Datasheet

Comparing WSS and SharePoint
Many organizations struggle with understanding which of the SharePoint products is most appropriate
for their needs. The following sections identify some differences between the products and usage scenar-
ios for each. While this book has been written to specifically review SharePoint from the perspective of
SharePoint 2007 and SharePoint Portal Server 2003
If you’re familiar with SharePoint Server 2007’s predecessor, SharePoint Portal
Server 2003, you might appreciate a quick look at the changes in the new version.
While SharePoint Portal Server 2003 offered a great method of aggregating content
from multiple sites to a single, easy-to-navigate location, the process was depend-
ent on a user’s manual actions to publish the links to the portal areas, a depend-
ency that highlighted the platform’s shortcomings. If the person who updated
content forgot to publish a link to the portal, business decision makers could not
access information.
Microsoft responded with SharePoint Server 2007, which offers tools and
features that automate business processes and content aggregations. Built-in Web
Parts, such as a site aggregator and Content Query Web Part meant that the site
administrators can specify what content should automatically roll up to the main
portal sites, eliminating manual updates and resulting in sites with up-to-date
information.
With 2007, the technology in the top-level portal sites is exactly the same as that
available on the team sites. This was not the case for SharePoint Portal Server,
where there was a very distinct difference between working in a team site and
working with portal content. Users had to learn each separate tool and there was
confusion as to what activities were appropriate for each location.
The architectural changes and feature enhancements make it possible for you to use
SharePoint for a wider range of organizations and scenarios. SharePoint Portal
Server required that users authenticate using a Windows-based authentication sys-
tem and Active Directory for user profile information. Because of its platform
enhancements, SharePoint 2007 uses a variety of systems for authentication due
and supports multiple authentication providers as well as LDAP sources for user
profile information. In addition, SharePoint has much better support for extranet
and Internet-facing scenarios.
SharePoint Portal Server 2003 has no mechanism for automated workflow or busi-
ness processes. SharePoint 2007 includes several workflow templates that business
users can further customize to suit their specific requirements.
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Chapter 1: Getting Started with Microsoft Office SharePoint Server
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