Computer Network(assignment#1)
Microsoft Outlook or Outlook (full name Microsoft Office Outlook) is a personal information manager from Microsoft, and is part of the Microsoft Office suite.
Although often used mainly as an e-mail application, it also provides a calendar, task and contact management, note taking, and a journal.
It can be used as a stand-alone application, but can also operate in conjunction with Microsoft Exchange Server to provide enhanced functions for multiple users in an organization, such as shared mailboxes and calendars, public folders and meeting time allocation.
Different versions
Versions of Microsoft Outlook include:
Outlook 97 (released January 16, 1997)
Outlook 98 (released June 21, 1998)
Outlook 2000 (also known as "Outlook 9", released June 7, 1999)
Outlook 2002 (also known as "Outlook 10" or "Outlook XP", released May 31, 2001)
Office Outlook 2003 (also known as "Outlook 11", released October 21, 2003)
Office Outlook 2007 (in development, also known as "Outlook 12")
(release dates for U.S. product launches)
Outlook 98 and Outlook 2000 could be installed in one of two configurations:
Internet Mail Only or IMO mode: A lighter application mode with specific emphasis on POP3 accounts and IMAP accounts and including a lightweight Fax application.
Corporate Workgroup or CW mode: A full MAPI client with specific emphasis on Microsoft Exchange accounts.
Microsoft also released several versions of Outlook for the Apple Macintosh; however, most mail features were disabled after Office 98. After Office 98, Entourage replaced Outlook on Macintosh systems, although in 2001 Microsoft released Outlook 2001 for Mac to allow Classic users to access Exchange servers. Over the past few years, Microsoft has improved Entourage to provide Mac users with a Mac OS X-compatible Exchange client, though it does not have the entire functionality provided by Outlook.
Outlook Express is a slimmed-down e-mail, newsgroup, and contact management application that Microsoft makes available at no charge, in conjunction with the Internet Explorer web browser. Other than the similar name there is no connection between the two products and originate from different divisions of Microsoft. While both offer access to POP3 and IMAP4 e-mail accounts, only Outlook offers client access (MAPI) to Microsoft Exchange. Outlook Express is replaced with Windows Mail in Windows Vista.
Security concerns
One of Microsoft's goals is for the e-mail client to be easy to use. However, the embedded automation and lack of security features compared to competitors have been repeatedly exploited by malicious hackers using e-mail viruses. These typically take the form of an e-mail attachment which executes on the user's machine and replicates itself by mass-mailing the user's or Exchange server's address list. Examples of such viruses are the Melissa and Sobig worms. Other programs have exploited Outlook's HTML e-mail capabilities to execute malicious code or confirm that e-mail addresses are valid targets for spam. The notoriety of the worms and other viruses has gained Outlook a reputation as a highly insecure e-mail platform.
Unix programmer Bill Joy has suggested that Outlook is insecure largely because it was written in C, making it easy to write programs to exploit it. He also believes the widespread use of Outlook is a major contributing factor in the proliferation of spam [1].
As part of its Trustworthy Computing initiative, Microsoft took corrective steps to fix Outlook's reputation in its latest incarnation, Office Outlook 2003. Among the most publicized security features are that Office Outlook 2003 does not automatically load images in HTML e-mails, and includes a built-in Junk Mail filter[2]. Service Pack 2 has augmented these features and adds an anti-Phishing filter [3]. The base code is also said to be much more secure.[citation needed]
This most recent release has been well received, and regarded as the primary driver of Office upgrades among business users. Instances of new worms have slowed significantly, however, due to the release of numerous security updates and Service Packs which have corrected the known vulnerabilities exploited by previous viruses.[citation needed]
Upcoming releases
Outlook 2007 has been announced and should be available in late 2006/early 2007. A public beta was made available in early June 2006. Features include [4]:
A to-do bar added to the shell UI that shows a snapshot of the user's upcoming appointments and active tasks for better time and project management.
Improved calendar views that display the tasks due below each day on the week view and supports overlaying multiple calendars.
Integrated RSS aggregator
'Instant Search' through a context indexer based search engine
Enhanced integration with Microsoft Office SharePoint Portal Server
New programmability features [1]
Ability to publish calendars in Internet Calendar format to Microsoft Office Online or to a WebDAV server
Outlook Express
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Microsoft Outlook Express is an e-mail and news client bundled with certain versions of Microsoft Windows starting with Windows 95 OSR-2. It is bundled with the Internet Explorer 4.0 web browser by Microsoft (also bundled with some versions of Windows), and also available as a no-charge download for the classic Apple Macintosh operating system (although not for the newer Mac OS X, where it has been replaced by Microsoft Entourage, which is sold as part of Microsoft Office for Macintosh).
Outlook Express is the successor of Microsoft Internet Mail and News, an early e-mail client add-on for Internet Explorer 3.0.
In October 2005, Microsoft announced that the next version of Outlook Express (to be released with Windows Vista) would be renamed as Windows Mail. Microsoft is also developing Windows Live Mail Desktop, a replacement for Outlook Express on Windows XP and Vista that will feature a super-set of Windows Mail's features.
Description
Outlook Express is a different program from the Microsoft Office Outlook e-mail client which ships with Microsoft Office for Windows. The two programs do not share common code, but do share a common architectural philosophy. The similar names lead many people to incorrectly conclude that Outlook Express is a stripped down version of Outlook. Outlook Express is bundled with Internet Explorer.
Windows 95 included Internet Mail and News, a simple precursor to Outlook Express. Internet Mail and News handled plain text e-mail (not HTML mail), and had none of the security holes Outlook is known for. However, Microsoft did not provide it with a way to back up the address book — something that would later create a great deal of frustration among users.
