Connecting to Exchange from other OS’s

In my search for calendaring solutions for QUALCOMM, I have found that even though Microsofts view of "running on multiple OS's" means Windows 98, ME, NT, 2000, and XP. The rest of the world thinks that means, Unix and Macintosh. There are some good products for accessing Exchange data from these machines. I think the ability to access a single contact list, calendar, and tasks from one program is very useful.

Macintosh - Entourage X for OS X Office.

Introducing Exchange Update for Entourage X

Entourage X is a powerful e-mail and personal information manager (PIM) that helps you stay in touch with others, manage personal information, and keep track of your schedule. In Entourage X, your e-mail, calendar, address book, and task list are seamlessly integrated in one easy-to-use program. The Exchange Update adds features designed especially for people who work in organizations running Microsoft Exchange Server.

Comes as part of Office v X, or available stand alone for $99. This is not quiet as good as having a REAL Outlook client on the macintosh. What it does is use a combination of LDAP and IMAP to connect to exchange. Here are some links on setting it up. It took a while, and you do need the help of your exchange staff, or someone with a PC.

Using Exchange server with Entourage

Entourage Update - on microsofts site

Working with Exchange from a Macintosh - Several options for you. The best seems to run Office 2001 in compatibility mode (ie OS 9.x). 🙁 Its the last native Exchange client.

Linux / UNIX - Ximian Evolution & Connector

Integrated Workgroup and Personal Information Management for Linux and UNIX

Ximian Evolution® is the award-winning personal and workgroup information management solution for Linux and UNIX-based systems. The software seamlessly integrates email, calendaring, meeting scheduling, contact management, and task lists, in one powerful, fast, and easy-to-use application. Ximian Evolution is also powerful collaboration software that connects to popular corporate communications architectures like Microsoft Exchange, Lotus Notes, and other messaging systems. Ximian Evolution supports a broad range of leading Linux distributions and UNIX variants.

With the additional purchase of Ximian Connector, Ximian Evolution functions as a Microsoft Exchange 2000 or 2003 client, with access to scheduling, mail, and global address book features.

Ximian is now owned by Novell, which also just bought SuSE linux. Making this an interesting future for Novell.