Few hours ago, Microsoft announced the general availability of SharePoint Server 2019 public preview. SharePoint is doubtlessly tops the list when it comes to collaboration and productivity platforms with record breaking popularity across the globe and diverse technical community engaged around this technology. Though the SharePoint online seems to be fascinating with its’ vast improvements, there is still a massive demand for On-Premise server edition which Microsoft can’t simply eliminate, and as a result, here comes the latest release of SharePoint Server edition, SP 2019!.
This release is the public preview which means it should not be used in production environments. Public preview can have limited set of features as the final release is yet being developed by Microsoft.
Key Features:
These are the major highlights of the SharePoint 2019 features list.
- Modern Sites, Pages, Lists, and Libraries
- Team News
- SharePoint Home
- Communication Sites
- OneDrive Sync Client
- Improved hybrid support and scenarios
- New developer options
- Improved support for business process with PowerApps and Flow
Compatibility:
- Operating System: SharePoint Server 2019 requires Windows Server 2016 or 2019
- SQL Server: SQL Server 2016 or 2017 required
SharePoint Server 2019 is optimized to fit modern usability demands and been influenced by Office365.
Important:
- Do not use the public preview edition for production
- There is no clear path on shifting from public preview to the final product so beware on the content you put on public preview setup.
- Project Server is already bundled to SharePoint 2019 as it was in 2016. No additional binaries required to be installed
- No SharePoint Foundation edition in 2019 either
- SharePoint 2019 will be released in the 2nd half of 2018
- Make use of SharePoint 2019 forum for any technical queries – https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/office/en-US/home?forum=SP2019
Most importantly, let’s have a look at new, deprecated and removed features of SharePoint server 2019.
Removed features (Not available in 2019):
- Code-Based Sandbox Solutions
Code-based sandbox solutions were deprecated in SharePoint Server 2013 and have now been removed in SharePoint Online. Customers are recommended to explore SharePoint add-ins as an alternative, which are fully supported for both SharePoint on-premises and SharePoint Online.
- Digest Authentication
Microsoft is deprecating the Digest authentication feature in Internet Information Services (IIS). This authentication mechanism isn’t very popular and there are many alternative authentication mechanisms available with better interoperability.
- Incoming email automatic mode
Microsoft is deprecating the IIS 6 Management compatibility features in Internet Information Services (IIS). Customers using incoming email are recommended to use advanced mode instead, which allows you to manually manage the IIS SMTP service and drop folder.
- Multi-Tenancy
The cost and complexity of providing an on-premises alternative has become prohibitive, so we will no longer support multi-tenancy in the SharePoint Server 2019 Public Preview release
- PowerPivot Gallery and Refresh
Microsoft BI strategy has shifted away from heavy integration to a standalone BI solution, Power BI, to give customers a flexible, optional integration with SharePoint along with standalone capabilities. Both PowerBI.com and Power BI Report Server offer the option to host and view Excel Workbooks with PowerPivot models
- Visio Services – Silverlight Based Rendering
Visio Services has 2 options for rendering Visio diagrams: Microsoft Silverlight-based and PNG-based. Microsoft Silverlight is a technology that will no longer be supported as of October 12, 2021. Visio Services will only render Visio diagrams using the PNG-based technology.
Deprecated Features (Discontinued investing but remains in SharePoint 2019):
- Access Services 2010
Will remain supported, but deprecated, for the SharePoint Server 2019 Public Preview release. Customers are recommended to explore Microsoft PowerApps and Flows as potential alternatives to Access Services 2010
- Access Services 2013
Will remain supported, but deprecated, for the SharePoint Server 2019 Public Preview release. Customers are recommended to explore Microsoft PowerApps and Flows as potential alternatives to Access Services 2013.
- Aggregated Newsfeed
Feature will be set to read-only in SharePoint Server 2019 Public Preview. For customers who are currently using this feature, we recommend considering options such as Team News, Communication Sites, Yammer and/or Teams.
- Custom Help
The new SharePoint help system is now rendered in the cloud and will have updated, synchronized content with Office 365.
- Groove Sync Client
SharePoint Server 2019 Public Preview introduces support for the new OneDrive Sync Client (a.k.a. the Next Generation Sync Client), which provides a more reliable and feature-rich syncing experience
- InfoPath Services
As announced in the Microsoft 365 blog, InfoPath Services is a deprecated feature and customers are advised to explore alternatives. InfoPath Services will remain supported, but deprecated, for this release.
- Lists Web Service
The following SOAP endpoints in the Lists web service depend on the Microsoft Sync Framework, which was necessary to support the Groove sync Client: Lists.GetListItemChangesWithKnowledge, Lists.UpdateListItemsWithKnowledge
- Machine Translations (and Variations)
The Machine Translation Service will remain supported, but deprecated, for the SharePoint Server 2019 Public Preview release.
- PerformancePoint Services
PerformancePoint Services has a significant dependency on Microsoft Silverlight, which is a technology that will no longer be supported as of October 12, 2021. Customers are recommended to explore Microsoft PowerBI as an alternative
- SharePoint Designer
There will not be a new SharePoint Designer client shipped with this release. Microsoft will ensure that SharePoint Designer 2013 will work with SharePoint Server 2019 Public Preview for the remainder of the client support lifecycle (2026).
- Site Mailbox
As announced in the SPO Community Blog, site mailboxes are being deprecated in SPO. Site mailboxes will remain supported, but deprecated. Customers are recommend to explore shared mailboxes as an alternative to site mailboxes.
- Site Manager
The main functionality of Site Manager is now available in modern file move. Only site collection administrators will have permission to access the Site Manager page and the UI entry points to this page will be removed.
Download Media:
You can download you copy of SharePoint Server 2019 here – https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=2006095
Microsoft Cloud Infrastructure Technical Journal 