Datasheet
Chapter 1: Microsoft Offi ce SharePoint Services 2007 (MOSS)
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Open source alternatives to SharePoint are available and, of course, are free. But like everything in life,
there is no free lunch and at some point you will be required to spend money either implementing these
options or getting enterprise - level professional support. My own personal view is that I want software
that will do a particular task or serve a particular purpose. If that ’ s from Microsoft, then that ’ s fine.
If something from the open source community can do the job as well, that ’ s fine, too. In my view, open
source software that provides the functionality, features, and integration with Microsoft Office that
SharePoint does is just not there at the moment.
Browser Support
There are some issues in terms of cross - browser support. In my environment, there has been nothing that
has not been resolvable using third - party add - ins. Browser support is essentially IE version 6 and above
(preferably version 7) at the top of the list with everything else classified as a level 2 browser. I have
successfully used SharePoint with Firefox, Safari, Opera, and Google Chrome all with some success. Of
course, some features are not available but nothing that was show stopping. For the standard user the
browser has not been a hindrance. It is important, if you are responsible for site administration, to use
Internet Explorer to have access to the full range of admin features required. In terms of users, in many
corporate environments the browser used can be centrally dictated. However, if others are accessing the
sites, you cannot force them into using a level 1 browser such as Internet Explorer. In that case, you must
ensure that they can make full use of the sites and are not disadvantaged as a result of using another
browser. As stated, when using Internet Explorer you will have access to all the functionality of
SharePoint. Support for other browsers, classified as level 2, is slightly different depending on the
browser. The following features are not available on browsers other than Internet Explorer 6 and above:
Edit in Datasheet
Edit in Office Application
Multiple File Upload
Web Part Connections
Rich Text Toolbar
Slide Library
Open Snapshot
Sorting and Filtering Excel Services
InfoPath Rich Text
A full listing of browsers and the limitations is available at
http://technet.microsoft.com/en - us/
library/cc263526.aspx
.
The following list shows those features in SharePoint that are either not supported or have limited
support in other browsers — mainly Firefox and Safari. It is adapted from a Microsoft TechNet list
available at
http://technet.microsoft.com .
Edit in Datasheet view.
Edit in Microsoft Application. You will be unable to open a document directly for edit using
Firefox or Safari. You will need to download the document locally and save changes back to the
server.
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