Accessing SharePoint from the browser…

SharePoint was created by Microsoft when a) Internet Explorer (IE) was by far the most widely used web browser on Windows PCs (I was at Microsoft during the “browser wars” which lead to IE being dominant in 2001 when SharePoint emerged) and b) people pretty much only ever used PCs to browse the web. Oddly enough for many years, SharePoint worked great when accessed from a Windows PC using IE and … sometimes was simply impossible to use when you strayed too far away from this pairing.

Roll forward 10+ years and things have changed significantly. In the course of their day to day lives people use many devices and many browsers.  Across my tablet, phone, desktop development pc, laptop and gaming pc I use at least 5 different browsers.

The good news is the SharePoint development team were well aware of this change and in recent versions and updates have worked hard to allow SharePoint to be used from a variety of browsers.

Last Friday this topic came up at the Back to basics with SharePoint session held at my office in Durham. Which caused me to have a look for a succinct summary of cross browser support across different versions of SharePoint. My timing was spot on. Joel has just published  a blog post which contains his SharePoint Browser Comparison Report Card. Screenshot here – but really just to encourage you to visit his post.

Thanks Joel.

Back to basics with SharePoint event in Durham, Friday 24th May

At Microsoft (not surprisingly ) we used SharePoint extensively to support the work of individuals, teams, groups and organisations. It was simply how we got things done. How we managed complexity, how we collaborated, how we remained productive.

What did we do before SharePoint? Well, we used a lot (and I mean a LOT) of server shares. Yes, you can get stuff done but it isn’t efficient, it isn’t fun and it is fraught with dangers. Unfortunately many companies still operate this way. Indeed many companies that have SharePoint are barely using the capabilities it offers to help run their businesses.

Which is why I am pleased to see the bespoke development team in my new company taking time out from coding to run a series of events which are “code free” but look at how organisations can benefit from adopting (and better still embracing) SharePoint. If your company is based near Durham then they are most definitely worth checking out.

Next session is:

Back to basics with SharePoint: Supporting business processes using SharePoint >>>
11.45am, Friday 24th May, Waterstons Durham office

P.S. And the ginger cake they serve up at these events is fabulous!

I have a permanent desk and a shiny development pc :-)

Day one back at work. My first permanent desk in 13 years and first works desktop pc (mini-tower to be exact)  in 16 years. Complete with two shiny new monitors and a first aid kit for the car.

Things do not get better than this

T-1 day and counting – I’m back (nearly)

After 4 months away from work, tomorrow I set out boldly from the Yorkshire Moors to Durham to find a desk at my new company, Waterstons – who I am really chuffed to be joining.

“Normal” service will be returning to this blog in due course…

Hope you all have had a wonderful 2013 so far. For me it has been excellent – the four months have flown by with the time filled with setting up a new home in Yorkshire, family, holidays and diy. But I am excited (super excited – MS joke ) to be heading back to work, especially in a development centric role.

So long, and thanks for all the fish

After 16 great years with Microsoft, Friday 21st is my last working day. I am spending it in our new home in the chilly North York Moors with the company of sheep, rabbits, grouse and a rather fine bottle of Yamazaki Whisky bought by my friends in Microsoft DPE.  The Whisky apparently has the subtle taste of peach, cookie and vanilla – which should be easy to identify when I consume it as a chaser to the cider with a sherry top also bought for me

A massive thank you to everyone who made those 16 years so much fun. I will miss so many of you. The good news is I will be keeping this blog going … hence I won’t really have gone far

Have a wonderful Christmas and a fun 2013

…which is certainly my plan.

So long, and thanks for all the fish.

Related Links:

• 1996 to 2012 – still no evidence… I give up!

Windows 8 – a small demonstration :-)

Smile … then chuckle at the last 10 seconds

Windows 8

Live streaming 13th and 14th Dec – Windows Store App Development for iOS Developers

During the last 6 months I have been working with  iOS developers building the first wave of Windows 8 applications for the Windows Store. Pretty much all of them have told me that they enjoyed making the transition to XAML/C#/.NET and Visual Studio 2012.

I have previously posted Resources for iOS developers but today and tomorrow there is something special going on.  The Big Nerd Ranch and Microsoft have joined together to deliver two days of training designed to jumpstart your Windows Store app development.

It will be streamed on Channel 9 and The Verge from 4pm UK time.

Don’t miss it.

Merry Christmas all Windows 8 Developers and Designers from….Telerik AppMock

Those very nice people at Telerik have impressed me once again – so much so that it feels similar to the moment I woke up on Christmas day to find a TCR racing set under the tree (what an awesome thing that was).

Introducing … AppMock from Telerik

The blurb states “AppMock allows you to quickly and easily create prototypes of your Windows Store applications”

In reality “AppMock allows you to quickly and easily create prototypes of your Windows Store applications”

Sweet!

Install today!

Windows Store Tips: Create great promo images LONG BEFORE you submit

[Windows Store Tips]

When you submit to the store you get an opportunity to add promo images to your submission. It is tempting to skip over these as a) they are optional and b) they are in odd sizes! However promo images are what the store team need if they are to spotlight your application.

Fill them in to have a chance of appearing here…(as done nicely by the UK developers of Cocktail Flow)

Resources:

• Check out Choosing your app images
• Read more Windows Store Tips

Windows Store Tips: Read the pre-submission checks by Pete Brown and set that logo/store color!

[Windows Store Tips]

Pete has a great check list to do before submission. It includes store colors and logo which have been so often missed – but not by you Nigel Sampson has also done a nice post about Logo background color.

The logo background color not only affects the logo (I know… naming is everything) but also (and arguably more importantly) the background color in your Store listing.

e.g. Netflix got it right:

Resources:

• Read more Windows Store Tips