Two journalists from ITWorld Canada have put Exchange Server 2007 through its paces, testing it with a variety of email clients and web browsers.

They discovered a lot of interesting things about the new software’s junk mail catching abilities and security, but what grabbed my attention was the performance of Mail and Safari.

Unsurprisingly, Exchange Server 2007 works best with Outlook 2007.

However other clients were also tested:

Exchange 2007 server is also open for use with other e-mail client access methods, such as Thunderbird (the e-mail counterpart to Firefox) and Microsoft’s older Mac Office e-mail product called Entourage. This subpar access does not include any of the groupware-focused features, such as shared contact, mail, files/folders, group calendars and Microsoft SharePoint services.

The accessibility afforded for Exchange 2007 clients is quite varied. Obtaining simple e-mail access through standard POP3 and IMAP protocols across all clients was easy in our tests.

We used a number of e-mail client applications successfully, including Thunderbird (under Linux , MacOS, and Windows XP/Vista Ultimate), Apple Mail, and Netscape clients all ran successfully and flawlessly.

Good news for Mac users trapped in a Windows work environment. We are still second class citizens, but at least we can communicate with other workers, albeit at a reduced level.

They also tested Exchange Server 2007′s web-based mail service, Office Web Access (OWA) browser, and found that it “worked well” with Safari and Firefox.

The test revealed an odd security flaw:

The OWA browser application when connecting to Exchange 2007 does not support the option to suppress externally referenced content (usually pictures) that are situated on a Web site or other Internet source, letting the mail sender record that the content have been seen/read in the e-mail. This inability to suppress rich (and revealing) content is disturbing, as it leaves this security measure to be handled by third-party applications.

The article is three pages long. Subsequent sections discuss Exchange Server’s spam catching features and other security failings.email, outlook, exchange server 2007, mail.app, apple mail, thunderbird, entourage, microsoft, productivity, interoperability

Microsoft is recommending that that employers increase the size of Exchange mailboxes, as it moves to head off the increasing trend among workers to auto-forward their email to more expansive Gmail accounts.

Other new features in Exchange 2007 also take aim at Gmail’s search and mobile-access features.

Dan Warne at APC Magazine reports that,

IT departments have traditionally applied such restrictive limits to Exchange Server mailboxes -as low as 25MB per staff member – that users have become frustrated with repeated “your mailbox is full” errors.

Meanwhile, only senior execs have been granted access to work email from home, or via a Blackberry.

As a result, more and more users are auto-forwarding all their email to Gmail, where they have a 2.7GB mailbox capacity and can access it wherever they are – even via a mobile phone.

Microsoft hopes that larger mailboxes will stem the flood.

It will also offer a search feature 35 times faster than Exchange 2003 and plans to release a mobile-access app for Exchange, code-named “Crossbow”, which will offer remote searching of, and quick access to, Exchange mail.

Not everyone is a lucky as me. The IT Department where I work would rather carve their own hearts out with an Apple Remote than run Exchange. It also provides bottomless mailboxes.

If you are really interested in what the new Exchange 2007 will be like, or if your workplace forces you to use it, you can see some demos of the new features on Microsoft’s web site.

You can also look forward to Microsoft’s promise that,

Exchange Server 2007 was designed from the ground up to enable your IT department to deliver bold new communication capabilities – voice-controlled inboxes, Outlook-based voice mail – without sacrificing productivity or compromising budgets.

[Via APC Magazine ]not apple mail, exchange, microsoft, gmail, mailboxes, mobile access, searching, 2007

Khoi Vinh has had enough . Although he is a long-time Entourage user and finds that the app is “a class act” that “frequently showcased the very best of what Microsoft’s Macintosh Business Unit had to offer”, he’s dumped it. It was just too slow and the new Intel Mac version too far away.

He’s liking his new email client, Mail.app, a lot:

There may be a fantastic new iteration of Entourage in the works, but I need a fast, nimble and Intel-friendly email client today. So I’ve switched over entirely to Apple’s Mail; there’s just no arguing with its lightning fast search performance, its Mac OS X native fit and finish, and the fact that it’s available right now.

Of course, there are some things that he doesn’t like. The perfect email client is yet to appear. In particular Mail’s Smart Mailboxes don’t seem so smart to him.

But it has proved the right move. Most of all, he’s loving the improvement with IMAP accounts:

Mail is very responsive with IMAP, to the point where it’s a nearly seamless experience, more or less exactly how IMAP was intended to work. This allows me to move easily between work and home computers while keeping my mail database in sync, and without effort. Brilliant.

mail.app, apple mail, entourage, microsoft, imap, junk, switcher, email, smart mailboxes

Jesse Hollington saw a recent post on Hawk Wings about how Mail.app bests Entourage and emailed me a thoughtful account of his own experiences. It’s good enough to share.

I’m an IT Consultant with a good number of years in the business of e-mail systems specifically, and of course am saddled with Exchange on the back-end for my corporate mail for various reasons, the most notable being Blackberry integration.

I’m also a “switcher” having liked the Mac for some time, but having been afraid that it wouldn’t quite do what I needed it to do (with groupware access being high on the list — I saw “groupware” rather than “e-mail” because we’re talking calendars, tasks, and all of the other myriad items that come with doing business). The availability of Entourage and its integration with Exchange was a huge selling point for switching to a Mac last year.

Although I started on Entourage, however, I’ve been back and forth between Entourage and the iApps about three or four times, but think I’ve finally settled back down on the iApps.

(more…)

John’s work moved to Microsoft Exchange Server so that workers could share calendars more easily.

John likes the challenge of a new piece of software, so he offered (after five happy Apple Mail years) to be the guinea pig for a test run of Entourage.

His account of how the switch went and the pros and cons makes for interesting reading.

In particular, a week with Entourage gave him enough experience to outline six (or possibly, five) ways in which Mail.app is better than Entourage. Not least, Mail.app seems a lot more ‘thought out’.

And how does he feel after the trial run?

Sometimes, you get a piece of software installed and, no matter how excited you get (see above for my software-trying-out love declaration) the thing is just damned hard work…. Entourage is one of those hard-work apps. I am going to stick with it though––it’s only been a week and I’m sure I’ll get used to it. But part of me feels that I shouldn’t have to––Entourage, if it were any good, would have banished any thoughts I’d have of going back to Mail within hours of using it. You know when you find an app that just works––unfortunately, Entourage ain’t one of those.

entourage, mail.app, apple mail, switching, email in general, email, microsoft

A lot of people have been waiting for this.

A new version (1.49) of httpmail, a plugin that allows you collect and your Hotmail in Mail.app, has been released which is a universal binary.

This means that you no longer have to use work-arounds like running Mail under Rosetta if you are own an Intel Mac and want to access a Hotmail account.

httpmail is freeware and is available from the project’s SourceForge page .hotmail, msn, microsoft, webmail, mail.app, apple mail, plugins, universal binary

Jussar Interactive has created an AppleScript that will retrieve messages from a Hotmail account into Mail.app.

It does this using the open source MrPostman software to drag down the mail.

Unlike some other utilities for retrieving email from web-based services, Mail to Fetch promises to work with Intel Macs.

The script is available from MacUpdate and installation instructions from the developer’s web site .

I haven’t tested this. I’d be glad to hear if it works.

UPDATE: The author has updated this script to fix a significant problem that could occur after reoot. (28 June 2006)hotmail, webmail, pop, mail.app, apple mail, applescript, plugins, Microsoft, MSN