The export is the "Edit in Datasheet" or the ability to
export a list to excel which uses a special Web query file.

This is very helpful. Hopefully these tools can be installed  after the
fact.

Yes, the SharePoint components In Office Tools (for Office XP) can be installed
afterward through add/remove programs in Contol Panel choosing Microsoft Office
and then going through modify and choosing custom install.

The Export to Excel and Edit in Datasheet feature requires Excel
2003. It won't work with previous versions.

The tools everyone is referring to don't work quite the way you've
been told. Here's the breakdown:

- The tools shipped with Office XP are for SharePoint 2001.
- These tools will only work with the backwards-compatible document
library in 2003. They will not work with anything stored in the
standard SQL-backed document store in 2003.
- There is currently no way to make the "Edit with Office" items work
with Office XP with a SQL-backed store.
- The links can be removed by editing a configration file on the SP
2003 server. The file is "Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft
Shared\web server extensions\60\TEMPLATE\XML\docicon.xml" - this file
defines the mapping of the icons and whether the "Edit with Office"
appears on a extension-by-extension basis.

I am running SharePoint 2003 with the backend on a SQL server. I am not running
the backward compatible components. From my desktop running Office XP, when I
go to a document on SharePoint 2003 and click on edit in Microsoft Word, I am
able to edit the document...so your statement that you can not edit documents in
SPS2003 with SQL backend with Office XP is incorrect.

Thank you for the clarification. We will probably look into deploying
Office 2003 slowly but surely.

So it looks like we have other factors influencing this. We are just
getting the components installed  and I will let you know our outcome
later today or next week.

There is a document by MS called "Good - Better - Best" that states the
compatibility of the different office  suites with SPS 2003. MS considers
Office 200 as "GOOD" because it does not have the Sharepoint component
to interact with SPS 2003. MS considers Office XP as "BETTER" and Office
2003 as "BEST". You can find this document on the MS site.

This document does not specifically address the links on the drop down
menus. It is fairly specific about some other items but not these links.

Can you be more specific which dropdown menus you are reffering to?
Those little Smart Tag like ones you see with Office 2003 when
hovering over a member of a site/workspace? Or those when you hover
and click on a document stored in a document library?

I was speaking of the menus when you hover over a document stored in a
document library.

And the verdict is....it worked for us. Running Windows 2000
Professional, Office 2002 (XP) with the Sharepoint Components added, and
IE 6.0. It does not work on our base install of Office which did not
include the Sharepoint components.

That's interesting (and thanks for sharing). I was under the
impression that the SharePoint components in Office XP were only
designed to work with SharePoint Portal Server 2001...