Diving into SharePoint 2010

I
thought this post from Richard Riley on the SharePoint Team blog would be helpful to any of you
looking for more places to dig into the new SharePoint 2010. Enjoy!

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With the official launch of SharePoint
2010 last week, we thought now would be a perfect time for us to share some
resources to help you to get started evaluating and learning about the new
release. 

This post contains links to download
evaluation software, guides, demo virtual machines and lots more, for both
Developers and IT Professionals.

1. Check out the Office 2010 &
SharePoint 2010 Launch Keynote
and on-demand sessions
, and the SharePoint 2010
Product Site
on Microsoft.com

2. Download the SharePoint
2010 Overview Evaluation Guide
, the SharePoint
2010 Professional Developer Evaluation Guide
and the SharePoint
2010 IT Professionals Evaluation Guide
to quickly ramp up on platform
updates and additions.

3. Check out the learning plans for IT
Professionals
, Developers
and End
Users
and get started on your SharePoint 2010 learning plan.

4. Download the pre-configured Hyper-V SharePoint
2010 Evaluation and Demo Virtual Machine
(~1.8GB) along with the SharePoint
2010 Walkthrough Guide
for a chance to get hands on with SharePoint 2010
with zero set up and configuration.

5. Download 180 day trial versions of; 
SharePoint
Server 2010
, FAST Search
Server 2010 for SharePoint
, Office
Professional Plus 2010
, Windows
Server 2008 R2
, SQL Server
2008 R2
to install and evaluate SharePoint 2010 yourself, and while you're
downloading stuff here's some links to the full versions of; SharePoint
Foundation 2010
, Search
Server Express 2010
, SharePoint
Designer 2010

6. Watch the Getting
Started with SharePoint 2010 for IT Professionals
video series and the Getting Started
with SharePoint 2010 for Professional Developers
video series to get
bite-sized video overviews of some of new and updated features.

7. Do the self paced IT
Professional hosted virtual hands-on-labs
and Developer hosted virtual
hands-on-labs
to get hands-on with SharePoint 2010 through a series of
scripted tutorials, and if you want more, then download and install 10
getting started Developer Hands-on-labs
.

8. Discover what's new for end users
with Getting
started with SharePoint 2010 guides
and Take
SharePoint Server 2010 training at your desk
.

9. Visit the TechNet
and MSDN
SharePoint 2010 sites for a wealth of technical reference documentation and
prescriptive guidance through our categorized resource centers, such as the Installation
and Deployment
Resource Center to learn how to plan, install and configure
SharePoint 2010 and the Upgrade and
Migration
Resource Center for the latest guidance and best practices for
upgrading to SharePoint 2010.

10. Got questions?  Search for an
answer, or ask the community in the official Microsoft SharePoint
2010 Forums
.

Already
a SharePoint 2007 expert?

Check out the free advanced training
content for IT Professionals and Developers looking to upgrade their skills
from SharePoint Server 2007 to SharePoint 2010.

We've got 36 modules of self paced IT
Professional Advanced Training
and Developer
Advanced Training
that includes audio and video recordings.  We'll
also be adding 24 hosted virtual hands-on-labs in the very near future to
accompany the training content - All for
FREE and on demand.

Want
to get certified on SharePoint 2010?

Take a look at the Microsoft
Learning SharePoint 2010 Training Portal
for information and expected
availability dates for SharePoint 2010 Certification, Classroom training,
E-Learning, MS Press books and Learning Snacks.