Windows .net, the next generation of Microsoft's NT server
operating system, will be unable to run the company's flagship
Exchange e-mail server when it arrives later this year.
Users expecting to move their Exchange 2000 installation onto
Windows. net will be disappointed, admitted Barry Goffe, group
manager for Microsoft's enterprise marketing strategy.
"Users running Exchange 2000 will need to keep Windows 2000 servers
to run it," Goffe said. "Of the Microsoft server products Exchange
takes the most advantage of the Active Directory (AD)," he
added.
This is bad news for users as AD has been totally re-engineered
within the Windows .net product. Users will now have to wait for
the next release of Exchange, called Titanium, which is still in
development and will not ship before the new operating
system.
Garry Tugwell-Smith, Exchange product manager at Microsoft in the
UK, said, "We haven't found a single customer who wants to run
Exchange 2000 with Windows .net."
Given the work required to ensure compatibility with Exchange
2000,Tugwell-Smith added, "It made no sense for us [to support
Exchange 2000 in Windows .net.]"
However, this lack of compatibility could give rise to integration
issues between older Windows 2000 servers required to run Exchange
2000 and newer systems based on Windows .net.
The problem concerns the new Windows .net Active Directory, a core
component of the new OS and the way servers, known as Domain
Controllers, reside within a Windows .net infrastructure
Stuart Kwan, the group program manager at Microsoft responsible for
the Active Directory, said, "[There are] a set of features within
Windows .net that require upgrading all the Windows domain
controllers [to Windows .net]."
In other words, to make the most of Windows .net, Microsoft urges
users to upgrade their entire infrastructure.
With Titanium still many months away, users may be tempted to try
alternative e-mail server systems.
Oracle is planning to introduce its Collaboration Suite, comprising
calendar, real-time conferencing, e-mail, file system support,
voicemail and workflow in one software package, by the end of the
year.
The Oracle software could provide users with a viable alternative
to Microsoft, especially where the desktop environment comprises
non-Windows systems.
Another company looking to target disgruntled Microsoft users is
Samsung, which has taken over running HP's OpenMail Unix e-mail
product.
Now called Samsung Contact, the e-mail system runs on Linux and
Unix. Richi Jennings, chief architect for Samsung Contact, said,
"We are being approached by Microsoft users. They want something
that is less expensive to buy and run."
Jennings claimed Samsung Contact offered more predictable pricing
than Microsoft's stated licensing scheme for Exchange, as the
server software is free and usage is charged on a per user basis.