Outlook Express has been vulnerable to a number of problems which could corrupt its files. This has led to a thriving market for programs which can backup, restore, and recover corrupted OE files. A cursory Internet search on the term Outlook Express will reveal dozens of such rescue programs. However, Microsoft has released a procedure for Windows XP which may be able to correct problems and restore access to e-mail messages without resorting to third party solutions using their Outlook Express Basic Repair Kit.
Criticism
Security issues
In the "Welcome e-mail" for both Outlook and Outlook Express, Microsoft acknowledged that with new HTML e-mail, security was a risk, and described their plan for foiling the security risk. Outlook Express and Internet Explorer both featured security zones—a feature neither found in nor desired by the makers of competing products. The zones were Intranet, Internet, Trusted, and Restricted. Internet was for any site not in a zone. Trusted sites could do things without asking user's permission. The trusted zone was clearly designed for administrators who wanted to allow updating without any confusion. AOL used it to add http://free.aol.com/ to ensure that users who wanted to download their online service client software didn't have to grant them permission via an ActiveX dialog box. AOL was worried that the warning might scare away potential customers. AOL's action required an Internet Explorer hack that should not have been possible if Microsoft's zones had worked as intended. Rather than the zones being controlled by the user, AOL had shown that remote sites could alter them.
But that was a relatively benign breach due to Microsoft's implemention of the plan. Another flaw was the fact that the "Restricted" security zone wasn't restrictive enough. A script could automatically open as an attachment. Another aggravating factor was a bug in Outlook Express's attachment handling that allowed an executable to appear to be a harmless attachment such as a graphics file. This bug was later fixed so that only the last '.' represented the end of the filename and the beginning of the file extension—the correct behavior for the Windows filesystem. Opening or previewing an e-mail can cause code to run without the user's knowledge or consent. In fact, turning off the preview pane only seemingly circumvents this vulnerability. Even when the preview pane is turned off, Outlook Express automatically "internally" opens the first message in the inbox (see). A host of viruses exploited this.
Outlook Express uses Internet Explorer to render email. So even if users completely avoid use of Internet Explorer and use only other browsers, they are exposed to all its security holes when using Outlook Express. And Internet Explorer is designed to try to execute almost any executable and script it encounters in an effort to make browsing an "easy" experience, which has also enabled it to be the vector of most viruses and other malware.
Obtaining security fixes
Any security fixed acknowledged by Microsoft is handled according to Microsoft's internal security policy, and when necessary, patches are distributed via Microsoft Update. Some minor non-security problems are documented in the knowledge base. Calls to Microsoft's technical support about obtaining patches are without charge.
On the Macintosh platform, Outlook Express uses the Tasman engine, and any support to be had should be found at Mactopia. Microsoft no longer formally supports the product, however.
Secunia's database of security vulnerabilities lists many more flaws (some dating back to 2002) than Microsoft has patches for.
Handling of PGP/MIME signed messages
Outlook Express doesn't correctly handle MIME, and won't display the body of signed messages inline. Users get a blank email and two attachments (one of the message text and one of the signature) and therefore need to open an attachment to see the email.
Storage location of email data
If a user has not been backing up Outlook Express periodically, they may find that the program does not permit an easy 'rescue' of data, for example from a hard drive that is accessible but can no longer be used to boot up from. For those willing to tinker with files themselves in order to rescue their Inbox and Sent Items, a it is useful to know that Outlook Express stores its email files in a location such as the following: "C:\Documents & Settings\Administrator\Local Settings\Application Data\Identities\{SDOCE8ABD-5896-3E3D5}\Microsoft\Outlook Express" where 'Administrator' is the user's logon ID and the value in curly-brackets {} is an arbitrary string. Corresponding folders should be found on both the new hard drive and the old one. However, simply copying files from old to new may not be ideal.
It may help to first run the new version of Outlook Express, create some uniquely-named folders within Outlook Express, e.g. 'Rescued Inbox' (be sure to click on the new folder to actually force the program to create the file 'Rescued Inbox.dbx'). Then quit Outlook Express, find the old inbox on the old hard drive and rename it 'Rescued Inbox.dbx', and finally copy it over to replace the newly formed 'Rescued Inbox.dbx' on your new hard drive. This prevents loss of any new emails, and also ensures that the new version 'knows' about the rescued emails being copied over.
Email addresses data
Outlook Express does not store its own email address list. Instead it relies on the Windows Address Book, which is actually a component of Windows. The address book data are typically found (in NT based versions of Windows) at "C:\Documents and Settings\%USERNAME%\Application Data\Microsoft\Address Book\".
Versions and file formats
Outlook Express stores its e-mail messages in different formats depending on the version.
Outlook Express v 4, which shipped with Windows 98 (June 1998), stored messages in *.mbx files.
Outlook Express v 5, which shipped with Windows 98SE (June 1999), switched to *.dbx files, with a separate file for each mailbox folder.
Outlook Express v 5.50 shipped with Windows 2000 (February 2000)
Outlook Express v 5.5 shipped with Windows Me (June 2000)
Outlook Express v 6, which is included with Windows XP, also stores messages in *.dbx files.
Windows Mail v 7, which is expected to ship with Windows Vista, stores messages in individual *.eml files.
Microsoft Exchange Server is a messaging and collaborative software product developed by Microsoft. It is part of the Windows Server System line of server products and is widely used by enterprises using Microsoft infrastructure solutions. Exchange's major features consist of electronic mail, shared calendars and tasks, and support for mobile and web-based access to information, as well as supporting very large amounts of data storage.
