Microsoft has released a public beta of Microsoft Exchange Server 2010, part of its unified communications family.
According to the company, Exchange 2010 is part of the next wave of Microsoft Office-related products and is the first server in a new generation of Microsoft server technology built from the ground up to work on-premises and as an online service. This release of Exchange 2010 introduces a new integrated e-mail archive and features to help reduce costs and improve the user experience.
Exchange Server 2010 is expected to be available in the second half of 2009. Microsoft Office 2010 and related products are expected to enter technical preview in the third quarter of 2009 and become available in the first half of 2010.
Microsoft said that Exchange 2010 will help organizations reduce costs, protect communications and delight e-mail users with capabilities to do the following: lower costs with more flexible deployment and management options; protect information and meet compliance requirements with the new e-mail archive; improve user productivity with the ultimate inbox experience; voice mail preview; conversation view; and call answering rules.
Rajesh Jha, corporate vice president of Exchange at Microsoft, said: Exchange 2010 ushers in the next generation of Microsoft unified communications software as the first server designed from inception to work both on-premises and as an online service. This release raises the bar with new archiving and end-user innovations that will help companies save money and employees save time.
