Exchange & Outlook UPDATE, Exchange Edition, June 6, 2003

1. Commentary

- TechEd 2003 Highlights

2. News and Views

- Simpler-Webb Adds Exchange 2003 FAQ

- Magazine Announces Best of Show Winners

3. Announcement

- Cast Your Vote in Our Annual Readers' Choice Awards!

4. Instant Poll

- Results of Previous Poll: Server Use

- New Instant Poll: TechEd 2003

5. Resources

- HOW TO: Migrate from Exchange Server 5.5 to Exchange 2000

- Featured Thread: Adding Signatures at the Server Level

6. Events

- Security 2003 Road Show

7. New and Improved

- Better Understand Exchange

- Submit Top Product Ideas

8. Contact Us

- See this section for a list of ways to contact us.

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==== 1. Commentary: TechEd 2003 Highlights ====

by Paul Robichaux, News Editor, [email protected]

I've just returned from TechEd 2003; for the first time, the trade show combined TechEd and MEC content, leading some wags to call the conference "MEC Ed." As always, the show was a somewhat jarring experience thanks to the large crowds and the wealth of detailed technical information available in the sessions, hands-on labs, and Ask the Experts area.

TechEd has long been Microsoft's premiere show for IT professionals, architects, and administrators, and in recent years, the show has taken on a strong developer flavor too. One of the first things I noticed this year was that Exchange Server and related products held their own on the show floor. Some of the most heavily trafficked booths featured Exchange products and services--something I found reassuring. The big buzz among the attendees was the release of Exchange Server 2003 Release Candidate 1 (RC1), also known as build 6940.4. Each attendee received a copy (RC1 is also available at http://www.microsoft.com/exchange ). Microsoft's Joint Development Program (JDP) partners have been using RC1 in production for a while, and the product has proven to be quite stable. It's exciting to see how far the product has come since the start of the year.

The technical sessions were an eclectic mix of developer topics (e.g., "Head-Spinning C++ Interoperability") and the more standard administration, mobility, and management tracks that Exchange folks are used to. My favorite session was titled "Mobile Disaster Recovery Planning"; the presenter damaged mobile devices in a variety of ways (e.g., immersion in salad dressing, a 4-foot drop) to illustrate the many perils that these devices, and the data they hold, face. Several Exchange-specific sessions stood out, including Ken Ewert's talk about advanced backup and restore technologies for Exchange 2003 and Paul Bowden's session about how Exchange 2003 and Windows Server 2003 are "better together."

During much of the time that I should have been attending sessions, I was prowling the exhibit area (where, among other things, the expo gods teased us by putting rivals Connectix and VMware right across from each another). As at last year's MEC, I saw several interesting new products. I was a bit surprised by the number of companies selling mobility solutions for Exchange data. There were some cool new handheld devices (my favorite was Good Technology's Good G100, and I saw long lines of folks interested in the Hitachi G1000 PCS Phone at Sprint's booth), plus some announcements of Exchange 2003 support from antivirus and backup vendors. I was pleased to see a thriving, competitive antispam market, which bodes well for the development of better, less expensive filtering solutions.

As much as I enjoy meeting and talking with other administrators and Microsoft folks, I'm relieved to have returned home and left behind Dallas's heat. Next year's TechEd will be held in San Diego; I guess I should start making my travel plans now.

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==== 2. News and Views ====

Simpler-Webb Adds Exchange 2003 FAQ

(by Paul Robichaux, [email protected])

Continuing its trend of community support, Simpler-Webb has added an Exchange Server 2003 FAQ to its popular Exchange Server FAQ list.

http://www.swinc.com/exfaq

Magazine Announces Best of Show Winners

Windows & .NET Magazine announced the winners of the Best of Show Awards for TechEd 2003. The field included more than 211 entries in 7 categories. For details, go to

http://www.exchangeadmin.com/articles/index.cfm?articleid=39225

==== 3. Announcement ====

(from Windows & .NET Magazine and its partners)

Cast Your Vote in Our Annual Readers' Choice Awards!

Which companies and products are the best on the market? Tell us by nominating your favorites in the annual Windows & .NET Magazine Readers' Choice Awards survey. Click here!

http://www.winnetmag.com/readerschoice

~~~~ Hot Release: FaxBack ~~~~ * Integrating FAX in Microsoft Exchange Environments

Download this free technical white paper now from Windows & .NET Magazine's White Paper Central. Brought to you courtesy of FaxBack. http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;5580476;7402808;p?http://www.faxback.com/w2kwhitepaper

==== 4. Instant Poll ====

Results Of Previous Poll: Server Use

The voting has ended in the Exchange & Outlook Administrator's nonscientific Instant Poll for the question "Which server does your company most commonly use?" Here are the results (+/- 2 percent) from the 515 votes:

- 47% HP/Compaq

- 40% Dell

- 9% IBM

- 0% Unisys

- 4% Other

New Instant Poll: TechEd 2003

The next Exchange Instant Poll question is "Did you attend TechEd 2003, and what did you think of it?" Go to the Exchange & Outlook Administrator home page and submit your vote for a) I went and loved it, b) I went and thought it was ok, c) I went but wish I hadn't, d) I didn't go but wish I had, or e) I didn't go and don't regret it.

http://www.exchangeadmin.com

==== 4. Resources ====

HOW TO: Migrate from Exchange Server 5.5 to Exchange 2000

Each week, Microsoft posts several Exchange Server how-to articles to its Knowledge Base. This week, get instructions for switching from Exchange Server 5.5 to Exchange 2000 Server.

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=316886

Featured Thread: Adding Signatures at the Server Level

A forum reader is looking for a way to automatically pull in server-based information to add a standard, user-specific signature to outgoing email messages. To offer your advice or join the discussion, go to the following URL:

http://www.winnetmag.com/forums/rd.cfm?cid=40&tid=56884

==== 5. Events ====

(brought to you by Windows & .NET Magazine)

Security 2003 Road Show

Join Mark Minasi and Paul Thurrott as they deliver sound security advice at our popular Security 2003 Road Show event.

http://www.winnetmag.com/roadshows/security2003

==== 6. New and Improved ====

by Carolyn Mader, [email protected]

Better Understand Exchange

TechRepublic released the Outlook and Exchange Administrator's Smart Pak, a CD-ROM set that features tips that help you understand Exchange Server. You can learn how to grant appropriate permissions to users and groups, customize Outlook views to suit your needs, monitor and optimize Exchange performance, troubleshoot message-delivery problems, and implement security measures, as well as learn more about Outlook programming. For pricing, contact TechRepublic at 845-566-1866 or 800-217-4339.

http://www.techrepublic.com

Submit Top Product Ideas

Have you used a product that changed your IT experience by saving you time or easing your daily burden? Do you know of a terrific product that others should know about? Tell us! We want to write about the product in a future Windows & .NET Magazine What's Hot column. Send your product suggestions to [email protected].

==== Sponsored Links ====

FaxBack

Integrate FAX into Exchange/Outlook (Whitepaper, ROI, Trial)

http://www.faxback.com/w2ksponorlink/

==== 7. Contact Us ====

About the newsletter -- [email protected]

About technical questions -- http://www.winnetmag.com/forums

About product news -- [email protected]

About your subscription -- [email protected]

About sponsoring [email protected]