History
Exchange Server 4.0, released on June 11, 1996, was the original version of Exchange. Positioned as an upgrade to Microsoft Mail 3.5, which Microsoft had originally acquired from Network Courier, Exchange Server was actually an entirely new X.400-based client-server mail system with a single database store that also supported X.500 directory services. The directory used by Exchange was eventually replaced by Microsoft's Active Directory service, an LDAP-compliant directory server. Active Directory was integrated into Windows 2000 as the foundation of Windows Server domains.
On May 23, 1997, Exchange 5.0 was released, which introduced the new Exchange Administrator console, as well as opening up "integrated" access to SMTP-based networks for the first time. Unlike Microsoft Mail (which required a standalone SMTP relay), Exchange 5.0 could, with the help of an add-in called the Internet Mail Connector, communicate directly with servers using the new mail standard. Version 5.0 also introduced a new Web-based email interface Exchange Web Access, this was rebranded as Outlook Web Access in a later Service pack. Along with Exchange Server version 5.0, Microsoft released version 8.01 of Microsoft Outlook, version 5.0 of the Microsoft Exchange Client and version 7.5 of Microsoft Schedule+ to support the new features in the new version of Exchange Server.
Exchange 5.5, introduced November, 1997, was sold in two editions, Standard ("5.5/S") and Enterprise ("5.5/E"). They differ in database store size, mail transport connectors and clustering capabilities. The Standard edition had the same 16Gb database size limitation as earlier versions of Exchange, while the Enterprise edition had an increased limit of 8TB (although Microsoft's best practices documentation recommends that the message store not exceed 100 GB). The Standard edition includes the Site Connector, MS Mail Connector, Internet Mail Service (previously "Internet Mail Connector"), and Internet News Service (previously "Internet News Connector"), as well as software to interoperate with cc:Mail, Lotus Notes and Novell GroupWise. The Enterprise edition adds an X.400 connector, and interoperability software with SNADS and PROFS. The Enterprise edition also introduced two node clustering capability. Exchange 5.5 introduced a number of other new features including a new version of Outlook Web Access with Calendar support, support for IMAP4 and LDAP v3 clients and the Deleted Item Recovery feature. Exchange 5.5 was the last version of Exchange to have separate directory, SMTP and NNTP services. There was no new version of Exchange Client and Schedule+ for version 5.5, instead version 8.03 of Microsoft Outlook was released to support the new features of Exchange Server 5.5.
Following Exchange 5.5 on November 29, 2000, Exchange 2000, or version 6.0, overcame many of the limitations of its predecessors. For example, it raised the maximum sizes of databases and increased the number of servers in a cluster from two to four. However, many customers were deterred from upgrading by the requirement for a full Microsoft Active Directory infrastructure to be in place, and the migration process involving user / mailbox mapping and a (temporary) translation process between the two directories. This upgrade process required upgrading a company's servers to Windows 2000. Some customers opted to stay on a combination of Exchange 5.5 and Windows NT, both of which are no longer supported by Microsoft.
Exchange Server 2003 debuted on September 28, 2003.
Current version
The current version of Exchange is 2003 Service Pack 2, or version 6.5. It can be run on Windows 2000 Server (only if Service Pack 4 is first installed) and Windows Server 2003, although some new features only work with the latter. Like Windows Server 2003, Exchange 2003 has many compatibility modes to allow users to slowly migrate to the new system. This is useful in large companies with distributed Exchange environments who cannot afford the downtime and expense that comes with a complete migration.
One of the new features in Exchange 2003 is enhanced disaster recovery, which allows administrators to bring the server online quicker. This is done by allowing the server to send and receive mail while the message stores are being recovered from backup. Some features previously available in the Microsoft Mobile Information Server 2001/2002 products have been added to the core Exchange product, like Outlook Mobile Access and server-side ActiveSync, while the Mobile Information Server product itself has been dropped. Better anti-virus and anti-spam protection have also been added, both by providing built-in APIs that facilitate filtering software and built-in support for the basic methods of originating IP address, SPF ("Sender ID"), and DNSBL filtering which were standard on other open source and *nix-based mail servers. Also new is the ability to drop inbound e-mail before being fully processed, thus preventing delays in the message routing system. There are also improved message and mailbox management tools, which allow administrators to execute common chores more quickly. Others, such as Exchange Conferencing Server have been extracted completely in order to form separate products. Microsoft now appears to be positioning a combination of Microsoft Office, Live Meeting and Sharepoint as its collaboration software of choice. Exchange is now to be simply email and calendaring.
Exchange 2003 is available in two versions, Standard Edition and Enterprise Edition. Standard Edition supports one message database per server, and supports databases up to 16 GB in size. Beginning with the release of Service Pack 2, Standard Edition allows a maximum database size of 75 GB, but only supports 18 GB by default; a registry change is necessary to make the database size either larger or smaller than the new default 18GB size. Enterprise Edition allows a 16 TB maximum database size, and supports up to 4 storage groups with 5 databases per storage group for a total of 20 databases per server.[1].
Exchange 2003 is included with both Microsoft Small Business Server 2003 Standard & Premium.
Microsoft Exchange Server uses a proprietary RPC protocol, of which only the API is documented (see MAPI). It was designed to be used by the Microsoft Outlook client. Email hosted on an Exchange server can be accessed using POP3 and IMAP4, with clients such as Mozilla Thunderbird and Lotus Notes. Both Microsoft Outlook and Novell Evolution are clients capable of using the advanced features of Exchange Server; Microsoft Entourage for Mac also has most of the advanced features implemented in the latest version. Exchange accounts can also be accessed through a web browser, known as Outlook Web Access (OWA). Exchange 2003 also features a WAP version of OWA, called Outlook Mobile Access (OMA).
