Microsoft's upcoming release of its SharePoint Web collaboration
platform Version 2.0 will focus on customisation and be part of the
Windows .net Server 2003 operating system.
SharePoint Team Services 2.0 - To be built on top of the Microsoft
.net Framework programming model and shipping mid-2003 - will first
be released as a separate add-on and then be included with the
operating system itself. A technical beta release is due this
autumn while a broader marketing beta is planned for next
winter.
One element, Web parts, allows developers to insert components on
Web pages for functions such as showing or listing enterprise data,
said Michael Morton, Microsoft lead program manager for
SharePoint.
SharePoint 2.0 relies on Microsoft's ASP .net for page extensions.
ASP .net is a set of technologies for building Web applications and
XML Web Services, according to Microsoft. With ASP .net, pages
execute on the server and generate markup such as XML or HTML that
is sent to a desktop or mobile browser.
Other highlights of Version 2.0 include an object model for
accessing SharePoint information and an XML Soap layer.
Another SharePoint product, SharePoint Portal Server, will remain
separate from the operating system.