Greetings! Welcome to issue #8 of Exchange Center Update, an occasional newsletter about Microsoft Exchange, both for users of Windows 95 and NT 4.0 and for organizations using Exchange Server.
My apologies for letting many weeks go by without an Update. But we're finally settled here in Moscow, ready for the holidays, and full of fine resolutions to be more organized in 1997. May your celebrations be joyous and satisfying!
Today's highlights:
Regular features:
Test drive Exchange Server 5.0 and Microsoft Outlook
Exchange Server 4.5 is now Exchange Server 5.0. Microsoft says the change in version number reflects the quantity of new features (especially Internet-related enhancements) in this release, which should be available early in '97.
You can get an evaluation copy of the release candidate, which includes Microsoft Outlook, by registering at http://www.microsoft.com/exchange/betareg.htm. For a list of the new features in Exchange Server 5.0, visit http://www.microsoft.com/exchange/new.htm.
Two new Exchange support sites and a new list
Microsoft Exchange Community is a new resource center built by Microsoft at http://www.exchangeserver.com. The dust hasn't settled yet, but this looks like it will be a very interesting site with peer-to-peer interaction and a suggestion box that files into a public folder on Microsoft's Exchange Server 5.0 system.
Amrein Engineering AG in Switzerland is hosting an Exchange Resource Center at http://www.amrein.com/eworld.htm listing dozens of Exchange Server and Exchange client add-ons in many categories. This list has more active web links than the ISVs list on Microsoft's Exchange pages, so it's a good place to start if you're shopping for a fax connector or other enhancement for Exchange.
A new mailing list is available for advanced Exchange Server administrators. To subscribe, send e-mail to listserv@sice.oas.org with one line of text: join adv-exchng.
At http://www.slipstick.com/exchange/client1.htm#addressbook, I've added some ideas on creating a shared address book (without Exchange Server) using Time & Chaos32 (http://www.isbister.com/chaos32.html) or OpenSoft ExpressMail (http://www.opensoft.com/products/expressmail/). I'd be interested in hearing about your experiences and other solutions. A robust shared address book is still a hot item on the Exchange Center Wish List.
If you want to be able to use multiple address books in Exchange, Time & Chaos 32 is again a possibility, as is the Corel Address Book that comes with WordPerfect. But my personal choice is Microsoft Outlook (http://www.microsoft.com/outlook/), which allows all sorts of filtering and sorting of addresses.
By the way, did you know that you can switch between Personal Address Books without restarting Exchange? It's easy. Just open the Address Book. Under Show Names From, right-click on Personal Address Book (which should be in the box), then choose Properties. You'll see the Personal Address Book Properties dialog. Under Path, enter the location and file name of the PAB you want to use.
You can also switch between PABs on the fly with Tools, Services.
New at the Exchange Center Gallery: Scan and Fax
Scan and Fax is a "wizard" that streamlines the process of sending faxes with Microsoft Fax by harnessing the Imaging for Windows 95 utility. For more information, see http://www.slipstick.com/exchange/gallery.htm#scanfax.
Other new and updated utilities
InTray (http://www.anarksof.demon.co.uk/) is a small SMTP/POP3 gateway utility that let's you retrieve mail from SMTP servers. If you don't have Mfc42.dll and Msvcrt.dll on your system, make sure you also download Mfc42redist.zip from the same site.
DataEnter Utilities from http://www.dataenter.co.at/:
MailSend -- command line mail sender
MailExtr -- extract attachments
MailRed -- automatically forward messages to another address or send Out of Office notifications (requires at least a workgroup Microsoft Mail postoffice)
The Exchange 4.0 Resource Kit Tools can now be downloaded separately or as a 4mb package from http://www.microsoft.com/msdownload/borkclient.htm. Of particular interest are:
Preview Pane Extension -- similar to Deming Preview, but with reminders, folder size calculator, and other nice features
Command Line Mail Sender -- to send messages including attachments from the command line
Simple Mail Handler -- An Inbox Assistant for non-Exchange Server users! Archives and filters incoming messages. (To install, copy Smh32.dll to your Windows\System folder. Then run "mergeini.exe -m .\smh.inf". Thanks to Ben Goetter for the installation tip.)
Alta Vista Personal Extension indexes Exchange messages as well as files on your system. http://altavista.software.digital.com/events/blimp/index.htm. Another search tool for Exchange is Search '97 Personal from Verity (http://www.verity.com).
MailAlert (http://www.diamondridge.com) is a utility to automatically get mail without keeping Exchange open. The new version 1.53 includes message preview, direct POP3 support and many improvements to make connecting easier. It also includes automatic processing to play different sounds or run different applications based on the author or subject of incoming messages.
Tips on Windows 95 DUN passwords
If you've had problems getting dial-up networking passwords to save in Windows 95, http://www.maui.net/~dml/dunpass.html sums up all the known issues and solutions. Thanks to fellow MVP Don Lebow!
Microsoft Exchange User's Handbook update
My apologies to those of you who wanted to get or give my Microsoft Exchange User's Handbook for Christmas. Publication has been postponed until early next year. The good news is that the delay means the book will also include coverage of Exchange Server 5.0, Outlook and Personal Fax for Windows NT! You can place prepublication orders through my Exchange Center Bookstore (http://www.slipstick.com/exchange/exchbstr.htm) or directly with Duke Press (http://www.dukepress.com).
The Handbook will be in good company. At the same time, Duke is bringing out Bill Kilcullen's new Exchange Server book, Microsoft Exchange - Up and Running, and a book on the Internet Mail Connector.
New wishes keep pouring in:
Voice mail: One reader is looking at the possibilities of giving his office (which is rather small) voice mail capability without getting in a new phone system and all the expense that goes with that. If a voice program just did basic answering with the option of having multiple mailboxes, and then just forwarded the message in a .wav or .au format to the determined person's Exchange address, you'd have a pretty cheap but valuable voice mail system. There are lots of voice mail systems that work with Exchange Server, but how about something a little simpler? Seems to me that someone could build this with Visual Basic.
Microsoft Fax: To have the possibility to start the message on the cover page like when printing a document from an application. A short message can get lost when sent separately as a second page after the cover page.
Keep those wishes coming!
Five FAQs are available at my Exchange Center site, dealing with various client issues and the new Personal Fax for Windows NT service:
The Windows Messaging and Exchange Server client FAQs deal with basic installation, configuration and bug issues. For the nitty-gritty on how different services like Microsoft Fax, CompuServe Mail, etc. work within Exchange/Windows Messaging, you need the Exchange Client FAQ.
Other FAQs of note:
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