Many of you know that the OWA 2010 Premium experience will be available with IE 7+, Safari 3+, and Firefox 3+.

But bear in mind that only Safari on Mac will provide the OWA Premium experience. Safari on Windows will provide the OWA Light experience due to too many one-off issues with that browser/OS combination).

So those of you who saw OWA Premium demo’ed in a Firefox browser most likely watched a demo/session/webcast where Firefox was installed on Windows right? Well, today I was a little bored and wanted to try out OWA 2010 in Firefox on a Linux box. So I fired up Ubuntu Desktop and tried it out. It worked very well (see below).

Cheers,

Henrik Walther
Technology Architect/Writer
MCM: Exchange 2007 | MVP: Exchange Architecture

You can request to join it here.

Cheers,

Henrik Walther
Technology Architect/Writer
MCM: Exchange 2007 | MVP: Exchange Architecture

This information has until today been under NDA. But it’s great finally being able to share this tidbit with you guys.

So DAG is supported in both the Exchange 2010 Enterprise as well as Standard edition. But since the Standard edition is limited to 5 databases (versus 100 databases in the Enterprise edition), this is really only interesting to the SMORGs (small and medium organizations) out there.

Also bear in mind that since DAG still is partly based on the Windows Failover Clustering (WFC) component included with Windows Server 2008 Enterprise edition, this Windows server version is required both when utilizing DAG via the Exchange 2010 Enterprise as well as Standard edition.

Cheers,

Henrik Walther
Technology Architect/Writer
MCM: Exchange 2007 | MVP: Exchange Architecture

Several folks (especially those who didn’t make it into the beta) would like these news.

The TS: Microsoft Exchange Server 2010, Configuring (70-662) exam is now public.

See below copy/paste from the Prometric site.

I hope it will be as funny to take as it was to develop it

Cheers,

Henrik Walther
Technology Architect/Writer
MCM: Exchange 2007 | MVP: Exchange Architecture

Is it time to abandon your on-premise email system?

Date: November 3, 2009 at 2PM ET/noon MT/11AM PT

Feature-rich business messaging solutions go beyond basic email to include a variety of tightly integrated services such as shared workspaces, mobility, instant messaging, compliance tools and rich presence. The benefits of these advanced solutions are numerous, but the technology is complex. Listen to this webcast to hear Robert Mahowald, Research Director of IDC’s Enterprise Collaboration and Social Solutions Program:

• Discuss the current trends in messaging and collaboration services, including services such as shared workspaces, mobility, instant messaging, voice and rich presence
• Compare the benefits of cloud email services to those of an on-premise system
• Outline the key decision factors to be considered when selecting between an on-premise and cloud solution

Joining Robert is Doug Howard, President of USA.NET. Despite the tough economic times, cloud provider USA.NET has added over 200,000 new hosted email boxes over the past 12 months. Doug will discuss the key drivers sending companies to the cloud during any economic conditions. The event will include live Q&A with these two industry experts. Go to http://www.usa.net/IDCcloud .

Is it time to abandon your on-premise email system?

Date: November 3, 2009 at 2PM ET/noon MT/11AM PT

Feature-rich business messaging solutions go beyond basic email to include a variety of tightly integrated services such as shared workspaces, mobility, instant messaging, compliance tools and rich presence. The benefits of these advanced solutions are numerous, but the technology is complex. Listen to this webcast to hear Robert Mahowald, Research Director of IDC’s Enterprise Collaboration and Social Solutions Program:

• Discuss the current trends in messaging and collaboration services, including services such as shared workspaces, mobility, instant messaging, voice and rich presence
• Compare the benefits of cloud email services to those of an on-premise system
• Outline the key decision factors to be considered when selecting between an on-premise and cloud solution

Joining Robert is Doug Howard, President of USA.NET. Despite the tough economic times, cloud provider USA.NET has added over 200,000 new hosted email boxes over the past 12 months. Doug will discuss the key drivers sending companies to the cloud during any economic conditions. The event will include live Q&A with these two industry experts. Go to http://www.usa.net/IDCcloud .

