Microsoft released SharePoint Server 2016 IT Preview late August. The preview can be downloaded for testing purpose and is strictly not for production usage.
The improvement in SharePoint which were discussed during Ignite 2015 session can be tested in this release.
Let’s have a look at the new improvements\ features in SharePoint Server 2016.
- SharePoint Foundation will not be a separate release. SharePoint Server 2016 is a single product including SharePoint Foundation.
- SharePoint standalone install option will not be available, one may have to configure single server farm if required as an alternative.
- Patching process for SharePoint will be improved with less number of files.
- File upload limit has been increased up to 10 GB.
- Shortcuts are provided for Document task:
- Alt + N - New
- Alt + E - Edit
- Alt + U - Upload
- Alt + M - Manage
- Alt + S - Share
- Alt + Y - Synchronization
- Sharing option has been added on each page for easy share experience.
- Microsoft is also focusing to improve integration of Office 365 & On premise version of SharePoint. A step forward to this integration is release of Cloud Hybrid Search which is built-in in SharePoint 2016.
- Hybrid Site Features: This will allow user to get integrated experience while using SharePoint Server and SharePoint Online.
- Hybrid One drive - For sharing files from Office 365 and sync with other devices.
- Min Role: SharePoint Server 2016 will have following six server roles predefined.
- Front End
- Application
- Distributed cache
- Search
- Custom
- Single Server Farm
- SharePoint will automatically configure services on each server as per the role of the server.