Coupled with Windows Mobile 5.0 and SP2, Exchange Server 2003 supports "pushing" email to mobile devices - similar to the operation of BlackBerry devices. [2], [3]
Unlike Exchange Server 2000, Exchange Server 2003 no longer ships instant messaging for internal corporate systems. Microsoft released Live Communication Server to provide those services as a standalone program.
Exchange 2003 Anti-Spam Filtering: Exchange 2003 added several basic filtering methods to Exchange. They are not sophisticated enough to eliminate (or even significantly reduce) spam, but they can protect against DoS and mailbox flooding attacks. Exchange 2000 supported the ability to block a sender's address, or e-mail domain by adding '*@domain.com', which is still supported in the 2003 server. Added filtering methods in Exchange 2003 are:
Connection filtering - messages are blocked from DNS RBL lists [4] or from manually specified IP address/range
Recipient filtering - messages blocked when sent to manually specified recipients on the server (for intranet-only addresses) or to any recipients not on the server (stopping spammers from guessing addresses)
Sender ID filtering - Sender ID, a form of SPF
Intelligent Message Filter - A free Microsoft add-on that uses heuristic message analysis to block messages or direct them to the "Junk E-Mail" folder in Microsoft Outlook clients. [5]
Exchange Server 2007
This article or section contains information about computer software currently in development.The content may change dramatically as the software development progresses.
For some time after the release of Exchange 2003, Microsoft's future plans for the product were not known. Edge Services, an add-on for the main product, was to have been released sometime in 2005 but was dropped.
The new version, Exchange 2007, is scheduled to be released on DVD in late Nov 2006 to business customers as part of the Vista, Office 2007, SharePoint 2007 wave. It is to include voice mail integration, better search and support for Web services. The company also announced that the new version would run on 64-bit version of Windows only, pointing out the substantial performance benefits that 64-bit brings to the product. However, companies currently running Exchange on 32-bit hardware will be forced to replace or add hardware if they wish to upgrade to the new version. Even those companies that are currently running Exchange on 64-bit capable hardware will still need to upgrade their server operating system simultaneously with the Exchange 2007 upgrade. This is because Exchange 2003 cannot be installed on Windows 2003 64-bit.
The first beta of Exchange 2007 (then named "Exchange 12") was released in December 2005 to a very limited number of beta testers. A wider beta was made available via TechNet Plus and MSDN subscriptions in March 2006 according to the Microsoft Exchange team blog, "You had me at EHLO."
On April 25, 2006, Microsoft announced that the next version of Exchange would be called Exchange Server 2007. More details about Exchange Server 2007 can be found at the Exchange Preview Website. This site has information about this version of Exchange and outlines key improvements:
Protection: anti-spam, antivirus, compliance, clustering with data replication, improved security and encryption
Improved Information Worker Access: improved calendaring, unified messaging, improved mobility, improved web access
Improved IT Experience: 64-bit performance & scalability, command-line shell & simplified GUI, improved deployment, role separation, simplified routing
"Exchange Management Shell": a new command-line shell and scripting language for system administration (based on the "Power Shell" language -- formerly called "Monad" -- developed for Windows Vista). Shell users can perform every task that can be performed in the Exchange graphical user interface plus additional tasks, and can program often-used or complex tasks into "scripts" that can be saved, shared, and re-used.
"Unified Messaging" that lets users receive voice mail, e-mail, and faxes in their mailboxes, and lets them access their mailboxes from cell phones and other wireless devices. Voice commands can be given to control and listen to e-mail over the phone (and also send some basic messages, like "I'll be late")
Removed the database maximum size limit. Database size is now limited by hardware capability and the window for backups and maintenance.
Increased the maximum number of storage groups and mail databases per server, to 5 each for Standard Edition (from 1 each in Exchange 2003 Standard), and to 50 each for Enterprise Edition (from 4 groups and 20 databases in Exchange 2003 Enterprise).
The second, public beta of Exchange 2007 was released to a worldwide audience in July of 2006. The free beta can be downloaded at the Microsoft Exchange Server TechCenter.
Clustering
Exchange Enterprise Edition supports clustering of up to 4 nodes when using Windows 2000 Server, and up to 8 nodes with Windows Server 2003. Exchange 2003 also introduced Active/Active clustering, but for two node clusters only. In this setup, both servers in the cluster are allowed to be active simultaneously. This is opposed to Exchange's more common Active/Passive mode in which the failover servers in any cluster node cannot be used at all while their corresponding home servers are active. They must wait, inactive, for the home servers in the node to fail. Subsequent performance issues with Active/Active mode have led Microsoft to recommend that it should no longer be used. In fact, Active/Active mode may well be removed from the next release of Exchange altogether.
Exchange's clustering (Active/Active or Active/Passive mode) has been criticised because of its requirement for servers in the cluster nodes to share the same physical data. The clustering in Exchange provides redundancy for Exchange as an application, but not for Exchange data. In this scenario, the data can be regarded as a single point of failure, despite Microsoft's description of this set up as a "Shared Nothing" model.
Licensing
Like Windows Server products, Exchange requires Client Access Licenses, which are different from Windows CALs. Most corporate license agreements include Exchange CALs.
Exchange Hosting
Microsoft Exchange Server can also be purchased as a hosted service. This not only eliminates the upfront cost of purchasing hardware and software, but also saves on the cost of hiring Exchange system administrators. Hosted Exchange services take care of licensing, antivirus, spam filtering, backups, patches, upgrades and 24x7 support to end users.
Competitors
It is positioned as a rival to the Lotus Notes / Domino server from IBM.
