Microsoft recently released a preview of some of the new functionality that will be released with SharePoint 2010, due out in the first half of next year. Many new features were announced that will boost productivity and information access for Business Managers, IT Professionals and Developers.

Some of the key new features include:

Ribbon Interface – A streamlined new user interface based on the Ribbon functionality released in Office 2008.

Silverlight Web Part- Lets you quickly and securely integrate Silverlight applications and rich media.

Rich Theming- Allows you to skin your SharePoint site using your favorite Office client themes.

Business Connectivity Services – Allows you to connect Line-of-Business applications, web services, and databases in a user friendly way enabling users to interact with and update data easily via the web.

Visio Services- Share data linked diagrams in real time, even for those who don’t have a Microsoft Visio client.

Central Administration- Everything is at your fingertips with a streamlined administration experience, including the addition of the Ribbon to make configuring and managing your server farm quicker and easier.

Best Practives Analyzer- provides extensible rules based engine that monitors farm health and can automatically fix many configuration and performance issues

Visual Studio SharePoint Tools- New tools built into Visual Studio 2010 for creating packaging and debugging SharePoint solutions, including Web Parts and Business Connectivity Services Entities.

You can learn more about the soon to be released SharePoint 2010 via the following online video demonstrations:

General Intro:
http://sharepoint.microsoft.com/2010/Sneak_Peek/Pages/Overview-Video.aspx

Developers:
http://sharepoint.microsoft.com/2010/Sneak_Peek/Pages/Developer-Video.aspx

IT Pros:
http://sharepoint.microsoft.com/2010/Sneak_Peek/Pages/IT-Pro-Video.aspx