As was the “60 Hive”, the “12 Hive” is the starting place for everything SharePoint in WSS v3. I’ve mapped some of the key IIS virtual directories and built-in site definitions below:
But what is it about Microsoft versioning that goofs up all their version numbers? You may have noticed that I've changed the name of my blog from "the 60 Hive" to "the 12 Hive" to match the new WSS v3 structure. But, 60 --> 12, what is Microsoft thinking? Is this twice (6.0x2=12) the release or perhaps one fifth the release (60*0.2=12)?
Not that Microsoft has a good track record on this front. Consider the Microsoft Windows operating system was first labeled with standard numerical version numbers (Windows 1.0 through Windows 3.11), then by years (Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows 2000), and also by alphanumeric codes (Windows Me, Windows XP). All the while versions of Windows from 95 on have continued the standard numerical versions internally: Windows 95 is Windows 4.0, 98 is 4.10, 2000 is (NT) 5.0, Me is 4.9, XP is (NT) 5.1, 2003 is (NT) 5.2, and Vista is (NT) 6.0 (excerpts from WikiPedia.com).
Windows Operating System Versions
• Windows 1.0
• Windows 2.0
• Windows 3.0
• Windows 3.1
• Windows 3.11
• Windows 3.51 (NT)
• Windows 95
• Windows 98
• Windows 4 (NT)
• Windows 2000
• Windows ME
• Windows XP
• Windows 2003
• Windows Vista
(more details here)
While officially part of the operating system Windows SharePoint Services version 3 (WSS v3) is the foundation for Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 (MOSS). Coupled with tight integration in the Office clients and WSS v3 feels like it is part of Office. But the Office team hasn’t done much better on this front:
Microsoft Office Versions (excerpts pieced together from various sources and just from my memory)
• Office 3.0 released August 30, 1992: CD-ROM version: Word 2.0c, Excel 4.0a, PowerPoint 3.0, Mail (repackaged as Office 92).
• Office 4.0 released January 17, 1994: Word 6.0, Excel 4.0, PowerPoint 3.0.
• Office for NT 4.2 released July 3, 1994: Word 6.0 [32-bit, i386 and Alpha], Excel 5.0 [32-bit, i386 and Alpha], PowerPoint 4.0 [16-bit], "Microsoft Office Manager".
• Office 4.3 released June 2, 1994: the last 16-bit version; Word 6.0, Excel 5.0, PowerPoint 4.0, Mail 3.2 and in the pro version, Access 2.0. Last version to support Windows 3.x.
• Office 95 (7.0) released August 30, 1995: Word 7 for Windows 95, etc. - coincided with the Windows 95 release.
• Office 97 (8.0) released December 30, 1996: Word 97, etc. was published on CD-ROM as well as on a set of 45 3½-inch floppy disks), was Y2K safe with Service Release 2.
• Office 2000 (9.0) released January 27, 1999: Word 2000, etc. Last version to support Windows 95.
• Office XP (10.0) released May 31, 2001: Word 2002, etc. Last version to support Windows 98/ME. Improved support for working in restricted accounts under Windows 2000/XP
• Office 2003 (11.0) released November 17, 2003: Word 2003, etc.
• Office 2007 (12.0) released November 6, 2006: Word 2007, etc.
• Office ???? (13.0) will never be released, Microsoft is skipping Version 13 and going straight to Office 14.0
So, I predict that a few years from now my blog will be renamed to “the 14 Hive” (that sounds hard to say, doesn't it?).
As an aside, I’ve been traveling and training for the last 12 (like the 12 Hive) of 15 weeks (yikes!). My evenings have also been very full learning, writing courseware, learning, writing book chapters, and learning. Never stop learning or you become an old dog (I guess) - no new tricks, right?
Watch for new tricks in the coming weeks.
PS: 40 (four ohhh) was FrontPage Server Extentions 2002, 50 (five ohhh - like the TV show) was SharePoint Team Services, 60 (six ohhh) was Windows SharePoint Services 2.0, and 12 (twelve) is Windows SharePoint Services 3.0. It's not twelve ohhh but at first it's hard not to say that.
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