EGroupWare
exchange4linux
Novell GroupWise
Kerio MailServer
Kolab
Open-Xchange
Oracle Collaboration Suite
PhpGroupWare
Scalix
Zarafa
Zimbra
Although often used mainly as an e-mail application, it also provides a calendar, task and contact management, note taking, and a journal.
It can be used as a stand-alone application, but can also operate in conjunction with Microsoft Exchange Server to provide enhanced functions for multiple users in an organization, such as shared mailboxes and calendars, public folders and meeting time allocation.
Different versions
Versions of Microsoft Outlook include:
Outlook 97 (released January 16, 1997)
Outlook 98 (released June 21, 1998)
Outlook 2000 (also known as "Outlook 9", released June 7, 1999)
Outlook 2002 (also known as "Outlook 10" or "Outlook XP", released May 31, 2001)
Office Outlook 2003 (also known as "Outlook 11", released October 21, 2003)
Office Outlook 2007 (in development, also known as "Outlook 12")
(release dates for U.S. product launches)
Outlook 98 and Outlook 2000 could be installed in one of two configurations:
Internet Mail Only or IMO mode: A lighter application mode with specific emphasis on POP3 accounts and IMAP accounts and including a lightweight Fax application.
Corporate Workgroup or CW mode: A full MAPI client with specific emphasis on Microsoft Exchange accounts.
Microsoft also released several versions of Outlook for the Apple Macintosh; however, most mail features were disabled after Office 98. After Office 98, Entourage replaced Outlook on Macintosh systems, although in 2001 Microsoft released Outlook 2001 for Mac to allow Classic users to access Exchange servers. Over the past few years, Microsoft has improved Entourage to provide Mac users with a Mac OS X-compatible Exchange client, though it does not have the entire functionality provided by Outlook.
Outlook Express is a slimmed-down e-mail, newsgroup, and contact management application that Microsoft makes available at no charge, in conjunction with the Internet Explorer web browser. Other than the similar name there is no connection between the two products and originate from different divisions of Microsoft. While both offer access to POP3 and IMAP4 e-mail accounts, only Outlook offers client access (MAPI) to Microsoft Exchange. Outlook Express is replaced with Windows Mail in Windows Vista.
Security concerns
One of Microsoft's goals is for the e-mail client to be easy to use. However, the embedded automation and lack of security features compared to competitors have been repeatedly exploited by malicious hackers using e-mail viruses. These typically take the form of an e-mail attachment which executes on the user's machine and replicates itself by mass-mailing the user's or Exchange server's address list. Examples of such viruses are the Melissa and Sobig worms. Other programs have exploited Outlook's HTML e-mail capabilities to execute malicious code or confirm that e-mail addresses are valid targets for spam. The notoriety of the worms and other viruses has gained Outlook a reputation as a highly insecure e-mail platform.
Unix programmer Bill Joy has suggested that Outlook is insecure largely because it was written in C, making it easy to write programs to exploit it. He also believes the widespread use of Outlook is a major contributing factor in the proliferation of spam [1].
As part of its Trustworthy Computing initiative, Microsoft took corrective steps to fix Outlook's reputation in its latest incarnation, Office Outlook 2003. Among the most publicized security features are that Office Outlook 2003 does not automatically load images in HTML e-mails, and includes a built-in Junk Mail filter[2]. Service Pack 2 has augmented these features and adds an anti-Phishing filter [3]. The base code is also said to be much more secure.[citation needed]
This most recent release has been well received, and regarded as the primary driver of Office upgrades among business users. Instances of new worms have slowed significantly, however, due to the release of numerous security updates and Service Packs which have corrected the known vulnerabilities exploited by previous viruses.[citation needed]
Upcoming releases
Outlook 2007 has been announced and should be available in late 2006/early 2007. A public beta was made available in early June 2006. Features include [4]:
A to-do bar added to the shell UI that shows a snapshot of the user's upcoming appointments and active tasks for better time and project management.
Improved calendar views that display the tasks due below each day on the week view and supports overlaying multiple calendars.
Integrated RSS aggregator
'Instant Search' through a context indexer based search engine
Enhanced integration with Microsoft Office SharePoint Portal Server
New programmability features [1]
Ability to publish calendars in Internet Calendar format to Microsoft Office Online or to a WebDAV server
Outlook Express
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Microsoft Outlook Express is an e-mail and news client bundled with certain versions of Microsoft Windows starting with Windows 95 OSR-2. It is bundled with the Internet Explorer 4.0 web browser by Microsoft (also bundled with some versions of Windows), and also available as a no-charge download for the classic Apple Macintosh operating system (although not for the newer Mac OS X, where it has been replaced by Microsoft Entourage, which is sold as part of Microsoft Office for Macintosh).
Outlook Express is the successor of Microsoft Internet Mail and News, an early e-mail client add-on for Internet Explorer 3.0.
In October 2005, Microsoft announced that the next version of Outlook Express (to be released with Windows Vista) would be renamed as Windows Mail. Microsoft is also developing Windows Live Mail Desktop, a replacement for Outlook Express on Windows XP and Vista that will feature a super-set of Windows Mail's features.
Description
Outlook Express is a different program from the Microsoft Office Outlook e-mail client which ships with Microsoft Office for Windows. The two programs do not share common code, but do share a common architectural philosophy. The similar names lead many people to incorrectly conclude that Outlook Express is a stripped down version of Outlook. Outlook Express is bundled with Internet Explorer.
Windows 95 included Internet Mail and News, a simple precursor to Outlook Express. Internet Mail and News handled plain text e-mail (not HTML mail), and had none of the security holes Outlook is known for. However, Microsoft did not provide it with a way to back up the address book — something that would later create a great deal of frustration among users.
