Friday, 17 April 2009 19:30 administrator

First look: Exchange 2010 beta shines

Created 14 Apr 2009 - 12:38pm

Bottom line: Although pricing has yet to be announced, based on operational and usability improvements, Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 will be a major step up from Exchange Server 2007. A potential hurdle: Support for Windows Server 2003 is dropped in favor of Windows Server 2008 only.

The last big release of Microsoft Exchange, Exchange Server 2007 [1], marked a major change from the previous edition. Exchange 2007 introduced unified messaging, a completely new management client, and improvements to almost every aspect of the mail server, but at the cost of a whopping learning curve for administrators. Admins will have an easier go of it this time around.

Due the latter half of 2009, Exchange Server 2010 is light on wholesale changes and heavy on refinements. On top of noteworthy enhancements for Outlook users, new features also make the operator's life easier -- without introducing entirely new ways of doing things. So if the standby continuous replication feature in Exchange 2007 SP1 improved your operations, or you've been migrating your contractors' e-mail accounts from in-house Exchange 2007 servers to Exchange Online to reduce costs, you'll find much to like in Exchange 2010 as well.

The improvements in Exchange 2010 fall into three "pillars," as they are described in Microsoft marketing-speak: flexibility and reliability, anywhere access, and protection and compliance. While I've listed all the new features of Exchange 2010 in the table below, there are a few that stand out, at least in my mind.

Top new Exchange 2010 features
My No. 1 pick is a small thing with a high impact on users: OWA (Outlook Web Access) support for Internet Explorer (IE) 7 and 8, Firefox 3, and Safari 3. When I was involved in administering an Exchange server for a client, the most frequent issue to come up had to do with the requirement to use Internet Explorer for OWA. Users typically ran OWA rather than an Outlook client when they were at home or on the road. Users with Macs wanted to go with Safari or Firefox, and only reluctantly accepted the need to run IE in a Windows VM. Users with Linux wanted to Firefox, as did Windows users, because IE didn't have multiple page tabs at the time, only multiple windows.

Outlook Web Access now supports Firefox and Safari as well as Internet Explorer. OWA and Outlook also have a new conversation view that greatly reduces mailbox clutter.

Last Updated on Tuesday, 21 April 2009 03:37 Read more...

Google apps stories

Friday, 03 April 2009 18:38 administrator

This is what my field IT network engineer emailed our folks in Central America in regards to the use of Outlook as an email when using Google apps.

We realized there is no longer a good reason to keep on using it, I know his email sounds like a commercial but it is genuine.

As you know Outlook implies PST files, that need to be backed up, copied once we reformat a computer, if it grows too big becomes a problem, if they are popping and the connection is slow or get interrupted they run the risk of Outlook restarting the download process again so they get duplicate emails and well i can continue naming issues. We are going to enforce the use of the Gmail interface since there is no excuse now that the offline feature is available. Here is the email he sent.

Hello,

Speaking of Outlook...the best option available would be to not use it and use instead the Google Apps web interface (start.yourdomain.com). Google Apps provides so many options and features and is constantly getting even better-you already have shared and private contact lists, shared and private calendars, high-speed secure email, shared docs and spreadsheets, intra-office chat and video, excellent search and organize capabilities, etc. and most of this is now available on mobile devices as well, and it is all synchronized. Google Apps gives you full and secure access to all of your emails, appointments, contacts, docs, spreadsheets, etc. from any Internet-connected computer in the world, most handheld devices as well--and you aren't tied to the computer that Outlook is installed on. Gmail has an Offline feature now that allows you to open Google Apps, read and compose emails, check your calendar, etc. on your computer with no Internet connection, and the way that Gmail allows you to organize and search emails is also superior.

Last Updated on Tuesday, 21 April 2009 03:41 Read more...

Sunday, 15 March 2009 20:27 administrator

A space to share what is going on in the immaterial world. Maybe in the material world as well as I love technology.

But I love strange events, out of place objects, enigmas, consciousness, meditation and quality of life.

I will try to share information that I gather when surfing the internet and reading.

Mario

Pacal Votan

2012 the end of what?

After reading quite a bit about the predictions regarding 2012, I have to say that I have some concerns as it seems that some of the predictions might be becoming a reality.

You might think I‘m talking about the end of the world?

I'm having a real tough time trying to find information from scholars or reliable sources, there are so much "noise" on the internet about this topic that is really hard to separate what is real than what is just marketing or New Age no sense. But don't get me wrong i think there is also New Age make sense as well.

But also when you find information from archeologists or what seems to be "reliable" sources, they negate everything like the Mayas never ever mentioned anything other then predictions about floods, favarobale seasons for their crops, or not. So it seems the gap is really huge. I will continue my un scientific research seeking an answer that is good to me, that i intend to share in this site.

What i understand so far is that the Mayas never mentioned the end of the world. The Tortuguero monument includes the only known inscription depicting the end of the current 13-baktun era in 2012, the reference, it refers to “the end of the 13th b’ahktun which we will see in the year 2012” and as to what will happen, they say, “…utom, “it will happen” followed by something that we cannot read and he “will descend” yem. The last glyph begins with ta followed by something. However, this is not the end of the world.

Many comments mainly from Mexican archeologistsnot claim that what the Mayas said was that we are running out of time, and we need to go back to living according to the natural time. We are so attached to technology and to a rhythm that is so away from the natural cycle that we are destroying ourselves and the planet.

So the deadline can be interpreted as the last opportunity to change, and I think that we are changing, not sure if fast enough but we are certainly seeing the effects of the mess we created.

So no matter what that date represent for some reason it became a landmark and it will serve a turning point, which we can certainly use to drive change and evolve.

If the earth is aligning with the center of the galaxy, well I still need to understand that a little bit better.

But I respect the Mayan knowledge that is amazing and a real mystery, I started this blog to share with you opinions and information, and let’s see what happens.

Saturday, 07 July 2007 09:54 administrator

The Joomla! Project has assembled a top-notch team of experts to form the new Joomla! Security Strike Team. This new team will solely focus on investigating and resolving security issues. Instead of working in relative secrecy, the JSST will have a strong public-facing presence at the Joomla! Security Center.

Last Updated on Saturday, 07 July 2007 09:54 Read more...

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