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

Eli Robillard wrote a useful post about this today.

Derek

Answer 2

It's great that we now have options!

I have (since Bamboo made it possible) had WSS 3 installed on my Vista/7 systems - it's great for RAD, and I will continue to have SharePoint Foundation on my main OS (Win 7 x64, 8GB RAM). It's so much quicker if you have to do a demo or build something quickly. For SharePoint Server development I (will) use VMWare Workstation 7 (release a week ago) and develop on a Windows Server 2008 R2 box.

There are as many options as there are developers, and it's great that there now are so many supported ways.

Answer 3

Here's the setup guide from Microsoft. It includes a reference to the SharePoint 2010 Easy Setup Script.

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee554869(office.14).aspx