SharePoint Version Comparison (v 1.0)

Owned by Almuth Boehme [Communardo]
Aug 18, 2016
2 min read

SharePoint Versions Overview

Microsoft has two primary versions of SharePoint:

  • Windows SharePoint Services (WSS) v3 - This is the free/unlicensed version of SharePoint that is built upon Windows Server 2003/2008, SQL Server 2000/2005, IIS, ASP.Net 2.0, and .NET 2.0/3.0. All you need is a licensed copy of Windows Server 2003 or Windows Server 2008 and you are good to go.  There are no other licensing costs unless you want the full-fledged version of SQL Server.
  • Microsoft Office SharePoint Server (MOSS) 2007 - This is the licensed version of SharePoint that is built upon WSS v3. It has two primary versions: MOSS 2007 Standard and MOSS 2007 Enterprise, but there are a host of other licensing options as well such as the ability to use Microsoft Search Server 2008 or Microsoft Search Server 2008 Express with WSS instead of MOSS.

For more details on the differences between these versions see:

SharePoint Connector for Confluence Feature Comparison Matrix

Here is a comparison matrix showing what features of the SharePoint Connector for Confluence are available against the various flavors of WSS/MOSS.

 

Content Embedding 1

MOSS SSO 2

Integrated Search 3

WSS

yes

no

no

WSS w/ Search Server Express

yes

no

probably / manual config 4

WSS w/ Search Server

yes

no

probably / manual config 4

MOSS Standard

yes

yes

yes

MOSS Enterprise

yes

yes

yes

1 Content Embedding refers to the ability to show Confluence pages in SharePoint using the Confluence Page and Confluence Pages Tree View web parts as well as the ability to show SharePoint content in Confluence using the List macro.
2 The MOSS Single Sign-On (SSO) Service is useful only if you are not using AD and NTLM for both SharePoint and Confluence. A single sign-on experience can be provided without MOSS SSO if AD and NTLM are used by both. See Authentication Configuration for more details.
3 Integrated Search refers to the ability to search both SharePoint and Confluence by originating a search request from within either SharePoint or Confluence.
4 Searching Confluence content from either version of Microsoft Search Server 2008 has not been tested. It should be able to do so, but loses the ability to easily set up the Configuration through the custom Confluence search configuration screens. See Search Configuration for Search Server 2008 for more details.

Notable Points

Some notable points are:

  • For the SharePoint Connector for Confluence there is no difference between MOSS Standard and MOSS Enterprise.
  • If you use NTLM with both Confluence and SharePoint, MOSS SSO is not a factor.
  • Other than high availability, the free Microsoft Search Server Express product is just as good as the standard Search Server, but please be aware that searching Confluence content has not been tested with either version of Search Server.