. :) But SharePoint 2010 has a pre-requisite installer, just like SQL Server, and it’s good. In addition there are numerous other setup refinements which are a testament to a key drive of the latest version, enterprise readiness. It was promised and it’s been delivered. Sure, some improvement is always possible. The default name of a content database could use some work!:) Add that to a more robust set of system services and of course PowerShell, SharePoint 2010 seriously ups the g

Does Windows 7 break Firewire?
It sure does on both my MacBook Pros and Sony VAIO. For a long time now I’ve been running a mobile rig on the MBP with VMWare. This rig allows me to demonstrate a five machine SharePoint setup at acceptable speeds with PowerPoint on the host. It’s worked really really well over the past couple years with only one problem child due to insufficient warm up time (the presenter before us overran). I was doing this using an external firewire disk for the VHDs. It wasn’t super fast, but it was workable and efficient. However since upgrading to Windows 7 this has been a disaster. The VMs stall for a couple minutes each time you do something new on the machines (like openi

DIWUG - Dutch Information Worker User Group: November 4th, Amsterdam
I’ll be in Amsterdam as one of the instructors of the SharePoint 2010 Ignite program next week. The Dutch Information Worker Group are hosting a evening event on the 4th November to coincide with Ignite. Come along and join some SharePoint Experts for a Ask the Experts panel, and probably some drinks afterwards. DIWUG - Dutch Information Worker User Group

Single Server Complete Install of SharePoint 2010 using local accounts - From The Field
My good buddy and fellow SharePoint Certified Master, Neil ‘The Doc’ Hodgkinson has an excellent little post over on the From the Field blog on setting up SharePoint 2010 the way you want to for the purposes of running a farm on a single machine. Check it out! Single Server Complete Install of SharePoint 2010 using local accounts - From The Field

SharePoint 2010: Service Applications Part One: Model Overview
The new Service Applications model in SharePoint 2010 presents significant improvements to the scalability of the SharePoint platform and offers tremendously exciting opportunities for developers and ISVs. This article delves into the the Service Applications model and architecture, providing developers and IT Pros essential information on the new foundation of shared services in SharePoint 2010. SharePoint 2010: Service Applications Part One: Model Overview|