Index: t3lib/class.t3lib_userauthgroup.php
===================================================================
--- t3lib/class.t3lib_userauthgroup.php	(revision 9262)
+++ t3lib/class.t3lib_userauthgroup.php	(working copy)
@@ -1618,9 +1618,15 @@
 					break;
 					default:
 							// Checking if the guy is admin:
-						if (t3lib_div::inList($wsRec['adminusers'],$this->user['uid']))	{
+						if (t3lib_div::inList($wsRec['adminusers'], 'be_users_' . $this->user['uid'])) {
 							return array_merge($wsRec, array('_ACCESS' => 'owner'));
 						}
+							// Checking if he is owner through a user group of his:
+						foreach($this->userGroupsUID as $groupUid) {
+							if (t3lib_div::inList($wsRec['adminusers'], 'be_groups_' . $groupUid)) {
+								return array_merge($wsRec, array('_ACCESS' => 'owner'));
+							}
+						}
 							// Checking if he is reviewer user:
 						if (t3lib_div::inList($wsRec['reviewers'],'be_users_'.$this->user['uid']))	{
 							return array_merge($wsRec, array('_ACCESS' => 'reviewer'));
Index: t3lib/stddb/tables.sql
===================================================================
--- t3lib/stddb/tables.sql	(revision 9262)
+++ t3lib/stddb/tables.sql	(working copy)
@@ -336,7 +336,7 @@
   deleted tinyint(1) DEFAULT '0' NOT NULL,
   title varchar(30) DEFAULT '' NOT NULL,
   description varchar(255) DEFAULT '' NOT NULL,
-  adminusers varchar(255) DEFAULT '' NOT NULL,
+  adminusers text,
   members text,
   reviewers text,
   db_mountpoints varchar(255) DEFAULT '' NOT NULL,
Index: typo3/sysext/install/updates/class.tx_coreupdates_migrateworkspaces.php
===================================================================
--- typo3/sysext/install/updates/class.tx_coreupdates_migrateworkspaces.php	(revision 9262)
+++ typo3/sysext/install/updates/class.tx_coreupdates_migrateworkspaces.php	(working copy)
@@ -52,12 +52,20 @@
 	 */
 	public function checkForUpdate(&$description) {
 		$result = FALSE;
-		$description = 'Migrates the old hardcoded draft workspace to be a real workspace element';
+		$description = 'Migrates the old hardcoded draft workspace to be a real workspace element and update workspace owner fields  to support either users or groups.';
 
 			// TYPO3 version 4.5 and above
 		if ($this->versionNumber >= 4005000) {
-			$this->includeTCA();
-			$result = $this->isDraftWorkspaceUsed();
+			$tables = array_keys($GLOBALS['TYPO3_DB']->admin_get_tables());
+				// sys_workspace table might not exists if version extension was never installed
+			if (in_array('sys_workspace', $tables)) {
+				$result = $this->isOldStyleAdminFieldUsed(());
+			}
+
+			if (!$result) {
+				$this->includeTCA();
+				$result = $this->isDraftWorkspaceUsed();
+			}
 		}
 
 		return $result;
@@ -97,6 +105,11 @@
 			// install version extension (especially when updating from very old TYPO3 versions
 		$this->installExtensions(array('version'));
 
+			// migrate all workspaces to support groups and be_users
+		if ($this->isOldStyleAdminFieldUsed()) {
+			$this->migrateAdminFieldToNewStyle();
+		}
+
 			// create a new dedicated "Draft" workspace and move all records to that new workspace
 		if ($this->isDraftWorkspaceUsed()) {
 			$draftWorkspaceId = $this->createWorkspace();
@@ -155,6 +168,17 @@
 	}
 
 	/**
+	 * Check if there's any workspace which doesn't support the new admin-field format yet
+	 * @return bool
+	 */
+	protected function isOldStyleAdminFieldUsed() {
+		$where = 'adminusers != "" AND adminusers NOT LIKE "%be_users%" AND adminusers NOT LIKE "%be_groups%" AND deleted=0';
+		$count = $GLOBALS['TYPO3_DB']->exec_SELECTcountRows('uid', 'sys_workspace', $where);
+		$this->sqlQueries[] =  $GLOBALS['TYPO3_DB']->debug_lastBuiltQuery;
+		return $count > 0;
+	}
+
+	/**
 	 * Create a real workspace named "Draft"
 	 *
 	 * @return integer
@@ -192,6 +216,30 @@
 	}
 
 	/**
+	 * Migrate all workspace adminusers fields to support groups aswell,
+	 * this means that the old comma separated list of uids (referring to be_users)
+	 * is updated to be a list of uids with the tablename as prefix
+	 *
+	 * @return void
+	 */
+	protected function migrateAdminFieldToNewStyle() {
+		$where = 'adminusers != "" AND adminusers NOT LIKE "%be_users%" AND adminusers NOT LIKE "%be_groups%" AND deleted=0';
+		$workspaces = $GLOBALS['TYPO3_DB']->exec_SELECTgetRows('uid, adminusers', 'sys_workspace', $where);
+		$this->sqlQueries[] =  $GLOBALS['TYPO3_DB']->debug_lastBuiltQuery;
+		foreach($workspaces as $workspace) {
+			$updateArray = array(
+				'adminusers' => 'be_users_' . implode(',be_users_', t3lib_div::trimExplode(',', $workspace['adminusers'], TRUE)),
+			);
+			$resUp = $GLOBALS['TYPO3_DB']->exec_UPDATEquery(
+				'sys_workspace',
+				'uid = "' . $workspace['uid'] . '"',
+				$updateArray
+			);
+			$this->sqlQueries[] =  $GLOBALS['TYPO3_DB']->debug_lastBuiltQuery;
+		}
+	}
+
+	/**
 	 * Includes the TCA definition of installed extensions.
 	 *
 	 * This method is used because usually the TCA is included within the init.php script, this doesn't happen
Index: typo3/sysext/version/tca.php
===================================================================
--- typo3/sysext/version/tca.php	(revision 9262)
+++ typo3/sysext/version/tca.php	(working copy)
@@ -27,7 +27,8 @@
 			'config' => array(
 				'type' => 'group',
 				'internal_type' => 'db',
-				'allowed' => 'be_users',
+				'allowed' => 'be_users,be_groups',
+				'prepend_tname' => 1,
 				'size' => '3',
 				'maxitems' => '10',
 				'autoSizeMax' => 10,
