SharePoint 2010 will require 64-bit SQL Server

LOS ANGELES – SharePoint 2010 will require a 64-bit version of SQL Server and it will not support Internet Explorer 6, according to Microsoft.

At the company’s annual TechEd conference, Microsoft also revealed that SharePoint 2010 will not be available with the Office 2010 beta that it plans to ship in July.

“That release will mostly focus on the client side,” said Tom Rizzo, director of Microsoft SharePoint Server, during his conference session.

Microsoft will release that beta to a select group of testers, but has said previously there will be a public beta. 

Rizzo said during the session that it was a “painful decision” to drop support for IE 6, but that Microsoft would support an array of browsers including IE 7 and beyond, Firefox 3.x on Windows and non-Windows platforms, and Safari 3.x on non-Windows platforms.

As far as the 64-bit support, Rizzo said as gently as he could, “You have been warned.”

SharePoint 2010 will run on the 64-bit version of Windows Server 2008 and on SQL Server 2005 and 2008.

Rizzo also said SharePoint 2010 would feature Fast Search for SharePoint and Fast Search for Internet Business. Microsoft last year purchased Norway-based Fast Search & Transfer, which developed enterprise search software.

Rizzo reiterated that Microsoft would ship the Web-based versions of Office applications with Office 2010, due for delivery in the first half of next year. Microsoft has announced Word, Excel and PowerPoint as part of that release, but Rizzo would not say which of the other Office applications would be part of the package.

Follow John on Twitter