Outlook Express has been vulnerable to a number of problems which could corrupt its files. This has led to a thriving market for programs which can backup, restore, and recover corrupted OE files. A cursory Internet search on the term Outlook Express will reveal dozens of such rescue programs. However, Microsoft has released a procedure for Windows XP which may be able to correct problems and restore access to e-mail messages without resorting to third party solutions using their Outlook Express Basic Repair Kit.
Criticism
Security issues
In the "Welcome e-mail" for both Outlook and Outlook Express, Microsoft acknowledged that with new HTML e-mail, security was a risk, and described their plan for foiling the security risk. Outlook Express and Internet Explorer both featured security zones—a feature neither found in nor desired by the makers of competing products. The zones were Intranet, Internet, Trusted, and Restricted. Internet was for any site not in a zone. Trusted sites could do things without asking user's permission. The trusted zone was clearly designed for administrators who wanted to allow updating without any confusion. AOL used it to add http://free.aol.com/ to ensure that users who wanted to download their online service client software didn't have to grant them permission via an ActiveX dialog box. AOL was worried that the warning might scare away potential customers. AOL's action required an Internet Explorer hack that should not have been possible if Microsoft's zones had worked as intended. Rather than the zones being controlled by the user, AOL had shown that remote sites could alter them.
But that was a relatively benign breach due to Microsoft's implemention of the plan. Another flaw was the fact that the "Restricted" security zone wasn't restrictive enough. A script could automatically open as an attachment. Another aggravating factor was a bug in Outlook Express's attachment handling that allowed an executable to appear to be a harmless attachment such as a graphics file. This bug was later fixed so that only the last '.' represented the end of the filename and the beginning of the file extension—the correct behavior for the Windows filesystem. Opening or previewing an e-mail can cause code to run without the user's knowledge or consent. In fact, turning off the preview pane only seemingly circumvents this vulnerability. Even when the preview pane is turned off, Outlook Express automatically "internally" opens the first message in the inbox (see). A host of viruses exploited this.
Outlook Express uses Internet Explorer to render email. So even if users completely avoid use of Internet Explorer and use only other browsers, they are exposed to all its security holes when using Outlook Express. And Internet Explorer is designed to try to execute almost any executable and script it encounters in an effort to make browsing an "easy" experience, which has also enabled it to be the vector of most viruses and other malware.
Obtaining security fixes
Any security fixed acknowledged by Microsoft is handled according to Microsoft's internal security policy, and when necessary, patches are distributed via Microsoft Update. Some minor non-security problems are documented in the knowledge base. Calls to Microsoft's technical support about obtaining patches are without charge.
On the Macintosh platform, Outlook Express uses the Tasman engine, and any support to be had should be found at Mactopia. Microsoft no longer formally supports the product, however.
Secunia's database of security vulnerabilities lists many more flaws (some dating back to 2002) than Microsoft has patches for.
Handling of PGP/MIME signed messages
Outlook Express doesn't correctly handle MIME, and won't display the body of signed messages inline. Users get a blank email and two attachments (one of the message text and one of the signature) and therefore need to open an attachment to see the email.
Storage location of email data
If a user has not been backing up Outlook Express periodically, they may find that the program does not permit an easy 'rescue' of data, for example from a hard drive that is accessible but can no longer be used to boot up from. For those willing to tinker with files themselves in order to rescue their Inbox and Sent Items, a it is useful to know that Outlook Express stores its email files in a location such as the following: "C:\Documents & Settings\Administrator\Local Settings\Application Data\Identities\{SDOCE8ABD-5896-3E3D5}\Microsoft\Outlook Express" where 'Administrator' is the user's logon ID and the value in curly-brackets {} is an arbitrary string. Corresponding folders should be found on both the new hard drive and the old one. However, simply copying files from old to new may not be ideal.
It may help to first run the new version of Outlook Express, create some uniquely-named folders within Outlook Express, e.g. 'Rescued Inbox' (be sure to click on the new folder to actually force the program to create the file 'Rescued Inbox.dbx'). Then quit Outlook Express, find the old inbox on the old hard drive and rename it 'Rescued Inbox.dbx', and finally copy it over to replace the newly formed 'Rescued Inbox.dbx' on your new hard drive. This prevents loss of any new emails, and also ensures that the new version 'knows' about the rescued emails being copied over.
Email addresses data
Outlook Express does not store its own email address list. Instead it relies on the Windows Address Book, which is actually a component of Windows. The address book data are typically found (in NT based versions of Windows) at "C:\Documents and Settings\%USERNAME%\Application Data\Microsoft\Address Book\".
Versions and file formats
Outlook Express stores its e-mail messages in different formats depending on the version.
Outlook Express v 4, which shipped with Windows 98 (June 1998), stored messages in *.mbx files.
Outlook Express v 5, which shipped with Windows 98SE (June 1999), switched to *.dbx files, with a separate file for each mailbox folder.
Outlook Express v 5.50 shipped with Windows 2000 (February 2000)
Outlook Express v 5.5 shipped with Windows Me (June 2000)
Outlook Express v 6, which is included with Windows XP, also stores messages in *.dbx files.
Windows Mail v 7, which is expected to ship with Windows Vista, stores messages in individual *.eml files.
Microsoft Exchange Server is a messaging and collaborative software product developed by Microsoft. It is part of the Windows Server System line of server products and is widely used by enterprises using Microsoft infrastructure solutions. Exchange's major features consist of electronic mail, shared calendars and tasks, and support for mobile and web-based access to information, as well as supporting very large amounts of data storage.
