Chapter Summary

Two MAPI-based client platforms are available from Microsoft: the legacy Exchange Client and its current release, Outlook 2000. Consider deploying Outlook 2000 wherever possible to fully benefit from advanced information management capabilities that are unavailable in other clients.

Every MAPI-based client requires a messaging profile, which describes the set of information services, such as address book providers, message stores, and transport services, that should be used in a particular client session. Although multiple profiles can be configured in the Microsoft Outlook Setup Wizard, only one profile can be activated at any given time.

In Windows 2000, MAPI profiles are stored in the Registry under the HKEY_CURRENT_USER hive. Therefore, it is easy to include them in server-based profiles, which is the basis of roaming user support. A user with a server-based profile can use the same messaging profile on any computer running Windows 2000 because the server-based profile information is downloaded to the workstation automatically when the user logs on to the domain.

When connecting to Exchange 2000 Server, you must include the Exchange transport service. This transport service supports users working online in a LAN environment or offline disconnected from the computer network. The latter can establish connections to Exchange 2000 Server via dial-up networking and a RAS server. To keep messages available offline, you can configure a .pst file and use the remote mail functionality of Outlook 2000 to download messages, or create an .ost file and synchronize this offline repository with your server-based messaging folders. The advantage of the latter approach is that you can work with public folders offline.