The Empire Strikes Back
The Microsoft Exchange developers refuse to sit still. Web based email offerings from Google, Yahoo, and others have made Exchange seem ancient by comparison. Now Microsoft strikes back with Exchange 14. Of course, Exchange 14 is still under development at this point.
Both Shrink-Wrapped and Web-Based
Exchange 14 is the first version of the product that was built to be both a product and a service. You can buy the software in a box and install it on your own server, or you can purchase it as a service hosted at Microsoft’s data centers. Two members of the E14 development team review the product in this 10-minute video.
Exchange vs. GMail
WisdomGroup used MS Exchange for eleven years. We replaced Exchange with GMail in 2007 and we are very pleased with the results: high reliability, excellent spam management, and labels are three things that make GMail a great web-based software product.
Will Microsoft make it back into the email picture? Hard to tell at this point. One thing is certain: Microsoft is a strong company with lots of smart, competitive people. Success may have spoiled them in recent years, but they’re not dead yet.