ServiceNow has announced the upcoming Winter 2010 release!

–Update:

There’s been an overview Webinar scheduled for the Winter 2010 release.  Here are the details:

You are invited to the Winter 2010 Release Webinar
An overview of the Winter 2010 Release is available through two live Webinars with Jay Berlin, ServiceNow principal architect. The Webinars are scheduled for Thursday, January 14, 2010.

9:00 AM PST (4:00 PM GMT) and 3:00 PM PST (11:00 PM GMT)

Register for the Webinar here!

The ServiceNow Winter 2010 release is scheduled for January 22, 2010. It will be available for install or upgrade the following Monday, January 25. It will contain the following new or improved functionality (most of which has been introduced in preceding Fall 2009 stable releases).

  • Performance Metrics
  • Required Form Fields Plugin
  • Self-Service Password Reset Plugin
  • Lookup Multiple Choice Catalog Variable
  • Cancel your own transactions
  • Improved Attachment Interface
  • Improved Email Client
  • SQL Server integrated authentication for Windows
  • Automatic record number re-padding
  • Script syntax error checking by line number
  • Filter performance enhancement
  • Survey repeat interval override
  • Display field messages on a form
  • Case sensitive coalesce field values
  • Enhanced Security options
  • Activity Formatter automatic for all users

As always, the release will include a number of other minor changes and bug fixes.
Here are my highlights:

–Cancel your own transactions: If you’ve ever made the mistake of setting a filter that returned millions of records and locked up your browser session you’ll appreciate this one.  There’s now a widget in the header bar that shows up for long-running transactions.  It tells you how long the transaction has been running and gives you the option to click and cancel the transaction.  Out-of-box, the threshold is set for 15 seconds before the widget gets displayed.  System properties exist to allow you to set the threshold to a custom value or turn off the widget entirely.

-Improved Attachment Interface and Improved Email Client: The attachment and email icons are very commonly used in the top-right corner of ServiceNow forms.  These enhancements work out a few little quirks with each of these features making both much more usable.

-Script syntax error checking by line number: This is one that is really simple, but also very helpful.  It allows you to go to a specific line number in any script field.  This eliminates much of the frustration with those “Problem at line 245 character 12” syntax errors.  Instead of counting each line or copying and pasting to another editor that can show line numbers, you simply type in the line number you want to go to and get to work on fixing the problem.

Full release notes can be found here on the ServiceNow documentation wiki.