First impressions..

Well, it didn't dissapoint me at all i have to say. 5.3 looks like it's going to be awesome. Had a bit of trouble installing it to my regular sql server, so for attempt #2 i went for the sqllite option instead and it works like a charm after setting a few additional security permissions. Don't know where to start really, so i'll just drop a few things on here for now. The layout of the content editor is heaps better than 5.2. no more waste of space here, in fact, it's quite clever how they've managed to squeze so much information and still keeping it easy to access. Working with this editor will make us, and clients, save a lot of time. Also, on the note of the content editor: it's fast. way faster than the one in 5.2. Probably for the above reason alone i'd jump at the chance to upgrade everything we have to 5.3, but that'll have to wait until a full version is available and we're asked to upgrade :) Some other things that jump at you right away: There's now an easy way to set SubItems Sorting of an item, very neat & useful. Validation is also very easy to access and will make clients happy indeed. Even Icon assigning is made easy with new panels showing the icons and smart positioning. The Developer Center is an interesting idea, and can indeed prove useful in the future, but i hope it gets a bit more options to it, or a way to easily define your own custom options without stepping into the code. The idea is great tho, gathering common things under one umbrella. The Template Editor has also gotten a big overhaul and i can't say i'm sorry for that. The new one is great and will also make working with it a lot easier. Things like setting Standard values and Masters are neatly accessible now. Also, the way you can add things to the template and edit the template from the content editor is quite cool. I hate to sound like an evangelist, but it's hard not to. It's awesome. So it's still a Beta version and has it's share of bugs, but i'm impressed, and that doesn't happen very often. Hat's off to the team at Sitecore, this version will shake the foundations of CMS systems for a long time. Haven't yet written a portal for this version, but that's probably going to be tonight then since i can't sleep in this heat. Don't get me wrong tho, summer is heaps better than the cold of winter, but i wouldn't mind having a full nights rest every now and then.. oh well.. more updates later..