History
Exchange Server 4.0, released on June 11, 1996, was the original version of Exchange. Positioned as an upgrade to Microsoft Mail 3.5, which Microsoft had originally acquired from Network Courier, Exchange Server was actually an entirely new X.400-based client-server mail system with a single database store that also supported X.500 directory services. The directory used by Exchange was eventually replaced by Microsoft's Active Directory service, an LDAP-compliant directory server. Active Directory was integrated into Windows 2000 as the foundation of Windows Server domains.
On May 23, 1997, Exchange 5.0 was released, which introduced the new Exchange Administrator console, as well as opening up "integrated" access to SMTP-based networks for the first time. Unlike Microsoft Mail (which required a standalone SMTP relay), Exchange 5.0 could, with the help of an add-in called the Internet Mail Connector, communicate directly with servers using the new mail standard. Version 5.0 also introduced a new Web-based email interface Exchange Web Access, this was rebranded as Outlook Web Access in a later Service pack. Along with Exchange Server version 5.0, Microsoft released version 8.01 of Microsoft Outlook, version 5.0 of the Microsoft Exchange Client and version 7.5 of Microsoft Schedule+ to support the new features in the new version of Exchange Server.
Exchange 5.5, introduced November, 1997, was sold in two editions, Standard ("5.5/S") and Enterprise ("5.5/E"). They differ in database store size, mail transport connectors and clustering capabilities. The Standard edition had the same 16Gb database size limitation as earlier versions of Exchange, while the Enterprise edition had an increased limit of 8TB (although Microsoft's best practices documentation recommends that the message store not exceed 100 GB). The Standard edition includes the Site Connector, MS Mail Connector, Internet Mail Service (previously "Internet Mail Connector"), and Internet News Service (previously "Internet News Connector"), as well as software to interoperate with cc:Mail, Lotus Notes and Novell GroupWise. The Enterprise edition adds an X.400 connector, and interoperability software with SNADS and PROFS. The Enterprise edition also introduced two node clustering capability. Exchange 5.5 introduced a number of other new features including a new version of Outlook Web Access with Calendar support, support for IMAP4 and LDAP v3 clients and the Deleted Item Recovery feature. Exchange 5.5 was the last version of Exchange to have separate directory, SMTP and NNTP services. There was no new version of Exchange Client and Schedule+ for version 5.5, instead version 8.03 of Microsoft Outlook was released to support the new features of Exchange Server 5.5.
Following Exchange 5.5 on November 29, 2000, Exchange 2000, or version 6.0, overcame many of the limitations of its predecessors. For example, it raised the maximum sizes of databases and increased the number of servers in a cluster from two to four. However, many customers were deterred from upgrading by the requirement for a full Microsoft Active Directory infrastructure to be in place, and the migration process involving user / mailbox mapping and a (temporary) translation process between the two directories. This upgrade process required upgrading a company's servers to Windows 2000. Some customers opted to stay on a combination of Exchange 5.5 and Windows NT, both of which are no longer supported by Microsoft.
Exchange Server 2003 debuted on September 28, 2003.
Current version
The current version of Exchange is 2003 Service Pack 2, or version 6.5. It can be run on Windows 2000 Server (only if Service Pack 4 is first installed) and Windows Server 2003, although some new features only work with the latter. Like Windows Server 2003, Exchange 2003 has many compatibility modes to allow users to slowly migrate to the new system. This is useful in large companies with distributed Exchange environments who cannot afford the downtime and expense that comes with a complete migration.
One of the new features in Exchange 2003 is enhanced disaster recovery, which allows administrators to bring the server online quicker. This is done by allowing the server to send and receive mail while the message stores are being recovered from backup. Some features previously available in the Microsoft Mobile Information Server 2001/2002 products have been added to the core Exchange product, like Outlook Mobile Access and server-side ActiveSync, while the Mobile Information Server product itself has been dropped. Better anti-virus and anti-spam protection have also been added, both by providing built-in APIs that facilitate filtering software and built-in support for the basic methods of originating IP address, SPF ("Sender ID"), and DNSBL filtering which were standard on other open source and *nix-based mail servers. Also new is the ability to drop inbound e-mail before being fully processed, thus preventing delays in the message routing system. There are also improved message and mailbox management tools, which allow administrators to execute common chores more quickly. Others, such as Exchange Conferencing Server have been extracted completely in order to form separate products. Microsoft now appears to be positioning a combination of Microsoft Office, Live Meeting and Sharepoint as its collaboration software of choice. Exchange is now to be simply email and calendaring.
Exchange 2003 is available in two versions, Standard Edition and Enterprise Edition. Standard Edition supports one message database per server, and supports databases up to 16 GB in size. Beginning with the release of Service Pack 2, Standard Edition allows a maximum database size of 75 GB, but only supports 18 GB by default; a registry change is necessary to make the database size either larger or smaller than the new default 18GB size. Enterprise Edition allows a 16 TB maximum database size, and supports up to 4 storage groups with 5 databases per storage group for a total of 20 databases per server.[1].
Exchange 2003 is included with both Microsoft Small Business Server 2003 Standard & Premium.
Microsoft Exchange Server uses a proprietary RPC protocol, of which only the API is documented (see MAPI). It was designed to be used by the Microsoft Outlook client. Email hosted on an Exchange server can be accessed using POP3 and IMAP4, with clients such as Mozilla Thunderbird and Lotus Notes. Both Microsoft Outlook and Novell Evolution are clients capable of using the advanced features of Exchange Server; Microsoft Entourage for Mac also has most of the advanced features implemented in the latest version. Exchange accounts can also be accessed through a web browser, known as Outlook Web Access (OWA). Exchange 2003 also features a WAP version of OWA, called Outlook Mobile Access (OMA).
