Nice synopsis of the issues, Wes...

One little factual note:  Server Extensions are not automatically installed
with IIS on NT machines.  One must manually add them after the fact.  We at
the Business School are running a 100% NT shop and have not successfully
installed server extensions on a legacy machine without ruining the existing
web permissions structure.  We will be installing office extensions on a new
server that is to be used in a web development course offered by the folks
in CS next semester, but we can do so only because there is no legacy
information to interfere with the installation.

As an alleged rabid proponent of the "Microsoft Way", perhaps I ought to put
in my two cents.  I personally use a glorified text editor (UltraEdit,
shareware) to do all the web development for the Business School.  I have at
my disposal, all the versions of FrontPage and Interdev, and have chosen not
to use either.  FrontPage and Interdev with extensions are wonderful.
FrontPage without extensions is a bear to work with.  Possible but painful.

The Business School has not, up to this point supported the extended
features of FrontPage or Office 2000 that use these extensions.  My personal
hope was to wait for WebDAV  to get of the ground.  WebDAV is supposed to be
a nifty open extension to HTTP that would allow these types of advanced
features to be available in all web development platforms.  WebDAV is
allegedly not a Microsoft specific implementation, although it is being
built into IIS 5.0 (released with Win2000) and once in place, web
development suites of any brand and flavor would be able to interact with
any server supporting WebDAV in the same (or better) way as FrontPage.

In the mean time, I think the web team made as good a decision as could be
made in their situation.  Cross platform compatibility is critical in the
campus-wide environment.  We won't end up using either recommended product,
but CIT won't be getting any calls from me expecting them to help me fix my
web site.

If anyone has any further questions on Microsoft Server Extensions, Office
Extensions or WebDAV, I'll be happy to answer what I know or direct you to
web sites with the latest info.

Rob

Rob Rohr     mailto:[log in to unmask]
UVM - School of Business Administration
230 Kalkin Hall  :  (802) 656-0800
Find My Office (IE4 or higher):
     http://bart.uvm.edu/map/map.asp?find=rohr


-----Original Message-----
From: Wesley Alan Wright [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Monday, December 13, 1999 11:35 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: More on HTML/website development tools decision


Here is a longwinded discussion of the recent CIT HTML/website
development tools decision. <snip>