SharePoint SP1: Its Contents & Release

Microsoft announced that SP1 for SharePoint 2010 would be released in "late June," which means – whatever the specific date – we're very close. While there hasn't been a monumental amount of concrete details, data was released at Tech-Ed 2011 concerning the nature of SP1. Here's a brief rundown of what it will contain:

• All current bug fixes. While many bug fixes were previously released in hot fix rollups (also known as cumulative updates), most users didn't receive these updates; they were "on request only." All those fixes will be present in SP1.
• Extended Office web app capabilities. A number of fixes, interface enhancements, and new features will be available in the Office web apps. This includes the ability to directly insert clip art in PowerPoint, print presentations and documents directly from the page (rather than just from previews), the ability to copy formulae from Excel cells, and support for the .ODF (Open Office document) format.
• Enhanced performance overall. Page indexing, navigation, and many other elements are receiving an enhancement buff.
• Support for IE9 Native. The native version of IE9 will now support all SharePoint features.
• Support for Google Chrome. Chrome, which previously worked fairly well, will now be fully supported.
• Support for SQL 11. SQL 11, aka Denali, has full support in SP1.
• Site recycling bin. Deleted items will not be retrievable by an admin without the need for a database restoral.
• Shallow copy. Any copied RBS database will now re-write the directions to files rather than copying all files over to disk.
• StorMan returns. The SharePoint 2007 analysis tool that examines where you're using space will be re-implemented.

These details, while released by official representatives, are still subject to change. However, with the release just around the corner, we'll all be able to see the details for ourselves. These highly demanded features, as well as an untold number of extras, will likely be available in the coming week.