Microsoft has released 30 new SharePoint applications. These are free, downloadable applications that build on top of the company's SharePoint Services collaboration/workflow technology. Schedule-management, consumer-financing, employee-training, event-management, travel-request are just among some of the types of applications on offer. There are many other such apps on their way.

By the time Office 12 ships in the latter half of 2006, Microsoft will make a whole portfolio of these kinds of SharePoint applications available, said Jason Bunge, senior product manager with Windows SharePoint Services. This portfolio will include these 30 applications, plus some, as-yet-to-be-determined additional ones, Bunge said.