x64 and Groove, what is it good for?

[Travis]

Hi, I've got Vista Ultimate x64 and Office 2007 Ultimate, and like all
people with that combo am dissappointed that MS doesn't intend to make
Groove fully x64 compatible.

Whenever threads like this come up people are quick to point out that
only file sharing workspaces are disabled in x64, but to me that's
like disabling email in Outlook.

But this isn't just another rant about how outraged I am with MS over
this, I'm choosing to remain positive and hence my question is what
good is Groove on an x64 machine.

My situation is this:

I run a small company where a number of files (mostly documents and
spreadsheets) need to be shared between computers located in various
parts of the country. We don't use any sophisticated technology, at
the moment we use Windows Live Foldershare to sync the files.
(Evidently the technology is very different, because Foldershare works
just fine on x64).

Can anyone point out some really cool features of Groove which haven't
been disabled for x64? The demos of the product I've seen show it as
a souped up version of Foldershare, but not on x64. I need a reason
to ask my colleagues to install and learn to use Groove on their
machines (they're mostly using Ultimate as well, we're all using
Outlook with BCM, OneNote, Excel, Access, Word and occasionally
Infopath and Publisher).

We work together as a virtual office, use send meeting invites via
Outlook etc. Does Groove add any functionality to that, like letting
us share appointment data and tasks more efficiently, for example?

Foldershare is not ideal because of limits on the number of files and
libraries, because occasionally it creates versioning difficulties and
corrupts files sometimes. I've read that while filesharing workspaces
are disabled there is some other type of workspace which has a similar
function. Is it similar enough to function as a way to syncronise
directories across various computers?

Travis
www.travismorien.com

 

[Justin Rodino]

Hi Travis,

You are correct in observing that Groove file sharing workspaces have
"difficulties" in the x64 flavour. First question - do your
workstations all need x64? If the answer is yes and you still want to
use Groove to share files, I'd suggest using WSS in conjunction with
Groove as this will give you file sharing capabilities as well as
versioning control with the extended bits and bobs you're going to get
from WSS (and hey, it's free!).

Do you have a WSS server implemented? If not, I'd suggest doing that and
then seeing how you can integrate it with Groove and a workspace that
does that side of the file sharing, should you wish to go down that
route. There are also other alternative uses for Groove aside of the
standard file sharing that make it cool. Infopath integration, white
boarding, meeting trackers, notepad, picture share, discussions...

Is that enough food for thought for now

Justin

 

[Travis]

Hi Travis,

You are correct in observing that Groove file sharing workspaces have
"difficulties" in the x64 flavour.  First question - do your
workstations all need x64?  If the answer is yes and you still want to
use Groove to share files, I'd suggest using WSS in conjunction with
Groove as this will give you file sharing capabilities as well as
versioning control with the extended bits and bobs you're going to get
from WSS (and hey, it's free!).

Only my one has Vista x64, the computer I just retired has XP x64, the
other PCs are all 32 bit, mostly XP. I'm not sure if any of them use
Vista in any flavour.

So all the others can use Groove 2007 without problems, but the
problem is that most of the content which needs sharing comes directly
from me. One of my jobs is Excel app development, I churn out
spreadsheets and database apps for the others to use. If I'm not part
of the sharing network then the sharing network is pointless.

Do you have a WSS server implemented? If not, I'd suggest doing that and
then seeing how you can integrate it with Groove and a workspace that
does that side of the file sharing, should you wish to go down that
route.  There are also other alternative uses for Groove aside of the
standard file sharing that make it cool.  Infopath integration, white
boarding, meeting trackers, notepad, picture share, discussions...

No, we don't have WSS implemented. The infrastructure is very
simple. Half a dozen PCs, not networked to each other, mostly running
XP x86 and me running Vista x64. We're currently using Foldershare to
sync up a few directories of files, and that's it.

Is that enough food for thought for now

Mmm, some. Its going to be a hard sell to the other guys though.

Travis

 

[Frances Selkirk [MSFT]]

Hi Travis!

The file sharing mechanism in Standard workspaces is the Files tool. In most
cases, I prefer this to GFS for sharing files with other people. The main
disadvantage to the Files tool is that Files within it are only accessible
from Groove, so rather than starting Excel and opening the file, you would
open the workspace, double-click on the file, and let Groove call Excel and
hand it an unencrypted temporary version of the file.

Since a Standard workspace (as opposed to a File Sharing workspace) can
support multiple tools, people usually plan those workspaces around a project
or function. For example, my team has a workspace that we use for basic team
operations. That workspace includes a Meetings tool (for scheduling, agendas,
and notes), a Calendar tool for vacations and offsite work, a Calendar tool
for on-call schedules, and a Files tool for Word documents, Excel workbooks,
and PowerPoint presentations that relate to scheduling. Discussion tools are
added as needed (and sometimes removed if the discussion was focused on a
project with a definite conclusion).

As it happens, I talked about how I use Groove on my blog, The Weekly
Groove, a few days ago. For more examples, take a look at this post:
http://blogs.technet.com/weeklygroove/archive/2008/08/25/how-i-use-groove.aspx

Cheers,

 

[Travis]

Hi Travis!

The file sharing mechanism in Standard workspaces is the Files tool. In most
cases, I prefer this to GFS for sharing files with other people. The main
disadvantage to the Files tool is that Files within it are only accessible
from Groove, so rather than starting Excel and opening the file, you would
open the workspace, double-click on the file, and let Groove call Excel and
hand it an unencrypted temporary version of the file.

I can see how this would have an advantage if the people downloading
the file weren't needing to modify it and send a modified file back to
me, so it sounds like this isn't bad. How does it work if I do want
people to modify the file though, so we're all (non simultaneously)
editing the file and making changes. Presumably the file can be saved
back into the standard workspace?

Travus

 

[Frances Selkirk [MSFT]]

When you save the file, your changes are saved to the temporary copy. The
next time you click on a Groove window, Groove will detect the changes and
ask if you want to save those changes back into Groove. When you shut down
Groove, Groove deletes the temporary copy that it handed to the application.
If the application still has the file open, Groove will give you a warning
and a chance to save any outstanding change before it shuts down.

Since you have Groove, you might want to give this a try. Just click New
Workspace and choose Standard Workspace. Groove will create a workspace will
a Files tool and a Discussion tool. From the Files tool, add a few files and
experiment with editing them. Changes that you make to the copy in Groove
will not affect the original file in your Windows filesystem, so if you do go
with this method, you might want to move the original files into an archive
folder so that you don't confuse them with the updated version in Groove.

Because the files can only be read by Groove, it's also a good idea to
periodically archive the workspace. You can do this from File / Save
Workspace As / Archive.

 

[Travis]

So if standard workspaces allow files to be synchronised between a
number of computers at the same time, what's the big deal about
missing file sharing workspaces anyway? Are 64 bit OS users right to
be seething over having Groove crippled, or is it a storm in a teacup?

I mean, apart from having to launch files within Groove, what am I
missing out on?

Travis

 

[ming]

I use it to keep my homework between my two computers in sync, especially
when I'm working on programming stuff. Its easier to have my code sync'd
between computers automatically than trying to remember what is newer on each
computer.