Topics in this chapter   Introducing Microsoft's SharePoint Team Services     Introducing Office XP Workgroup Strategies     Microsoft Web Solutions

Introducing Office XP Workgroup Strategies

New features in Microsoft Office XP make it easier than ever for users to find the information they need and share it with each other. Many of these features take advantage of network and Internet technologies, and rely on an intranet or the Internet to store or retrieve information. Office XP, by including these features, extends the reach of individuals and teams as they communicate about projects and ideas and share information.

Among the new workgroup features included in Office XP are:

• Network places and Web folders

  Users can store information easily in folders that reside on network, Web, FTP, or Microsoft Exchange 2000 servers. After users create a shortcut to a network place, they can copy, save, or manage folders and files from within Network Places as if they were working on their local computer.

• Save My Settings wizard

  Users can save and transport their custom Office user configuration. They can save their settings to a Microsoft Web server and take them with them to a new computer whenever necessary.

• Communities on the Web

  Users can create online communities to share information about projects with team members, or to share personal information with friends and family.

• Office XP Web Components and Web queries

  Users can integrate data from Microsoft Excel or Microsoft Access, and include charts and pivot tables in HTML documents. Users can post data as static, or keep data synchronized with Web queries.

• Search

  Users can find what they need when they need it with Office XP Search, which is part of the new task pane in every Office XP application. Users can search through files on their computer, items in Microsoft Outlook, or on their network.

As an administrator, you want to know exactly what type of information is being shared, and how. And, you may want control over where that information is shared. For example, the new search features in Office XP allow users to search on their local hard drives, on a network drive, on an intranet, or even on the Internet. As an administrator, you can change settings that allow searching on any internal resources (such as the network or intranet) but block searching on the Internet.

Most of these features are installed by default when you install Office XP. As an Office XP administrator, there are certain things you can control about how these features are installed and used. For more information, see the topics under Workgroup Technologies on the Office XP Resource Kit Web site at http://microsoft.com/office/ork.