Content Management Server 2002 Frequently Asked Questions

Microsoft is committed to providing customers with rich Web content management functionality for managing intranet, extranet, and Internet sites. The functionality that was previously available in CMS 2002 is now part of Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007, thereby unifying Web content management functionality into the SharePoint products and technologies foundation.

Microsoft supports automatic data migration from CMS 2002 to Office SharePoint Server 2007. You can use Office SharePoint Server 2007 features such as search, master pages, and authentication UI to retire custom code that was created to implement these features. The remaining custom code must be migrated manually.

For more migration resources, see Migration and Upgrade Information for SharePoint Developers.

Office SharePoint Server 2007 is the new product that provides the Web content management functionality which was previously provided by CMS 2002. If you own CMS 2002 licenses under active Software Assurance, you have the rights to use Office SharePoint Server 2007. The exact transitions of CMS 2002 licenses to Office SharePoint Server 2007 will be defined in the November 2006 update to the product list.

Customer support for CMS 2002 will be offered according to the usual Microsoft support guidelines. Mainstream support remains available for CMS 2002 until January 2008, after which the product enters extended support until January 2013.

For a Web content management solution for extranet or Internet-facing sites, get Office SharePoint Server 2007 for Internet sites. This product is licensed on a per-server basis and does not require the purchase of client access licenses (CALs).

For intranet-facing Web content management solutions, get Office SharePoint Server 2007 and CALs for the number of users on the intranet.

If you do not have Software Assurance, or your agreement expires before November 1, 2006, you must purchase new licenses of Office SharePoint Server 2007. A benefit of Software Assurance is that customers are eligible for future upgrades to the product.

The license transitions will be specified in the update to the product list in November 2006. You can also contact your Microsoft account team for additional information.