Microsoft also has rewritten its management GUI and CLI. All aspects of the server can be configured through the CLI using Microsoft's Monad shell. Unlike the previous version, whose CLIs were available only through third parties, the Exchange Management Console's GUI was written on top of the CLI. When we finished using the new mailbox wizard, the entire command-line argument was displayed, and we could use this information to assist in creating shell scripts. This scripting ability will be a great benefit to administrators, especially for creating automated tasks.
Outlook For The Web: Looking Up
To help companies that plan to move away from desktop apps and enlist more Web services, Microsoft has improved OWA. With a new interface and a feature set that's nearly identical to Outlook's, this version is one of the best Webmail clients we've used. One handy feature, WebReady document viewing, converts a Word, Excel, PowerPoint or PDF file into HTML.
Although OWA works best with Internet Explorer 6, even non-IE users get a good experience. The Ajax-based application supports features similar to the desktop version, including access to SharePoint documents and RSS feeds. A light version, which has the essentials but lacks some of the extras, is available for Safari and Firefox users. We could send e-mail and schedule calendars in the light version, but features such as spellcheck, conversation view and quota information require the IE6 version.
Outlook's calendar capabilities have always gotten high marks, and the new version makes a good thing even better. Specifically, Outlook offers improved support for setting up meetings--not necessarily a killer upgrade, but one that gives Exchange a leg up on competing e-mail servers. A monthly calendar view shows good, fair and poor days to hold meetings, for example.
