Windows SharePoint Services vs Microsoft Office SharePoint Server

In this post, I will try to explain the difference between Windows Sharepoint Services (WSS) and Microsoft Office Sharepoint Server. People new to Sharepoint tend to use both terms interchangeably. However, these are two different products (although they are inter-related). In the following section, we will see the difference between the two.

Windows Sharepoint Services (WSS)


WSS is a part of Windows Server Technology including Server 2003 and 2008. It has to be installed separately and requires IIS 6.0+ and .NET 3.0 framework. After you have installed WSS, you have access to the following features:

• Sites, Lists
• Blogs, RSS Feeds
• Alerts, Workflows
• Creating Team Sites
• Document Management

The WSS also integrates with other Microsoft Office products including Outlook, Excel etc.

Microsoft Office Sharepoint Server (MOSS)


MOSS is a separate product offered under the Microsoft Office Umbrella. We have to purchase a separate license for this product. In addition to features provided by WSS, MOSS offers the following additional features:

• Business Intelligence
• Business Data Catalog
• Business Data Web Parts
• MySites (customizable personal sites for users)
• Advanced Workflows
• Policies
• Content Authoring

You can download the above two products from the following links:

WSS with SP
MOSS 2007 Trial Version with SP2

Stay tuned for more...