I attended the Microsoft Hosting Roadshow a few weeks back and met up with some of Microsoft’s top hosting dogs Tito Leverette and Chuck Ladd.
One of biggest questions that came to mind while talking to these chaps was the status on the FrontPage Server Extensions. Are they being supported or no?
After a couple of rounds with these guys and some research of my own later that day I was able to unravel the mystifying tale.
The FrontPage Server Extension support years have been a love and hate relationship for many hosters on both Linux and Windows sides. We have all wrestled with the portability culprits FPSE carries as well as many issues that we will never know the true nature of whether it’s plain publishing or just feedback form functionality. On the bright side, FrontPage and its server side extensions do bring some innovative functionality to the table while allowing easy publishing for quick web (1.0) creativity.
The FrontPage Server Extensions (FPSE) 2002 are part of the Office XP system of products. The Office XP system, including FPSE 2002, left mainstream support on July 11th, 2005, according to the Office lifecycle policy.
FPSE 2002 will continue to be supported by security updates through the end of the extended support period, and all existing security content will remain available. You may continue to install and support FPSE on Windows Server 2003 by installing the component under Add/Remove Programs. This is not the case for the upcoming Windows Server 2008. What does this mean for existing FrontPage users?
Ready to Run software bridges this gap by releasing FrontPage 2002 Server Extensions for the Windows 2008/IIS7 platform. This version of FPSE 2002 introduces no new functionality, and is essentially the same version that was created for Windows Server 2003. The release supports both 32 and 64 bit versions.
Find more here: http://www.iis.net/downloads/default.aspx?tabid=34&g=6&i=1531
On the client side in order to serve the needs of existing users and new adopters of Microsoft’s web weaving technology the company has decided on the following roles for new and existing tools.
I. SharePoint Designer 2007- This new application is part of the 2007 Microsoft Office lineup and allows for the utilization of the SharePoint platform as a framework to build on. This is of course beneficial if you are currently using or thinking of using SharePoint Technology as your CMS platform.
II. Expression Web- Geared for the professional web designer this new tool stand alone will allow you to create web experiences by integrating XML, CSS, and ASP.NET 2.0. This is more or less the evolution of FrontPage.
III. Visual Studio- Aimed at the professional developer it allows for you to build enterprise class type applications.
IV. Visual Studio Web- a.k.a. the “lite” version of Visual Studio.
All of these tools support the FPSE path for publishing along with other popular and secure alternatives.
Scott, http://onlinecares.com