Exchange, calendaring and IMAP [ mostly off-topic ]

[Paul Lussier]

Ben Scott <dragonhawk at gmail.com> writes:

>   One thing to be aware of is that Outlook will only keep "Sent Items"
> and "Drafts" in a MAPI store -- you can't put them on an IMAP server. 

Actually, you can, but what you need to do is create a "rule" to save
sent items on the server.  It's a rather braindead mechanism, and any
time you "work offline", the rule gets turned off and does not get
turned on once you are back "online".

> In practical terms, this means they go in a PST file or on an Exchange
> server.  So put them on the Exchange server -- PST files are bad, bad,
> bad.

Grrrr.  I guess I'll just let them move everyone over wholesale.  Once
they're over there, they're behind the SEP field, so I can't see them
anymore :) 

  La La La La La La!  I can't hear you asking for help. La La La La La La!

>   You should be aware that Exchange will not function properly without
> a working Active Directory *and* a proper NetBIOS namespace.

This I knew.  I don't like it, but, well, see above wrt SEP field :)

>   Whether or not this is the right thing to do depends heavily on the
> specifics of your environment.  In practice, if one is going to use
> Outlook as a mail program and PIM, it often makes the most sense to
> use Exchange as the server back-end for it.  It should be no surprise
> to anyone that Outlook really works a lot better with an Exchange
> server.  It should be possible to setup a subdomain, or mail
> forwarding, or whatever, to keep both systems working together.
>
>   OTOH, keeping all your mail in one place might make more sense,
> especially if you have things like an existing webmail or other
> software that talks to that server.  I can't tell you which is right
> for your organization.  :)

Yeah, I'd like to keep all the mail together. Well, really, I'd like
MS to not be walking in the door at all.  But these business weenies
seem to think it's the answer to all their problems.  I can't wait
until one "them" tries scheduling a meeting with one of "us" and
discovers they can't :) And I can't wait until some one decrees that
we have to move over to Exchange.  Our dev team *will* quit :)

I guess I'll just let them do whatever it is they need to do.

>> I requested of a few people suggestions for a hostname
>
>   I've always liked "monopoly" for a Microsoft server name.

Yeah, but a) it's unoriginal, b) no one cares, c) it's not overly amusing.

I liked the suggestion of fishnet earlier.  I might switch from morris
to that :)

>   I do hope, for your sake, that whoever this gig has been
> "outsourced" to knows what they are doing.  As everyone who uses the
> 'net these days knows, an improperly administered Windows computer is
> a recipe for disaster, and people who know how to do it properly are
> apparently few and far between.

Personally, I hope it's done completely wrong and that running IIS on
this thing to allow the use of OWA lets in a nice big trojan or virus
or whatever.  I'd love to say "I told you so" :)

-- 

Seeya,
Paul