Outlook 2007 timescale

[robh]

Hi,

I know this has been asked before, but... Is there any news on a timescale for releasing a connector which supports Outlook 2007?

In May I was told by support that ZCS 5.0 would be released "this summer". Looking at the product portal this seems to have been put back to November. I see from the newsletter that there is a beta version "right around the corner" - can anyone put a more precise timescale on this?

This is important to us as we decided to deploy Zimbra on the basis that Outlook 2007 support was imminent, this doesn't now seem to be happening. We have a number of people using Office 2007 and we need to make a decision of whether to downgrade everyone to Office 2003, or hold out for the new connector.

Thanks,
Rob

[phoenix]

Current release details are those in the Product Portal, announcements about any release will be in the forums. It's extremely difficult to give exact dates for product releases especially with a complex project like Zimbra and the number of changes going into this release.

[robh]

Phoenix,

Thanks for your reply.

I appreciate the difficulties of predicting a release date for 5.0. However, it is well over a year since the public beta for Office 2007 was released and coming up for a year since its main release. It is no longer possible to buy Office 2003 off the shelf. If you want Zimbra to be considered a serious alternative to Exchange, you need to make getting a connector with support for Outlook 2007 out a priority.

What I find particularly annoying is that a few months ago when we were evaluating Zimbra support were happy to assure me that Outlook 2007 support was imminent:

Hello Robert,

Outlook 2007 will be fully supported on our ZCS 5.0 release, which is due this summer. There will be some beta version that will be released that will support Outlook 2007.

You can keep a track of the release dates by looking at the "Road Map" section of the support portal.

Regards,

Angad Bhullar
Zimbra Network Support

but now this is clearly not the case, furthermore nobody seems to be able to offer any explanation nor give any time frame of when Outlook 2007 will be supported. This sort of thing will make it very hard for me to make a case to renew the contract next year.

As I've said above, release 5.0 isn't something I'm particularly waiting on, but I think you need to get a connector for Outlook 2007 out asap. I'd like to hear from Zimbra whether you plan to release this before 5.0 (as has been hinted in the forums) and, if so, an approximate time frame.

Thanks,
Rob

[phoenix]

Originally Posted by robh

What I find particularly annoying is that a few months ago when we were evaluating Zimbra support were happy to assure me that Outlook 2007 support was imminent:

That probably was the case when you were told that. As always, software releases are subject to review.

Originally Posted by robh

but now this is clearly not the case, furthermore nobody seems to be able to offer any explanation nor give any time frame of when Outlook 2007 will be supported. This sort of thing will make it very hard for me to make a case to renew the contract next year.

The Connector is currently being tested and a beta version will be available but until it's ready for release it won't be announced. Outlook 2007 will be supported when Zimbra 5 goes GA.

[jhoelz]

We are in the same boat as Rob here. The lack of a connector for Outlook 2007 is a big problem. It's incrediby frustrating. As a provider who tries to keep a product offering and image that is current and up to date we are supposed to tell our client base that we don't support the most popular email desktop applications latest release after it's been out for nearly a year?

Don't get me wrong, we love Zimbra, but this really has us scratching our heads and tap dancing around the issue with our clients.

Will the new connector require an upgrade to 5.0 before it will work or will it connect to 4.5.x?

How does someone get involved in the beta?

[henry]

{Edited}
5.0 connector will work 5.0 servers

As for private beta you can try mail to support and ask for it.
Soon we will issue second private beta and after that public beta will be available.

[jeepville]

I emailed that 2007 email addy in the newsletter and never heard anything maybe I will email support and see if they can get me a copy of 5.0 beta

[robh]

I guess this is slightly encouraging, at least something seems to be happening. I also mailed the address in the newsletter and didn't hear back. I've now tried support too. I'd be interested to hear if anyone manages to find anything else out.

I can't help thinking that we should at this stage around a year ago. If your product is intended to compete with Exchange, supporting a new Outlook version needs to be a top priority; I don't believe that has been the case.

[GregA]

All-- Sorry for the delay, rest assured we are working on a plan to make an Outlook 2007 preview available very soon.

Originally Posted by robh

I guess this is slightly encouraging, at least something seems to be happening. I also mailed the address in the newsletter and didn't hear back. I've now tried support too. I'd be interested to hear if anyone manages to find anything else out.

I can't help thinking that we should at this stage around a year ago. If your product is intended to compete with Exchange, supporting a new Outlook version needs to be a top priority; I don't believe that has been the case.

[jeepville]

support denied me on getting a copy of the connector version 5.0