The reason I'm asking this is because I've just received a TechNet Flash email from Microsoft in which there is a plug for "Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 Inside Out".

(Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0735623236/heme0f - Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0735623236/heme)

yet while it's true that this is recently out, my experience with earlier Inside Out books that I have seen (on other topics it's true) is that they are rather bland and - dare I as an MVP say it - "follow the party line".

Now I've not seen this particular Inside Out book but given a choice between the two general SharePoint v3 books that came out recently, that isn't the one I would go for.

Instead I'd pick C.A. Callahan's "Mastering Windows SharePoint Services 3.0"

(Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0470127287/heme0f - Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0470127287/heme)

because based on her replies to many questions in the public SharePoint newsgroups she has delved deeply into the product during the time she was writing the book.

In other words I expect somewhat more than the party line from her.

P.P.S. The above general comments about MS Press books *are* general and they apply mainly to the more general series.

I imagine that for Developers both "Inside Windows SharePoint Services 3.0" (which I've seen)

(Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0735623201/heme0f - Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0735623201/heme)

and "Inside Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007" (which I haven't seen)

(Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0735623686/heme0f - Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0735623686/heme)

offer as much depth as any of the developer books that don't come from Microsoft Press.