MS Exchange Server competition

[Kevin D. Clark]

<bscott at ntisys.com> writes:

>   While we have used Outlook with IMAP with some success, it is far from
> perfect.  It is mail only.  Contacts, calendar, and so on are still stored
> in a .PST file on each workstation.  (PST is a self-destructing file format
> that even Microsoft Exchange fans hate.)  Outlook also insists on putting
> "Sent Items" and "Drafts" in the PST file, which means they are not
> available via IMAP.  

Of course, these are deficiencies in the *client* and have nothing to
do with Exchange.  My client can put things in the Sent Items and
Drafts folders on a IMAP/Exchange server just fine.

> There's no shared calendar or contact list, which a
> lot of organizations *do* want.

I suppose MAPI facilitates these things.  Otherwise Microsoft could
have thrown support behind one of the nebulous open calendar and/or
contact list schemes...

>   Of course, you can pretty much everything most small organizations need
> with a combination of Outlook or Outlook Express, IMAP, phpGroupWare,
> SquirrelMail, and so on.  It works pretty well, but it lacks the
> "all-in-one" package of Outlook and Exchange.  Right or wrong, a lot of
> people are willing to pay big bucks for Windows and Exchange just so they
> can get that.

Yup -- very big bucks.

Regards,

--kevin
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