I have been digging deeper into the new Personalization and profile features of MOSS 2007. I am stoked about the way this version of the product handles the user profiles and also allows you to bind data from your Business data Catalog to your Profiles (think PeopleSoft Data into your user profile !!)

Here's the bullet points I have gleaned so far:

• Property Improvements
• Support for MultiValued Properties
• Properties with Open or Closed Choice Lists - users can select froma list administered by the administrator (Closed Choice List) or Add new items themselves (Open Choice).. think "Tags"
• property Mapping with other data sources besides Active Directory (through the Business Data Catalog
• Property Privacy Policies - More options on who can see information, Me, My Manager, My Workgroup, My Colleagues, Everyone
• User Profile Import Improvements
• Import from any LDAP Compliant Datasource - If you happen to be using something other than Active Directory, you can use SahrePoint Now !!!
• Import Data from BDC to profile properties (you can also invke update methods to update the data in the backend datasource throug hte BDC when you update profile proerties.. this is NOT simple to imple,ent but would haave great value int he long run I think)
• My Site - profile Page
• Shows much more Social netowrking Information, My Colleagues, distro and site memberships, blog, etc...
• Personalization Sites
• Allows you to create "My HR", My Finaince" type web sites.. use targeting and personalization features of WSS to customize self service applications to the end user.
• memberships
• Membership in Distros and Sites is surfaced in multiple places int he portal and also int he Office Clients (My SharePoints)
• Colleagues

• Office SharePoint Server 2007 automatically adds your manager, your peers, and your direct reports as your colleagues. In addition, Office SharePoint Server 2007 allows you to add colleagues (people you know), so you can easily navigate to your colleagues’ My Site public pages. Office SharePoint Server 2007 also provides a Colleague Tracker Web Part on My Site, which tells you what changed about your colleagues. Also, when searching for people in your company, you can group by social distance so that your colleagues are displayed to you first. 

• Shared Context

• When a user visits another user’s Profile page, Office SharePoint Server 2007 shows all the commonalities between the two users, such as:

• Their common manager

• The DLs and Windows SharePoint Services V3 sites they are both a member of

• The colleagues they have in common

• Web Services

• YEAH - They now support updating the user profile through the web service Interfaces !

• Change Log

• There is a user profile change log maintained for audit purposes

• Audience Targeting

• SharePoint Portal Server 2003 supported targeting based on rules. Office SharePoint Server 2007 supports targeting based on rules-based audiences, Windows SharePoint Services V3 groups, and distribution list memberships. In addition, Office SharePoint Server 2007 provides the ability to target any list item, not just listings.

• People Search - FINALLY

• MOSS provides a search scope for just people. You can find people by name or by the user's public profile properties. The Enterprise Search feature in Office SharePoint Server 2007 supports property-based querying, social distance grouping, search refinement, and richer search results.

there are MANY more improvements.. THi sis just what stuck out at me from teh MOSS SDK.. I am starting to play in my spare time to see just how great these new features really are.

Enjoy !