How to set up a SharePoint 2010 developer machine?

Question

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?

Answer 1

Yes, you are right there are only three options:

1. Install SharePoint onto the OS natively (new for 2010 and aimed at developers)
2. Install SharePoint into a VM you run on your machine
3. Get a second machine and install SharePoint on it.

In addition you will need Visual Studio 2010 for the developer experience to be complete.

I would highly recommend trying the install native route as it will provide a great development experience and will run fairly light. Also at worst you can have two batch files, one of which starts and the other stops the services so there will be zero impact except disk.

Answer 2

If you decide to install 2010 on your Vista/Windows 7 machine, make sure you have at least 4GB of RAM (I'd personally want at least 6, if not 8), and follow the instructions from MSDN: "Setting Up the Development Environment for SharePoint Server"

Answer 3

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