Difference in Hosted Exchange 2010 and 2007
Microsoft Exchange 2010 has improved significantly since days of Microsoft Exchange 200 and later on 2003. 2007 Hosted Exchange introduced new interface for management and it was the end for public folders. It was 2007 Exchange which opened doors for cloud service providers and ASP provider to provide Microsoft Exchange 2007 as a hosted service. Exchange 2010 is carrying forward legacy started with its previous version but with many more refinements and advancements for users as well as for exchange providers.
With service pack 1, new refinements were implemented which not only enhanced product offerings for users but also for hosted exchange service providers. With every new release, Microsoft is trying to sync requirements of various cloud service providers rather than keeping all these technologies in house.
Here are few of enhancements which comes bundled in hosted exchange 2010 which were not there in its 2007 version:
Advanced and better web access: One major advancement in hosted exchange 2010 is further alignment of outlook web app with look and feel of client software. Now one has larger range of user options and navigation pane’s favourites have also increased. In 2010 version, search capabilities have taken steps forward. Now, web app drives and look like hosted exchange 2010 with inclusion of short cut keys, right click functionality and major improvements in performance.
Ease of setting up clients: Setting up clients and their deployment has become very easy with hosted exchange 2010. But a little disadvantage is that now support for 2003 outlook is no longer there due to exclusion of public folders. The best feature is auto-discover which is transparent and allows users to configure complete client software with their email IDs, password and name for many client applications which use Exchange auto discover technology. Now one can configure outlook on Mac/iPhones or even laptops within minutes. The older way was lengthy and cumbersome which employed configuration of all outlook profiles for every exchange account.
Easy account management: With service pack of hosted exchange 2010 came an excellent and easy web console for managing hosted exchange accounts online. The console is simple and administrators can easily manage or create user mailboxes, external contacts, distribution lists or even resource mailboxes. Other functions related to account management like managing roles; resetting passwords and delivery reports have become easy. The web console has help hosted exchange service providers a lot as it reduced their burden of taking care of day to day tasks of their clients and now it can be easily done by client administrators.
