SharePoint Online Moves to Public Beta

An update to SharePoint Online has reached public beta. SharePoint Online is a Microsoft-hosted service for document sharing, Web-based collaboration, and other SharePoint functions. The updated version is based on SharePoint 2010 and should be commercially available when the Office 365 subscription plans launch in mid-2011. SharePoint Online will require much less setup and maintenance than the SharePoint on-premises software, and the updated version should appeal to smaller organizations and larger ones whose SharePoint deployments focus on collaboration. However, SharePoint Online is less capable than the on-premises software for some SharePoint functions, such as business intelligence.

SharePoint Online Fundamentals

SharePoint 2010 is Microsoft’s on-premises platform for team collaboration sites, corporate portal Web sites, business applications, and business intelligence. For example, a product development team might use a team site to gather ideas for product features, collaborate on specifications, track project schedules, and communicate project status. SharePoint 2010 offers new features for sharing Office documents, including full read-write access with a Web browser using the integrated Office Web Apps, simultaneous authoring, and the ability to broadcast PowerPoint presentations to users with only a Web browser or mobile phone.