I talk to many customers who have trouble understanding the Microsoft SharePoint versions that have existed since around 2003, so I have provided a very simple chart with the various naming conventions used in the industry:
Approx. Year | Free Edition | Free Edition Abbrev. | Paid Edition | Paid Edition Abbrev. |
---|---|---|---|---|
2003 | Windows SharePoint Services 2.0 | WSS 2.0 | SharePoint Portal Server 2003 | SPS 2003 |
2007 | Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 | WSS 3.0 | Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 | MOSS 2007 |
2010 | SharePoint Portal Foundation 2010 | SPF 2010 | SharePoint Portal Server 2010 | SPS 2010 |
While I am researching database options for the “free” editions of SharePoint, I thought I would add some clarity based on my understanding. WSS 3.0 came with Windows Internal Database (WID), which has now been discontinued in favor of SQL Server Express. Unlike SQL Server Express, the WID database did not have size limits of 4GB (note, the new SQL Server 2008 R2 Express limit is 10GB, as opposed to 4GB). So, if you are upgrading from WSS 3.0 with WID to SPF 2010 with SQL Server Express and you had over 4GB of data in your WID DB, you might want to review this article — you may also be interested in SQL Server Express’s Remote BLOB Storage (RBS) capabilities.
I hope this helps!