I’ve been a Groove user ever since Microsoft acquired the company last year. I primarily use Groove for folder synchronization and a couple small collaboration workspaces. With Groove 2007 finally hitting Beta 2 I decided it was time to upgrade from Groove 3.1. I held off until now based on my testing of Groove 2007 Beta 1 and Beta 1 TR (those still seemed a little rough around the edges).
Here are a couple things to keep in mind as you evaluate migrating to Groove 2007 Beta 2, or installing it for the first time:
- Folder synchronization has been locked down for your own protection… and there’s no way to change it. For example, in Groove 3.1 I could set up folder synchronization between my laptop and desktop PCs and sync just about any file I wanted. Now, with Groove 2007 Beta 2 there are some new limitations. It’s not that these limitations are new – just that they’re forced down our throats with no way to change them. Here’s a screen shot of the file types you won’t be able to sync in Groove 2007 Beta 2 (click image to zoom).
Note: The blocked file types window above has a scroll bar – so you can’t see all the file types. Here is a complete list:
*.ade, *.adp, *.app, *.asp, *.bas, *.bat, *.cer, *.chm, *.cmd, *.com, *.cpl, *.crt, *.csh, *.der, *.exe, *.fxp, *.hlp, *.hta, *.inf, *.ins, *isp, *.its, *.js, *.jse, *.ksh, *.lnk, *.mad, *.maf, *.mag, *.mam, *.maq, *.mar, *.mas, *.mat, *.mau, *.mav, *.maw, *.mda, *.mdb, *.mde, *.mdt, *.mdw, *.mdz, *.msc, *.msh, *.msh1, *.msh2, *.msh1xml, *.msh2xml, *.mshxml, *.msi, *.msp, *.mst, *.ops, *.pcd, *.pif, *.plg, *.prf, *.prg, *.pst, *.reg, *.scf, *.scr, *.sct, *.shb, *.shs, *.tmp, *.url, *.vb, *.vbe, *.vbs, *.vsmacros, *.vsw, *.ws, *.wsc, *.wsf, *.wsh
- In my testing I’ve noticed some problems upgrading existing workspaces from 3.1 to 2007. This is supposed to be supported in this build, but it’s been hit/miss for me so far.
- Speaking of upgrades – keep in mind that anyone or any PC you are synchronizing files/workspaces with will need to upgrade to Groove 2007 within 60 days of the first upgraded client. In other words, don’t go upgrading your 3.1 corporate workspaces unless you know everyone else will also be upgrading to Groove 2007. To quote the movie PCU, “Don’t be that guy”.
At the root of the file blocking issue described above is the fact that all stand-alone Groove 2007 beta testers are essentially ‘managed’ by Microsoft enterprise policies at the moment. If you were to download and install your own Groove Server infrastructure you could specify the approved/blocked extensions yourself. However, don’t take this lightly – setting up a Groove Server environment of your own is no small task.