Groove is Dead, Long Live SharePoint Workspace 2010!

At the end, the ugly duckling of Microsoft Office suite is joining the SharePoint family. Microsoft announced that the Groove file synchronization features will be incorporated in Office 2010 Professional Plus suite under the name SharePoint Workspace 2010.

According to the Microsoft Office 2010 Team Blog,

SharePoint Workspace will provide easy access to SharePoint content (or content from any server that implements the publicly documented protocols) in an effort to provide a seamless online/offline experience.

SharePoint Workspace 2010 will be easier to deploy and easier to manage, and it supports a new set of scenarios to help Office and SharePoint users be more productive.  It will also make it easier for IT folks to implement a consistent information strategy based on SharePoint technology throughout the organization.