Microsoft SharePoint is a good software package that is used for web-based collaboration and document management. It is basically used for hosting web sites, and accessing documents. All of these are accessed from a web browser. There are many SharePoint related products offered by Microsoft.

One of which is the Windows SharePoint Services, with the other being the Microsoft Office SharePoint Server. Another related product is the Microsoft Office SharePoint Designer. Windows SharePoint Services positions as a free supporting application for Windows Server. It allows users to edit documents in HTTP and HTTPS. It is also used to organize documents such as document libraries, wikis, and blogs. There are tools that make certain functionalities easier to manage, such as message boards, alerts, and lists. The Microsoft Office SharePoint Server, on the other hand, is part of the Microsoft Office server suite. It is used together with Windows SharePoint Services, with the former providing more features for the latter. Some of the additions include an improved system in organizing documents, an enterprise search feature, RSS support, and other features from the application Microsoft Content Management Server. One of the advantages of the Microsoft Office SharePoint Server is that it is easily integrated with other Microsoft Office applications. An Enterprise edition of the software includes functionality for Excel Services, which can be used for data analysis. It also works with the Microsoft Project Server application for project management purposes. Users with limited computer knowledge can use the Microsoft Office SharePoint Designer to design SharePoint web sites. It is similar in function to Microsoft FrontPage, which is used to design generic HTML web sites. It is classified as a WYSIWYG editor, so a newbie will find it very easy to use. Collaboration features include the addition of Forums, Blogs, RSS Feeds, and Wikis as part of the platform. This makes it easier to work with web related functions that incorporates those elements. The Enterprise search feature used in SharePoint has recently been repackaged for use in Microsoft Search Server. It is very similar to the Windows Search function with regards to the query engine and the index system. As mentioned earlier, Microsoft SharePoint works well with other Microsoft products. This means that it is a good system to use when other Microsoft products are used heavily in the workplace. Web content management is made easier as it works with Microsoft ASP.Net and Visual Studio.Net. The search functionality is similar to the Windows Search interface so a certain comfort level is attained.