As many of you already know it isn’t supported to install the Exchange 2007 SP2 management tools on Windows 7. So your alternatives is really to use Windows Vista/XP, dedicate an Exchange 2007 management server or simply remote the Exchange servers using remote desktop.

But there’s one more which in fact works very well. You can just install the Exchange 2007 SP2 Management tools in the virtual Windows XP Mode machine in Windows 7. When you have done so, it’s just a matter of launching the virtual application via the Start menu and you have a nice E2K7 EMC in Windows 7 as shown below.

Update

Since I received a few comments to this post from individuals that mentions they have it working, I want to stress out that running the Exchange 2007 SP2 Management tools on Windows 7 isn’t supported nor possible. It may be that Exchange 2007 SP1 doesn’t have this blocker, but when you try to install the Exchange 2007 SP2 bits, you get the following error:

In addition the TechNet documentation specifically states the following:

Direct link here: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee532086.aspx

Update 2

Several readers of this post asked why Exchange 2007 SP2 isn’t supported in Windows 7 (or Windows Server 2008 R2 for that matter). Well one of the reasons is that the Exchange 2007 product were developed before Windows 7 and Window Server 2008 R2 were in a state where it made sense to test Exchange 2007 with these versions. So the Exchange Product group made a decision to focus their efforts on Exchange 2010 which as most of you probably already know does support Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2.

I’m sure the Exchange Product group would love to support these OS versions, but there are only so many resources available. Personally, I like the fact that they focused on Exchange 2010 since so many organizations will make the switch directly from Exchange 2003 to Exchange 2010.

Cheers,

Henrik Walther
Technology Architect/Writer
MCM: Exchange 2007 | MVP: Exchange Architecture

The Messaging and UC user groups come together for a special pre-TechEd event on Friday 6th November in London at Microsoft Cardinal Place. The event starts at 6pm and runs until 9pm.

Two members of the products groups in Redmond have offered to present to us on their way to Berlin.

Astrid McClean is a Senior Technical Product Manager in the Exchange group. With the recent launch of Exchange 2010 Astrid will be speaking about management, new administration capabilities and self-service with a focus on roles based access control (RBAC).

Following Astrid we have Yancey Smith who is a Director of Product Management within the OCS group. Yancey will be presenting two slots for us. The first session will providing an overview of OCS 2007 R2, exposing some of the features you may not realise are there and potential for the product within your organisation.

Following a break for food, we will start a closed-doors non-disclosure agreement session where you can share with Yancey your wish list and frustrations with OCS and there will be a discussion with his thoughts on how these may be addressed.

The NDA to be signed will be available on the evening. If you need to review a copy in advance please email either me.

We look forward to seeing you all there, and having a pint or two afterwards!

To sign up please use the link below:

http://uccommunityuk09oct.eventbrite.com/

This showed up in my Inbox today:

Congratulations on earning your Microsoft Exchange Server 2010, Configuration certification! We hope you enjoy the benefits of your certification and of membership in the Microsoft Certified Professional community.

And my transcript has also updated to reflect this:

Cheers,

Henrik Walther
Technology Architect/Writer
MCM: Exchange 2007 | MVP: Exchange Architecture

USA.NET Recognized as Top Player in Hosted Business and Hosted Microsoft Exchange Email Markets by Radicati Group for Third Consecutive Reports

Customers Including Belo Corp., Cheesecake Factory, UHY Advisors, Inc. and United Airlines Continue to Rely on Perimeter’s Trusted Business Messaging Services

MILFORD, CT, October 5, 2009 – Perimeter E-Security, the trusted market leader of information security and messaging services that deliver enterprise-class protection and compliance to companies of all sizes, today announced that its USA.NET Microsoft® Exchange Hosting solution has experienced an 18% growth over the past twelve months, adding 200,000 seats on the Company’s base of 1.1 million. The company also announced today that industry leading analyst firm, The Radicati Group, Inc., ranked USA.NET as a “Top Player” in their Hosted Business Email–Market Quadrant 2009 report and the Hosted Microsoft Exchange–Market Quadrant 2009 report. USA.NET is recognized for leading the market in both market share and for its comprehensive suite of hosted business email services.

