Still playing catch up on all the Microsoft goings on while I was away in Las Vegas last week: On Nov. 17, Microsoft put up a free 30-day trial for Windows SharePoint Services. Specific details are available here and trial here.

Windows SharePoint Services is the collaborative workspace technology included with Windows Server 2003. Formerly known as SharePoint Team Services, the technology lets users create an online workspace for sharing calendars, contacts, tasks or documents. So, rather than schlep documents back and forth over e-mail, where it’s sometimes unclear who is working on which version, collaborators go to the shared workspace. I find the common workspace to be a more sensible approach. For example, collaborators wouldn’t be passing around potentially confidential information via e-mail, which too easily could be pouched during transmission.

Microsoft touts Windows SharePoint Services as the logical replacement for more-traditional file shares. That’s OK, if a business is mostly or wholly standardized on Microsoft software. Otherwise, businesses with heterogeneous networks may find that information placed in a shared workspace may not be available to other computers on the network. File shares may not be the easiest way to consolidate information, but they are accessible from most clients. With Windows SharePoint Services, Windows is required to gain fullest access to information in shared workspaces.

The trial, which is hosted by Apptix, is a good way for businesses to explore how useful Windows SharePoint Services might be--whether hosted internally or by a third-party service provider.