It looks like SharePoint 14 is going to be cool in a multiple ways. Trust me, the look-n-feel will definitely give you throbs, if you think finding an option to configure AAM or setting up a Policy for Web Applications is very easy to find. This may again take a while for of all of us to get used to the drill-downs of the Central Admin options.
The new layout of the Central Administration is drastically changing. Though still in its ALPHA stage, a lot would change in the coming BETA and any further releases. So it all depends on the feedback Microsoft gets back. So hold on tight and wait for the exciting 14 release (maybe late 2009 or early 2010).
To give you a bit of taste, here are few of the MUST-HAVEs that was always desired in MOSS 2007.
- Web Analytics Web Service
- Word viewing Service
- LotusNotes connector
- Visio Graphics Service
- BDC Service
- Application Registry Service
to name a few. Not gauranteed, but we may possibly see these getting integrated into the next release.
I also expect Microsoft to either acquire some of the great SharePoint tools available today in the market or have it developed internally. These could be SharePoint Security Explorer, Backup-Restore from AvePoint, Idera and some cool web parts from Bamboo Solutions. There are also some Imaging solutions which are highly wanted in the MOSS world.
Stay tuned...
