Cool, but did I miss something?

[sreindl]

Hi all,

your software definetely looks cool...

We're currently evaluating groupware solutions for one of our customers. In your architecture paper you describe a MAPI adapter for Outlook.

Three questions here:

1. Where can I find the adapter (not found in the source package)?
2. Is this adaptor available as open source also?
3. If the adaptor is not available currently, when will it be available and which versions of Outlook are going to be supported?

Regards,

Stephen

[MeneM]

Hi,

I've seen talk about a Zimbra MAPI as well. In fact in this document. (PDF Alert)

It is supposed to get outlook hooked up into zimbra, as well as blackberry servers (Mobile Enterprise Server).

Is that meant as a "For instance" or does this "Zimbra MAPI" actually exist somewhere perhaps?

Thanks,
Mark

[Teesh]

We are absolutely committed to developing an Outlook connector that
will work in both offline cached mode and online modes for email,
contacts and calendar. We hope to make the binary available in beta as
soon as possible which we are estimating to be before Christmas. Until
then, IMAP, POP, iCal and webmail are the only access points we will have.
We greatly appreciate all the positive feedback we have gotten and
appreciate your patience with us until the connector is available.

Initially the adaptor will only work with Outlook 2003 - after which
we are planning to work on Outlook 2000 and Outlook 12 in that order. No
support is currently planned for versions before Outlook 2000 but we are looking for feedback.

The current plan is that the Outlook connector and the BES (Blackberry Enterprise Server) connector (for over the air sync) will be available as a binary to trial but not available in source form as there are some 3rd party mime libraries that are part of the connector that cannot be open sourced. In the future, we may consider rewriting the mime library and open sourcing the connector.

[sreindl]

Ok,

we'll watch your tool in the next months to see what kind of (cool ) tools will be added.

Next (and short question): When will there be a roadmap available?

Stephen

[abtech]

A MAPI client that actually works (see Kerio and ALT/N for ones that don't) would be most excellent. They (Kerio and ALT/N) both work against the IMAP server and besides some serious performance issues, they both have serious random errors and migration difficulties. They have some nice features (Kerio's migration tool and AD integration are very nice), but at this point can't be considered ready for use in a production environment.

[jhenkins]

Hello,

Originally Posted by Teesh

The current plan is that the Outlook connector and the BES (Blackberry Enterprise Server) connector (for over the air sync) will be available as a binary to trial but not available in source form as there are some 3rd party mime libraries that are part of the connector that cannot be open sourced. In the future, we may consider rewriting the mime library and open sourcing the connector.

I understand the fact that some libraries cannot be open sourced, which puts a damper on a GPL connector. However, do you plan on making at least the Outlook connector available as a free binary-only download? If so, this will solve the biggest problem integrators and OSS companies are facing in replacing Exchange. Small companies put in Exchange at quite a premium, and having to fork out even more money for plugins (like the Toltec plugins for Kolab), no matter the cost, escalates the level of risk to beyond what they are willing to absorb. If you can release your plugin for free (as in beer), you will see your product not only taking over major Exchange installations, but also make huge inroads into other markets currently dominated by the likes of OX and Kolab.

Looking forward to your comments.

[KevinH]

The plan is still that the Outlook plugin will be available as a binary evaluation and as part of the Zimbra Network Edition.