Coupled with Windows Mobile 5.0 and SP2, Exchange Server 2003 supports "pushing" email to mobile devices - similar to the operation of BlackBerry devices. [2], [3]
Unlike Exchange Server 2000, Exchange Server 2003 no longer ships instant messaging for internal corporate systems. Microsoft released Live Communication Server to provide those services as a standalone program.
Exchange 2003 Anti-Spam Filtering: Exchange 2003 added several basic filtering methods to Exchange. They are not sophisticated enough to eliminate (or even significantly reduce) spam, but they can protect against DoS and mailbox flooding attacks. Exchange 2000 supported the ability to block a sender's address, or e-mail domain by adding '*@domain.com', which is still supported in the 2003 server. Added filtering methods in Exchange 2003 are:
Connection filtering - messages are blocked from DNS RBL lists [4] or from manually specified IP address/range
Recipient filtering - messages blocked when sent to manually specified recipients on the server (for intranet-only addresses) or to any recipients not on the server (stopping spammers from guessing addresses)
Sender ID filtering - Sender ID, a form of SPF
Intelligent Message Filter - A free Microsoft add-on that uses heuristic message analysis to block messages or direct them to the "Junk E-Mail" folder in Microsoft Outlook clients. [5]
Exchange Server 2007
This article or section contains information about computer software currently in development.The content may change dramatically as the software development progresses.
For some time after the release of Exchange 2003, Microsoft's future plans for the product were not known. Edge Services, an add-on for the main product, was to have been released sometime in 2005 but was dropped.
The new version, Exchange 2007, is scheduled to be released on DVD in late Nov 2006 to business customers as part of the Vista, Office 2007, SharePoint 2007 wave. It is to include voice mail integration, better search and support for Web services. The company also announced that the new version would run on 64-bit version of Windows only, pointing out the substantial performance benefits that 64-bit brings to the product. However, companies currently running Exchange on 32-bit hardware will be forced to replace or add hardware if they wish to upgrade to the new version. Even those companies that are currently running Exchange on 64-bit capable hardware will still need to upgrade their server operating system simultaneously with the Exchange 2007 upgrade. This is because Exchange 2003 cannot be installed on Windows 2003 64-bit.
The first beta of Exchange 2007 (then named "Exchange 12") was released in December 2005 to a very limited number of beta testers. A wider beta was made available via TechNet Plus and MSDN subscriptions in March 2006 according to the Microsoft Exchange team blog, "You had me at EHLO."
On April 25, 2006, Microsoft announced that the next version of Exchange would be called Exchange Server 2007. More details about Exchange Server 2007 can be found at the Exchange Preview Website. This site has information about this version of Exchange and outlines key improvements:
Protection: anti-spam, antivirus, compliance, clustering with data replication, improved security and encryption
Improved Information Worker Access: improved calendaring, unified messaging, improved mobility, improved web access
Improved IT Experience: 64-bit performance & scalability, command-line shell & simplified GUI, improved deployment, role separation, simplified routing
"Exchange Management Shell": a new command-line shell and scripting language for system administration (based on the "Power Shell" language -- formerly called "Monad" -- developed for Windows Vista). Shell users can perform every task that can be performed in the Exchange graphical user interface plus additional tasks, and can program often-used or complex tasks into "scripts" that can be saved, shared, and re-used.
"Unified Messaging" that lets users receive voice mail, e-mail, and faxes in their mailboxes, and lets them access their mailboxes from cell phones and other wireless devices. Voice commands can be given to control and listen to e-mail over the phone (and also send some basic messages, like "I'll be late")
Removed the database maximum size limit. Database size is now limited by hardware capability and the window for backups and maintenance.
Increased the maximum number of storage groups and mail databases per server, to 5 each for Standard Edition (from 1 each in Exchange 2003 Standard), and to 50 each for Enterprise Edition (from 4 groups and 20 databases in Exchange 2003 Enterprise).
The second, public beta of Exchange 2007 was released to a worldwide audience in July of 2006. The free beta can be downloaded at the Microsoft Exchange Server TechCenter.
Clustering
Exchange Enterprise Edition supports clustering of up to 4 nodes when using Windows 2000 Server, and up to 8 nodes with Windows Server 2003. Exchange 2003 also introduced Active/Active clustering, but for two node clusters only. In this setup, both servers in the cluster are allowed to be active simultaneously. This is opposed to Exchange's more common Active/Passive mode in which the failover servers in any cluster node cannot be used at all while their corresponding home servers are active. They must wait, inactive, for the home servers in the node to fail. Subsequent performance issues with Active/Active mode have led Microsoft to recommend that it should no longer be used. In fact, Active/Active mode may well be removed from the next release of Exchange altogether.
Exchange's clustering (Active/Active or Active/Passive mode) has been criticised because of its requirement for servers in the cluster nodes to share the same physical data. The clustering in Exchange provides redundancy for Exchange as an application, but not for Exchange data. In this scenario, the data can be regarded as a single point of failure, despite Microsoft's description of this set up as a "Shared Nothing" model.
Licensing
Like Windows Server products, Exchange requires Client Access Licenses, which are different from Windows CALs. Most corporate license agreements include Exchange CALs.
Exchange Hosting
Microsoft Exchange Server can also be purchased as a hosted service. This not only eliminates the upfront cost of purchasing hardware and software, but also saves on the cost of hiring Exchange system administrators. Hosted Exchange services take care of licensing, antivirus, spam filtering, backups, patches, upgrades and 24x7 support to end users.
Competitors
It is positioned as a rival to the Lotus Notes / Domino server from IBM.
EGroupWare
exchange4linux
Novell GroupWise
Kerio MailServer
Kolab
Open-Xchange
Oracle Collaboration Suite
PhpGroupWare
Scalix
Zarafa
Zimbra
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