Exchange Server 2010

As I’m sure you’ve all heard by now Microsoft is putting the word out on Exchange Server 2010 today. This is exciting as usual and there are some great features that Microsoft and others will be talking about, among other features (that Martin Tuip has posted) there are:

• Built-in Archiving
• JBOD support (yes – JBOD)
• The updated OWA interface (details from Paul Robichaux)
• Mail Tips
• Updated Conversation View
• Some UM improvements (details from Technet Edge)
• Remote upgrade of Windows Mobile Clients
• Outlook connections moving from the Mailbox Server to the CAS
• Updated transport rules
• Updated Admin tools (including remote powershell support)

Of course the features that got me the most interested were all around HA, storage, and the database again – I guess it can be hard teaching an old dog new tricks… The database story is continuing down the path that was started with Exchange Server 2007 and now there are no more storage groups, clustered mailbox servers, or support for replicating Public Folders with the improved database replication technology. Yes that means Public Folders still exist (I’ll talk more about that later though)…

There are lots of things to talk about and I will post some additional information about the features soon as well as a better analysis about what it means to you. In the meantime feel free to go download the Exchange Server 2010 beta, read through Scott’s installation instructions, check out Joel’s features posts and forums, read through the press releases including Mary Jo’s announcement. Of course Microsoft is announcing details on their Exchange Team Blog as well…

Windows Mobile vs. iPhone

I came across this cartoon today after reading Jason Landridge’s blog and thought it was quite funny…..As you may know, I recently purchased a windows mobile device (moving from a blackberry device)…..

I wonder what the same conversation would look like with a blackberry in the picture….

So far it’s great to have email, camera, voice, music, etc all on one device……but…….rebooting the device daily, not switching between network services smoothly (requiring a reboot to force it), email connections timing out (requiring another reboot), waiting for five to ten minutes for an application to switch, etc are all a usability pain in the $&%…….

Blackberry did it better…..I am not sure Apple will though (my old ipod needed resets regularly, had long wait times, connectivity to the desktop issues, and of course battery issues)…..

I’m holding out for WM 6 (T-Mobile needs to make it available for the Dash), or the Windows Mobile iPhone…..before I say Windows Mobile is annoying or even bad…..Then again some reviews I’ve read say WM 6 is still slow and flaky…

Push email for Hotmail!

I just came across Mayurk’s post detailing a way to push hotmail email messages to a windows mobile 6 device…I am not sure what they are doing here to accomplish this…I’ve heard Windows Mobile 6 is not OMA compliant so is this an almost OMA-DS (SyncML) implementation or is it something a little more proprietary then that?

Either way it’s good news and really begins to move both Windows Live Mail (hotmail) and the Windows Mobile 6 platform into the mainstream…Hopefully it works better than WM5…

Exchange 2007: Service Pack 1 (official details)

Thanks for getting the initial Exchange 2007 Service Pack 1 details out to everyone so soon Terry!!

This is answered my big questions:

Will they fix the failover scenarios between sites for CCR?

Standby Continuous Replication (SCR)

Will POP/IMAP have a management interface?

Exchange Management Console

SP1 will fill in the GUI holes that we just didn’t have time to complete by RTM, including:

• Public folder configuration
• POP and IMAP configuration

Will Longhorn really be supported?

IPv6

On Longhorn Server, we will support Exchange 2007 on native IPv6 networks.

It sounds like customers considering multi-site deployments, hosting, and OS upgrades with Exchange 2007 should carefully consider all the options available now and in SP1 before making a final decision…..and customers who want great mobility options should move now in preparation for the upcoming features!!

This is the first time the general public customers have had this early access to enhancment information, keep it up Terry and team!!

Windows Mobile 7

I know everyone was looking for details on Windows 7, but what about windows MOBILE 7!!!

Well James over at MS will be working on the integration of Windows Mobile with the Open Mobile Alliance standards!! I have talked about this before in the context of RIM and MS and think this kind of integration is a huge step forward for the mobile industry.

It will be great to see if Microsoft takes this as far as it should go and open up the platform to work with more devices and software vendors. Ultimately consumers will benefit if they can choose what device they want and what software they want to synch with it. For example, I just upgraded to a windows mobile device myself vs. the blackberry pearl. Interoperability, application support, and connectivity to my corporate masters were the primary factors in choosing a device that did email/pictures/music. Both the pearl and the dash fit both of my main requirements, but the dash can do wifi…..and has more apps developed for it…..and windows mobile 6 is sexy….and if I can sync it with a OMA-DS software package in the future…..even better!!