sporadic Exchange support: another clear sign

[John Eldredge]

Back in the mid-90's, I had to switch from my MAC to a PC because
co-workers and folks outside my company got tired of saving WORD and
EXCEL documents two and three versions back in order to work with me.
This problem was eventually fixed at Microsoft's convenience, but I
had already had to switch.

A year ago, I switched back to a MAC after my new Dell needed three
new hard drives in two years. But the new trick now is that many
larger customers use Exchange servers to coordinate email, calendars,
address books, projects, public files, et al.

So this leaves MAC users disenfranchised for the foreseeable future.

Our options are: (1) use a software product that hasn't been improved
or even touched for 2 years [OL 2001] which I can't even get to work
in 10.3/9.22; or (2) use one of two very nice software packages [Mail
and Entourage] that can only handle email and limited address or
calendar functionality with an Exchange server.

Tomorrow my customer organization with whom I work as a consultant is
delivering a Windows laptop so I can actually work with their
employees.

After spending over $4K on a new dual-processor PowerPC G4 less than a
year ago, and seeing how capable Entourage is and could easily be, you
can now taste the "shame" of my leaving the Window's fold.

 

[Mark N.]

Our options are: (1) use a software product that hasn't been improved

or even touched for 2 years [OL 2001] which I can't even get to work
in 10.3/9.22; or (2) use one of two very nice software packages [Mail
and Entourage] that can only handle email and limited address or
calendar functionality with an Exchange server.

Oh yeah? Try to feel my pain: I have 65 clients running a mix of Windows
and Mac machines. Outlook 2001 is just fine and dandy with our environment
and the Macs and PC can communicate and schedule meetings very well. I run
a non-active directory and Exchange 5.5, neither of which are "broken" and I
had no immediate plans to upgrade.
Enter Entourage, which demands Exchange 2000. Exchange 2000 demands an
active directory. Now, throw in the fact that Outlook 2001 runs in classic
mode and Apple is dropping support for that.

I have to upgrade my network to active directory, which requires A LOT of
planning and testing because of the many proprietary apps running on my 15
servers. Then I have to migrate to Exchange 2000. And why? To run
Entourage, which I've never even seen run with an Exchange server. I can't
even test the latest version of Entourage until I modify my entire network,
and then it may not be as good as Outlook 2001 is right now.

<<sigh>>

 

[William M. Smith]

Our options are: (1) use a software product that hasn't been improved
or even touched for 2 years [OL 2001] which I can't even get to work
in 10.3/9.22; or (2) use one of two very nice software packages [Mail
and Entourage] that can only handle email and limited address or
calendar functionality with an Exchange server.

Oh yeah? Try to feel my pain: I have 65 clients running a mix of Windows
and Mac machines. Outlook 2001 is just fine and dandy with our environment
and the Macs and PC can communicate and schedule meetings very well. I run
a non-active directory and Exchange 5.5, neither of which are "broken" and I
had no immediate plans to upgrade.
Enter Entourage, which demands Exchange 2000. Exchange 2000 demands an
active directory. Now, throw in the fact that Outlook 2001 runs in classic
mode and Apple is dropping support for that.

I have to upgrade my network to active directory, which requires A LOT of
planning and testing because of the many proprietary apps running on my 15
servers. Then I have to migrate to Exchange 2000. And why? To run
Entourage, which I've never even seen run with an Exchange server. I can't
even test the latest version of Entourage until I modify my entire network,
and then it may not be as good as Outlook 2001 is right now.

Hi Mark!

I can certainly sympathize with you on this one. An AD rollout for 15
servers can be very complex, but in the end it will be worth the effort for
all the new functionality you receive beyond just using Entourage or Mail.

Microsoft has not released this product yet, but is about to put it into
beta testing. You're an ideal candidate for Virtual Server, which will allow
you to run multiple servers on one box. It's perfectly suited for testing
complex network solutions because you only need one piece of (robust)
hardware to run many servers. At a recent Office 2003 launch event, most of
the presentations for Exchange, Outlook, Sharepoint Services, etc., were
done from one laptop.

If those proprietary apps you're referring to require an older version of
Windows, a virtual server will allow you to keep your old system running on
a new system.

This is the product that Microsoft wanted to develop from its acquisition of
Connectix's Virtual PC.

Here's a link to the product information and signup for beta testing
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/evaluation/trial/virtualserver.ms
px

Hope this helps! bill

 

[howard]

Our options are: (1) use a software product that hasn't been improved
or even touched for 2 years [OL 2001] which I can't even get to work
in 10.3/9.22; or (2) use one of two very nice software packages [Mail
and Entourage] that can only handle email and limited address or
calendar functionality with an Exchange server.

If you need to share calendars between OS X and Outlook clients have a
look at GroupCal here http://www.snerdware.com/groupcal/

I cant vouch for how well it works - I don't have Exchange 2000 yet -
but it certainly claims a lot.