Preparing to upgrade to SharePoint 2010 Products

The public beta releases of SharePoint Server 2010 and SharePoint Foundation 2010 are coming soon. Aside from the anticipation of wanting to see all of the new features and functionality, some of you with existing Office SharePoint Server 2007 and Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 environments may be feeling another kind of anticipation – upgrade anxiety. Well, the best way to handle anxiety is to get prepared. And the Upgrade and Migration Resource Centers are up and running with content to help you pick the right upgrade path and figure out how to test out the process to help cut down on surprises.

• Upgrade and Migration Resource Center for SharePoint Server 2010
• Upgrade and Migration Resource Center for SharePoint Foundation 2010

On these Resource Centers, you’ll find information to help you with questions like the following:

• How do I plan for upgrade?
• What’s new in upgrade?
• How do I get to 64-bit bit hardware?
• What upgrade approaches are available and what upgrade paths are supported?
• What does the upgrade process look like? What steps are involved for in-place v. database attach upgrades?
• How do I create test farms to test the upgrade process?
• How do I find all of my customizations?
• What happens with services during upgrade (SharePoint Server 2010 only)?

You can also view and download the upgrade models:

• Upgrade planning
• Upgrade approaches
• Test your upgrade process
• Services upgrade

And check out the upgrade planning articles so you can tame that upgrade anxiety!

These are just the planning articles -- how-to articles from TechNet and MSDN are also available on the Upgrade and Migration Resource Centers. Keep checking back, as even more articles are coming soon.

As always, let us know if you have any comments or questions!

Samantha Robertson, Senior Writer, SharePoint Products (I’m all about the upgrade)