Exchange 2007 SP2

Exchange 2007 SP2 was released earlier this week. The highlights include:

• A VSS backup plug-in in for Windows Server Backup to support Exchange backups is added by SP2. This plug in will enable customers to create (and restore) Exchange backups using the Windows Server 2008 Backup tool.
• The new Exchange auditing events and audit log repository simplify auditing activities on Exchange servers.
• The Dynamic Active Directory Schema Update and Validation feature allows for future schema updates to be dynamically deployed as well as preventing conflicts whenever a new property is added to the AD schema. Once deployed it will be easier to manage future schema updates.
• Exchange 2007 SP2 improves the current PowerShell cmdlets used to manage public folder quotas. See the Set-PublicFolder cmdlet documentation for more information.
• There are several new cmdlet parameters that enable centralized management of many of the Exchange organization settings. Administrators can monitor their named property usage per database using new named properties cmdlets.
• There is a new user interface for managing diagnostic logging within the Management Console.
• Looking to the future, you will be able to deploy Exchange Server 2010 in your organization once all of the client access servers in your organization and Active Directory site are upgraded to Exchange Server 2007 SP2.

Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 2
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=4c4bd2a3-5e50-42b0-8bbb-2cc9afe3216a 

What's New in Exchange Server 2007 SP2
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee221150.aspx 

Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 2 (SP2) Release Notes
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=ee7829a3-0ae8-44de-822c-908cd1034523&displaylang=en 

Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 2 Help
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=85c5ef71-6a1f-4eb0-9ff3-3feee6057e96#tm 

Microsoft has a Exchange Software Updates forum for questions about fixes contained in this and other rollups and updates. Should you encounter issues when deploying updates, Microsoft engineers, as well as community members, will be available to provide assistance.

Exchange Software Updates forum
http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/exchangesoftwareupdate/threads/ 

Outlook 2007 Printing Hotfix

Back in June I mentioned a bug that surfaced in Outlook 2007 with SP2 installed which caused Outlook to crash when trying to print a selection of Contacts in any of the Card views. It worked fine in table views or when printing all contacts in the folder, only a selection in any of the card views caused problems.

A hotfix was released to fix this and numerous other bugs in Outlook 2007 SP2.

A few of the other issues were fixed along with the contact print bug are listed below. See KB 973404 for complete details.

• A problem with the MAPI Editor tool (MfcMapi.exe), you can convert files from .msg (MAPI) format to .eml (MIME) format. Were it takes more than 10 minutes to convert a message that contains a large amount of lines.
• Drafts which are edited before sending do not contain the new contents.
• You cannot rename the shortcuts for shared calendars.
• The PropertyChange event is invoked on a custom meeting form even if the meeting that was created based on the custom meeting form was deleted.
• When you make a query for free or for busy information in a multiple forest scenario, the Autodiscover URL from the external forest entry is used instead of the Autodiscover URL from the local forest entry.
• When you print multiple HTML e-mail messages, the font size on the second page of the printout is very small.
• When a delegate opens a manager's mailbox and sends an e-mail message on behalf of the manager the From line in the sent folder displays the delegate's name instead of "delegate name" on behalf of "manager name".
• A custom address list is missing in a domain with mixed Windows 2003/2008 servers.
• In the Hierarchical Address Book (HAB), the Location column is blank.
• The alerts and the workflow messages from a SharePoint Web site cannot be treated as shared messages in Outlook 2007 - the Connect to this Task List button and the Preview this Task List button are missing from the messages.
• After you apply 2007 Office suite SP2, Outlook 2007 cannot finish the reconciliation process for the .ost file.

Description of the Outlook 2007 hotfix package (Outlook.msp): August 25, 2009
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/973404 

Outlook 2007 SP2 Contact Printing Bug
http://www.slipstick.com/emo/2009/up090618.htm#3 

A new weekly calendar for Outlook 2007

Sorry to disappoint those readers who are hoping the title meant the old Week view is back in Outlook 2007 but the weekly planner style calendar will not be back as an Outlook 2007 calendar view. There is a new template for those who print their calendars. I think it creates a cleaner looking calendar than the version than the version Outlook shipped with.

A third hotfix released this week corrects the date of the Jewish Memorial Day.

A new weekly print style is available for the Outlook 2007 calendar
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/974411/ 

Description of the Outlook 2007 hotfix package (Outlook-en-us.msp): August 25, 2009
(Hotfix for the Jewish Memorial Day)
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=973936

Exchange Quick Tip: Installing Exchange 2007 SP2

Some questions and answers on installing Exchange 2007 SP2:

Q: Do I need to uninstall all the rollups that have since been installed before installing SP2?
A: No, it will install over public rollups. You may need to uninstall any private updates received from PSS.

Q: I have Rollup Update 9 installed, is there any new functionality in SP2?
A: Sure, besides being on the latest service pack if you need to call for support, you'll have all latest hotfixes and updates as well as some new features.