SharePoint Product and Service Overview

The SharePoint products received a service pack for compatibility with Windows Server 2008 in late 2007. Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 SP1 and SharePoint Server 2007 SP1 are the only versions of the SharePoint products that will run on the new server OS. Subsequent July 2008 updates (not shown in the illustration) for both products fixed a variety of bugs related to workflow and content deployment that were not resolved by the respective SP1 releases for those products. In addition, the July 2008 updates improve performance and add several new search features for Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 and SharePoint Server 2007. SP2 is expected in Apr. 2009.

SharePoint Online Standard, a Microsoft-hosted version of Windows SharePoint Services, launched in Nov. 2008. Microsoft already hosts SharePoint Server on dedicated servers for organizations with 5,000 users or more in a service called SharePoint Online Dedicated.

An enterprise search product called Search Server 2008 shipped in Mar. 2008. Search Server is a renamed and updated version of SharePoint Server for Search (an edition of SharePoint Server 2007 specialized for enterprise search), and includes a free Express edition. The product and SharePoint Server will probably incorporate technologies acquired with search vendor Fast Search and Transfer (FAST) in Jan. 2008, but such consolidation is unlikely before 2013. Microsoft says it will continue offering Search Server (or a similarly inexpensive equivalent) along with the full version of SharePoint Server and FAST ESP for at least one more release, called Search Server 14 here.