  I will review the basic properties of S0 galaxies in the local Universe in
relation to both elliptical and spiral galaxies, their neighbours on the Hubble
sequence, and also in relation to dwarf spheroidal (dSph) galaxies. This will
include colours, luminosities, spectral features, information about the age and
metallicity composition of their stellar populations and globular clusters,
about their ISM content, as well as kinematic signatures and their implications
for central black hole masses and past interaction events, and the number
ratios of S0s to other galaxy types in relation to environmental galaxy
density. I will point out some caveats as to their morphological discrimination
against other classes of galaxies, discuss the role of dust and the wavelength
dependence of bulge/disk light ratios. These effects are of importance for
investigations into the redshift evolution of S0 galaxies -- both as individual
objects and as a population. The various formation and transformation scenarios
for S0 and dSph galaxies will be presented and confronted with the available
observations.