Separately, Perimeter announced that an increasing number of customers are adding hosted email services to their existing security suites to create a comprehensive security approach.

“Being consistently ranked by The Radicati Group for the third consecutive report is a testament to our exceptional track record and unparalleled experience in the hosted email and collaboration market and underscores how mission-critical email performance is for businesses of all sizes,” said Doug Howard, Chief Strategy Officer of Perimeter. “The power of our security, email and collaboration solutions is driving critical mass in new customer categories beyond core financial services such as hospitality. Since April of this year, we have seen our current customers adding services to their existing hosted email packages, and new customers seeking our solutions to help them remain laser focused on their core business instead of needing to divert resources to managing email systems.”

The Radicati reports highlight the full suite of end-to-end messaging solutions of USA.NET’s two business messaging solutions: CMS and Microsoft Hosted Exchange. The reports highlight the following key strengths for USA.NET:

• Flexibility to combine Microsoft Hosted Exchange mailboxes with CMS mailboxes to tailor cost-effective email solutions.
• Highly scalable and customizable Microsoft Hosted Exchange offering that can be modified to fit a company’s current needs and infrastructure.
• 99.9% SLA for Microsoft Hosted Exchange solution.
• Free dedicated technical account manager (TAM), to serve as a private IT consultant for customers.
• Microsoft Gold partner with competencies in advanced infrastructure, mobility, hosting and security.
• Extensive migration experience across a full spectrum of messaging applications including Novell GroupWise, IBM Lotus Notes, POP systems, competitive hosting systems and legacy versions of Exchange.
• Enhanced credibility with Perimeter E-Security backing in verticals that rely on security, such as financial services and history as one of the first hosting providers.

As business email systems are becoming increasingly complex, specialized and central to communications, customers such as Belo, Cheesecake Factory, UHY Advisors, Inc. and United Airlines are relying on Perimeter’s trusted hosting services to assure the reliability, uptime and security requirements of their business messaging needs.

“Before selecting USA.NET, we reviewed a number of top hosted email service providers and we’re thrilled with our decision. Following a highly successful migration, we’re continuing to extend the USA.NET hosted solution across our company,” said Craig Harper, Vice President of Technology, Belo Corp.

Perimeter’s USA.NET Microsoft Exchange Hosting solution offers all the benefits of Microsoft Exchange with the high-touch support, integration capabilities, scalability and cost benefits of a premier outsourced model. As part of this service, Perimeter performs maintenance, patches, upgrades and backups, conducts training for staff members, handles migration, and provides continuing management of email and email security on a 24/7 basis.

About USA.NET

USA.NET, a wholly owned subsidiary of Perimeter, is the recognized leader for Hosted Email delivering messaging, collaboration, mobility, archiving and advanced infrastructure solutions for businesses of all sizes. USA.NET’s global infrastructure serves clients in over 120 countries. Cited as the “Top Player” for the hosted business email market by The Radicati Group, Inc., USA.NET is SAS 70 Type II Audited, Microsoft Gold Certified, a member of the Microsoft Technology Adoption Program for Exchange, and winner of the Microsoft Excellence Award for Exchange Hosting Solutions. For more information about USA.NET visit www.usa.net or call 800-653-0179.

About Perimeter
Perimeter is the trusted market leader of information security services that delivers enterprise-class protection and compliance.  Through its cost-effective and scalable SaaS platform, Perimeter offers the most comprehensive compliance, security and messaging services that include: hosted email, encrypted email, firewall management and monitoring, vulnerability scanning, host intrusion and prevention, email antivirus and spam, remote data backup and email archiving.  For more information about Perimeter visit www.perimeterusa.com.

For additional information contact:

Maggie Duquin / Ray Yeung

Brainerd Communicators

212-986-6667

duquin@braincomm.com / yeung@braincomm.com