Differences between WSS and MOSS

Differences between WSS and MOSS

When thinking of WSS and MOSS, the important thing to understand is that WSS is the foundation and MOSS is an optional add-on. In fact, you cannot install MOSS by itself. If you try to do this, you will be requested to install WSS first. So, the question is: What differs between WSS and MOSS? If you have never seen SharePoint before, some of these answers might be hard to understand. Give it a try anyhow. The following chapters further flesh out the following points.
Windows SharePoint Services 3.0WSS 3.0 has the following characteristics:
# It is a web-based application.
# It stores all information in an MS SQL database.
# It displays information using web parts.
# It has good document-management features.
# It has a number of list types that you can use for storing all kinds of information.
# It allows you to build workflow solutions that start when a document is changed.
# It is perfect for simple, but effective, intranet solutions.
# It is ideal for collaboration on project data, meetings, social events, and the like.
# It has its own index and search engine.
# Its lists and libraries can operate as RSS Feeds.
# It comes with site temples for creating Wiki and Blog sites.
# It is a free add-on to MS Windows 2003 Server (any edition).
In other words, WSS is the perfect place to collect information for your projects, your customers, and your meetings। You can move all documents from your file system into WSS and by doing so get access to the powerful document-management features it offers. It is also a very good solution when you need local intranets for teams or departments. And all this is free when you run Windows 2003 Server!

But there are things that WSS does not offer। The following are just a few examples:

# There is no support for indexing and searching information outside the WSS.
# It has no advanced intranet features, such as targeted information and content management.
# It has no advanced document management features, such as document policies.
# It has no record management of legal and other important documents.
# It cannot display InfoPath forms in a web browser.
# It cannot display MS Excel spreadsheets as web parts.
# It comes with less than 10 web parts.
# It cannot read and write to and from external databases.
This is where MOSS comes in.
MS Office SharePoint Server 2007MOSS 2007 uses the same types of sites as WSS 3।0 but adds a lot of functionality to WSS 3.0, making it possible to do the following:

# Use global search functionality to find any type of information regardless of type and location.
# Target information to one or more user groups.
# Import user data from Active Directory.
# Use advanced content management for public Internet sites or portal sites.
# Use the RSS web part to list information fetched from RSS feeds.
# Display and use InfoPath forms with a web client, using the Forms Service.
# Display MS Excel spreadsheets and charts in a web part, using Excel Services.
# Search, display and edit content in external databases, such as SAP, using Business Data Catalog.
# Give each SharePoint user a personal web site, for both private and public use।

These characteristics make MOSS a very good solution for building public Internet sites or global intranets that are smart enough to show the right information to the right people. MOSS is also a good solution when you want to build a site for displaying business data, such as MS Excel spreadsheets, forms, and key performance indicators (KPIs)