Customer comments on this selection.
 for power users
When I get a Definitive Guide from O'Reilly I expect a book with technical depth. Instead, what I got this time, was a shallow book more appropriate for power users. For example, on pages 200 through 204 we get told all about uploading files, complete with step-by-step click on this and click on that, as well as screen shots. On page 204 we also find out about "Email-enabled document libraries". Here's a chance to provide some technical depth. But what do the authors do? They punt, pointing you at Microsoft's documentation. Speaking of authors, this is one of those book by committee books, and reads like a collection of chapters instead of a book.
 Good broad (but shallow) coverage of SharePoint
This book's very broad in its coverage of SharePoint 2007 and sacrifices depth for that breadth. While there are several chapters on development-related topics, development isn't the book's forte. Rather, the book's really targeted to giving a lot of background and foundational information for folks wanting to implement Windows SharePoint Services (WSS) or Microsoft Office SharePoint Server (MOSS).
11 different contributors make some parts of the book difficult with their wide range of voices, and there are a number of clunky parts and some flat-out errors. (One minor example: A diagram of server topology switched the labels between the web front ends and application servers.)
Those nits aside, the book's well done and a solid resource for folks moving in to the WSS/MOSS arena. The sections on architecture, installation, and topology are all fine bits for discovering the broad strokes. The remaining chapters hit functional jobs like site design, managing workspaces/discussions/groups/libraries, etc. as well as mid-level views of business intelligence, Excel Services, Forms Services, and security.
Each chapter does a nice job of covering its topic with good introductory passages and a nice summary. Most chapters have a plethora of well-done, targeted screen shots backing up the content for that chapter. From time to time the particular author will call out pitfalls (nicely denoted with a trap graphic) and discuss issues surrounding that problem. I also like that the authors didn't try to push "Best Practice!" fluff throughout the book. (My biases come up here since 1) I hate the phrase "Best Practice" since it may be "Best" for you but completely "Suck" for me and 2) MOSS/WSS in their current incarnations are too new to have solid, industry-wide guidance anyway.)
Overall, I've gotten some very good value out of the book and wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to others, aside from making sure it's understood that the book's not one for understanding the mid-level or more complex areas of WSS/MOSS.
 Comprehensive
SharePoint 2007 is a huge topic to try and cover, but the authors (all 11! of them) do a tremendous job covering as much about SharePoint as is possible in a single book. In going through this book, I dare say there isn't a single SharePoint 2007 topic that isn't at least mentioned. In any case, it's certainly the most comprehensive SharePoint 2007 book that I have come across.
I felt the book was well organized and easy to read. Since SharePoint is potentially a very boring subject, the authors spice up the book (and help with the clarity) by providing a lot of SharePoint screenshots that correspond with the written text. I also appreciated the standard O'Reilly warning icons, indicating a potential point of trouble in configuring SharePoint.
At the risk of simply identifying each chapter in the book, the authors take the reader through a SharePoint site from start to finish. They begin with the installation, and all that can or should be configured at that time. The discussion continues through the configuration of sites, workspaces, and libraries.
While there were a few items in the book I wish received more mention, I realize this cannot be helped in a book covering as vast a subject as SharePoint. While there is a very good chapter on using the SharePoint object model, I would have liked to see much more than this. Additionally, I would have liked to see further discussion on customizing the UI of a SharePoint application. But again, that just isn't possible for a subject as vast as this.
While there are a few topics I would have liked more detail on, this is a excellent book on SharePoint 2007. Through the text, the reader is taken step-by-step through all practical aspects of a SharePoint 2007 installation and configuration. I would highly recommend this book for SharePoint administrators as well as portal admins.
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