Groove 3.1 vs MS Groove 2007

[KVSmith59]

This will probably look like a dumb question to some, but I'm going to ask it
anyways

Other than support issues, what is the advantage to upgrading to Groove 2007 ?

After reviewing different blogs, forum questions, microsoft's info pages,
etc, it would appear that there really is not much of a difference between
the two. I was hoping for a more polished interface, an easier form maker,
etc. If it's basically the same Groove as I'm using to day, why upgrade?

 

[Mason]

Hi,

In Groove 2007 some unstable tools will be removed. Such as discussion tool,
it will be replace by integrated form discussion tool which is more stable
and powerful. Such enhancement and integration with office 2007 will improve
your Groove using experience.

Also, Groove 2007 provide more powerful support to share point. I believe
you can find some details information in release notes once Groove have been
released.

 

[Oliver]

I just checked out Groove 2007 and frankly, there is no reason to upgrade at
all. Its rather an downgrade anyway - at least for those (as me) who dont use
SharePoint and InfoPath. I have the feeling that Groove as a stand-alone
product will be phased out and turn into an API ...
the 'new' features are (among others of similar quality):
- "simplified process for searching for contacts". (that was never a big
deal anyway)
- "the "Participants" tab is renamed to the "Attendees" tab".

the list of canceled features, however, is pretty long. Amongst others:
- "The following tools and toolsets are no longer available for adding to
new or existing workspaces: Contact Manager, Discussion, Document Review,
Outliner, Task Manager, Text, Tic-Tac-Toe, Web Links, Welcome Page, Advanced
Project Toolset, and Mobile Workspace for SharePoint."
- "Outlook Calendar integration with the Groove Calendar and Groove Meetings
tools."
- "Sending an Outlook email thread to a Groove workspace."
- "Groove accounts can no longer be uploaded to groove.net for backup or for
setting up use on multiple computers. Multiple computers usage now requires
saving your account file manually."

Apart from the TiCTacToe game - I really miss all these features and I'll
need to stick to Groove 3.1 as long as possible or look for alternatives.
If you are employing SharePoint or InfoPath, the new version probably makes
sense, however, the good thing about the old Groove is, that an rather
average computer user can set it up and keep it running basically without the
support of an administrator. With Infopath and Sharepoint you have to invest
into a lot of expensive pieces of server hard- and software and need to have
an administrator to look after the whole thing. Gone the days of Groove being
an very affordable yet powerful project manager.

 

[Mark Smith]

Oliver -

Groove has been reduced in focus I agree, but the situation is not quite
as bleak as you are painting it.

The Forms tool is somewhat faster and more reliable. Files is still
there. Frankly, most of the other tools were never finished.

Outlook integration will come. Whether from a third party or from
Microsoft remains to be seen - we've got products in the pipeline to
make Groove more useful for teams of all sizes, and I'm sure the people
at TeamDirection, GTools and Dicodemy have as well.

Some of these will be free/cheap like our reporting tool for forms.

 

[fl4ian]

so what about the discussion tool and the tasks tool? are there any
replacements for these? and what about folder synchronization, is it still
available, and does it prohibit .qbw files?

 

[Mark Smith]

There's a Forms based discussion tool. I'm not sure what will emerge for
task management but it will be based on Groove Forms.

Folder sync is still there though I do not see qbw files listed. This
doesn't make them safe to share though.

so what about the discussion tool and the tasks tool? are there any
replacements for these? and what about folder synchronization, is it still
available, and does it prohibit .qbw files?

:

--
Regards

Mark Smith
Information Patterns
http://www.infopatterns.net
Toucan Reporter: Free Reporting tool for Groove Forms: http://www.infopatterns.net/Products/ToucanReporter.html

 

[fl4ian]

having people move to a beta instead of paying for a product (even with its
flaws) that is already released seems like a bad idea. specifically if
replacements for major components are not even developed yet.

do you know if MS is making any exceptions to the "not selling 3.1 anymore"
stance?

also, how do we know that there won't be a reduction in features from the
beta to the production release?

i'm stuck here.......

 

[Rex]

i concur, especially with all of the connection issues people (including
myself) have been having with the "upgrade" I have yet to find someone who
can help me with issues such as seeing offline contacs that are online and
not being able to download anything in groove (including workspaces).

 

[Don Singles]

I think it is ridiculous to expect any competent IT professional to deploy a
beta into a production environment but that is what we are being forced to do
if we need to expand our groove user base. I'd love to see that particular
decision justifed somewhere. It seems to me that the idea of deploying a
beta is NOT normally on the MS "Best Practices" list.

What really kills me is that, if I want to add a new system and install
Office 2003, I can legally do so, but, if I want to use Groove 3.1 I can't.
What sense does that make? How can ANYONE at MS think this is a good
decision?