Portal Server aggregates and presents content to the end user. The Desktop is the interface that the end user accesses to view the content for a portal site.
The Desktop organizes content into channels. Channels can display content that is provided in many formats, such as:
XML (extensible markup language)
JavaServer PagesTM (JSPTM) specification
RSS (really simple syndication)
HTML (hypertext markup language)
Portal Server implements a number of standards to simplify delivering content to the Desktop. These standards include the following:
The Java Specification Request (JSR) 168 standard, which allows portlets to run in multiple portal environments. Integrating custom applications is not necessary when the JSR 168 specification is used.
The J2EETM Connector Architecture (JCA), which allows application servers to access any data sources for which a resource application has been written.
Web services for remote portlets (WSRP) 1.0 standard, a web services protocol for integrating content and interactive web applications from remote sources.
For more information about the Desktop, see Chapter 2, Understanding the Standard Desktop.