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Microsoft Exchange Server 2016 Is Shipping

Posted by Soulskill on from the onward-and-upward dept.

jones_supa writes: Microsoft's mail and calendar server package Exchange Server 2016 is being refreshed and is now out of preview, along with the 2016 revamp for other Office products. The new Exchange tries to simplify the software's architecture while still adding new features and working better with other Office products. You can now use links from Sharepoint 2016 and OneDrive for Business as email attachments, instead of having to upload the actual file, leading to more robust file sharing and editing. Add-ins have been introduced, which allows extensibility similar to extensions on a web browser. Microsoft is providing a 180-day trial for free.

7 of 94 comments (clear)

  1. this will be the year by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Of windows on the server

  2. It's all clouds by craigg7500 · · Score: 2

    Most of us don't really care much about this since we use managed email in the cloud. This is only for big IT folks.

    1. Re:It's all clouds by nine-times · · Score: 2

      I understand that mentality, but at the same time, I have to wonder: do you have a team of admins who are experts in security in general, and in securing the email software you use in specific? Because if not, your email may be more secure if you outsource it to a group who does have a team of such experts, rather than trying to do it yourself.

      Sure, it requires that you trust the team you're outsourcing to-- that's true. If you don't trust Google, don't use them as a mail host. However, I'd rather trust Google with securing my email than my company's one generalist IT guy with 3 years of experience, running a 8 year-old Exchange server shoved under someone's desk. For a lot of small companies, that's the choice they're making.

  3. Will it run on Linux? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Really what MS is shipping is the walled garden Windows+SQL+IIS+Exchange.

    Once you walk down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny.

  4. Re: Integrated vs. interfaced. by izm · · Score: 2

    They're sitting on billions because they know how to market to the people holding the purse strings (non-technical executives). Nobody ever got fired for buying Microsoft...even if its not the best tool for the job (and I will give it to them...some of their stuff is genuinely the best). That said, You'd be surprised how little "compiling" of software is required these days with linux-based solutions. Also, my biggest gripe about Microsoft is having to look for non-descript error codes online to figure out what's broken vs Iooking at an error log with some verbosity. Having access to the code also makes it easier to implement a bug fix since I can be more precise on my bug reporting, saving everybody time.

    --
    izm
  5. We'll see what Microsoft has planned by ErichTheRed · · Score: 2

    One thing about Microsoft these days is their relentless push to stop you using their software on-premises, or at least out of their control. "Cloud first" means local datacenter last, so I'm expecting that they're going to be slowly increasing prices to a point where the MBAs have every argument they need to move the company to Office 365. Their hosted email is admittedly very good, but it's still not "yours" and not reliable in the case of network failure, Azure hiccups, etc. I'm definitely not cloud-averse, but I do know that it really doesn't cost that much to run an Exchange server in house -- the architecture has changed enough such that it's not total black magic anymore, and the majority of the day to day admin can be done by regular help desk guys or automation tools. So, most normal-sized places with simple email requirements can get away with one guy who's good with Exchange, and it doesn't have to be their full time job until you get to a certain number of users.

    Management accounting is weird -- it makes more financial sense for a company to pay and pay for years on end for a service in a subscription format, rather than buy and hold onto a software license. Same thing goes for assets -- every big company is falling all over themselves to sell real estate only to pay someone else for the privilege of occupying what was their building...all because of accounting tricks. It's so strange because it's backwards compared to personal accounting. People usually want to pay off their cars or houses and live in them without a mortgage or car loan, for example. Businesses seem to want to go to software companies and say, "Please, let me pay you forever to use your software."

  6. Re:Honest question by Anon-Admin · · Score: 2, Informative

    Ill give an honest response from my point of view. NOTE: I am a Unix/Linux admin and only use windows on the work desktop.

    Exchange does provide better integration between things like lync, office, calendar, etc. When talking to a homogeneous environment of windows desktops. I have not seen anything that suggests it is easier to administer, or that it is more stable. I also know that you require more exchange servers than Unix MTA servers for a given load. In that I mean, if you are handling 50,000 users and over 1,000,000 emails in a 24 hour period, you are looking at multiple exchange servers. Where as I have done the above in a single Unix MTA.

    So IMHO, when working with a homogeneous office environment of windows desktops. Sure go with exchange. When you have a heterogeneous environment you will have some issues. I would also not suggest that you put an exchange server on the Internet without a bunch of protection. In most cases the MTA in the DMZ is a sendmail or postfix server that is secured and relays through the DMZ to the exchange server.