As the release date for the public beta of SharePoint 2010 is coming closer and closer, I'm wondering how to set up a developer machine for it. I've heard that for developing on SharePoint a 64 bit system is needed and that Microsoft advises to use Windows 7 64 bit and install SharePoint 2010 on it.
I think that won't be an option for me as I only have one computer here at work and I don't like to install SharePoint on the same machine that I use for my normal office work (email stuff, writing concept papers, …).
Am I right that I only have two other options? Using Server 2008 as a desktop operating system and install SharePoint 2010 on a virtual machine or using Windows 7 64 and use VMWare to host the SharePoitn 2010.
So I'm wondering if there are any other options and which one you chose? What experiences have you already made?
Best Answer
I am doing some SP2010 development at the moment. I have:
Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard with Sharepoint 2010 and Visual Studio 2010 installed, running on Hyper-V. I just connect to it via Remote Desktop. Works a treat. I do all my dev in the VS2010 instance running on the VM, leaving my physical work computer free for everything else. I back up my work using TFS, so if I mess up the Sharepoint install (somehow), I can just roll back to a previous snapshot.
hope that helps. :D