What is the relationship between Windows SharePoint Services, Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007, and Microsoft Office SharePoint Designer?

I have received this question and I make sure that I make the clarification at every event that includes a SharePoint discussion. Here is your short, and to the sweet, answer:

Windows SharePoint Services is a key component of Microsoft SharePoint Products and Technologies, which include:

Windows SharePoint Services, formerly named SharePoint Team Services, a versatile technology in Windows Server 2003. In addition to its collaborative features, Windows SharePoint Services also exposes platform services and a common framework for document storage and management, as well as search, workflow, rights management, administration, and deployment features. These services provide the foundation for building scalable business applications.

Office SharePoint Server 2007 (MOSS) is an integrated suite of easy-to-use server applications that help people and teams improve their efficiency and effectiveness. Office SharePoint Server 2007 connects sites, people, and business processes—facilitating knowledge sharing by offering ready-to-go, enterprise-wide functionality for records management, search, workflows, portals, personalized sites, and more. Office SharePoint Server 2007 extends the capabilities of Windows SharePoint Services by providing highly flexible organization and management tools for SharePoint sites, and by making it possible for teams to publish information to the entire organization.

Office SharePoint Designer 2007 provides tools for customizing Windows SharePoint Services and Office SharePoint Server 2007 sites, and for creating reporting tools and application templates without writing new code or deploying new code on your servers.

Now you know.

Comments

• Anonymous
  October 11, 2007
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• Anonymous
  October 11, 2007
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• Anonymous
  October 12, 2007
  Thanks for the explanation, I think this is good. But what I really confused about is if there are seperate products called “Sharepoint Server for Search”, “Sahrepoint Server Enterprise”, “Sharepoint Server for Search Enterprise”, “Sharepoint Server Standard” I have seen all of these terms on various web pages on the Microsoft Sharepoint site. Thank you REPLY Yes, there are different versions and you choose based on your organizational requirements.  Here is the link to the document that contains the complete breakdown of features in each SharePoint editions: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/help/HA101978031033.aspx.  Thanks for your feedback. It is much appreciated.  

• Anonymous
  October 15, 2007
  Thanks for your reply, I had seen that document and it did little to reduce my confusion. Is "Office SharePoint Server 2007 Enterprise CAL" just a special client license for (implied by CAL in the name) Sharepoint server standard? REPLY The CALs can be purchased in by either the Standard CAL or the Enterprise CAL.  the Standar CAL gives you the rights to use the standard features such as workflow, content management, outlook integration.  The Enterprise CAL gives your the rights to use such advanced features such as Excel services to publish Excel spreadsheets, or forms on a SharePoint site, or using the Business Data Catalog to pull data from backend LOB databases; all would require you to have the Enterprise CAL for your users.  Now the Enterprise CAL is an additive CAL. It must be purchased with the Standard CAL; not alone.  You can however purchase the Standard CAL alone.