The long-awaited SharePoint 2010 Beta was finally released this week. It has set the entire community on fire! Many new features have been added and existing ones improved. I will be posting a series of blog posts next few weeks as the adventures take place. Stay tuned!

Before you start installing the beta in your sandbox environment, you will need to have the 64-bit hardware ready. Below is a list of the minimum requirements:

• Windows Server 2008 64-bit with Service Pack 2 (SP2) or later OR Windows Server 2008 R2
• Microsoft SQL Server 2005 64-bit with SP2 or later OR SQL Server 2008 64-bit
• Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 with SP1

Level 1 Internet browser options running on the Windows operating system:

• Internet Explorer 7 32-bit
• Internet Explorer 8 32-bit
• Firefox 3.x 32-bit

Level 2 Internet browsers options:

• Internet Explorer 7 64-bit
• Internet Explorer 8 64-bit
• Firefox 3.x on non Windows operating system
• Safari 3.x

For the complete and updated list of prerequisites for installing SharePoint Server 2010, see “Determine hardware and software requirements (SharePoint Server 2010)” (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=166546) on the Microsoft TechNet Web site.