Choosing a Client for Exchange Server


Philosophically, choosing a client for Exchange Server is easy. Outlook 2003 is the most current version of the Outlook client, it provides the greatest amount of functionality, and it is designated by Microsoft as the official client for Exchange Server 2003. Outlook 2003 is bundled with Microsoft Office 2003 and with Exchange Server 2003. Although Exchange Client and Schedule+ are supported by Exchange Server 2003, they are no longer being enhanced with new features and cannot access all the services that Exchange Server 2003 provides. Standard Internet e-mail clients also miss a great deal of the functionality that Exchange offers, but they are fast enough to be used efficiently over the Internet.

As they say, however, your mileage may vary. You might have a large installed base of Exchange Client users, and upgrading them can be a significant administrative task. Some or all of the people in your organization might already have an e mail program that they like and, rather than going through the pain of change, they might choose to forgo the advanced features available with Outlook. Any of these factors might contribute to a decision to support non-Outlook clients as part of your Exchange environment or to use Outlook Web Access.

You might also have such a widespread mix of client platforms that you need to use the most generic client possible: the Outlook Web Access client. Or you might need to use OWA to service the messaging needs of some of your users and use the complete Outlook product for other users. Client machines can also use standard Internet POP3 and OWA clients to access your Exchange Inbox over the Internet.

The bottom line is that Outlook 2003 allows you to take advantage of all that Exchange Server 2003 has to offer, but other preexisting clients, although potentially missing some newer features, are supported and work with Exchange Server 2003 as well.




Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 Administrator's Companion
Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 Administrators Companion (Pro-Administrators Companion)
ISBN: 0735619794
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2005
Pages: 254

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