Best mail client to user with MS Exchange

[fruvos]

I'm considering an overhaul of my home network, and looking to perhaps run a server with Microsoft Small Business Server 2003 as my main hub at home (to also support my MacBook and eventual Mac Mini)

SBS2003 comes with Exchange Server, and I'm considering using this to manage my mail from 3 or 4 different accounts. Can I configure this to work nicely with mail.app? I appreciate that I could use Entourage, but I'm trying to keep my MacBook to UB only and installing office would slap me straight back into PPC territory.

Also, how simple will it be to connect my MacBook to the windows domain and active directory that SBS would allow me to configure. Is there much point in doing this?

TIA
f

 

[Thyamine]

I think you have a lot of options for working with mail. One simple option that a friend turned me on to was using GMail (www.gmail.com) to fetch mail from my 3 different mail accounts. It's always available from multiple computers, and doesn't tie me into a stand-alone mail application (which I've always preferred up until trying this). And Google being a 3rd party company does a great job in supporting non-IE browsers. I personally use Firefox and it works great.

Another option would be to use Exchange and Outlook Web Access, which is also a web based solution. However OWA doesn't work quite as nicely with non-ActiveX browsers. I'm also not entirely certain that Exchange will pull through POP/IMAP from other mail servers. I know that it certainly supports it for mail delivered to a mail domain that it personally hosts, but I'm not sure about remote servers. Unless you are looking to have the mail forward to the Exchange server's domain.

 

[eric06]

I use my MS Exchange acct with the Mac mail program and it works pretty well.

 

[fruvos]

eric06> are you connecting to exchange over IMAP? does it support RPC over HTTP etc, or do you need an active connection to the exchange server to view mail?

 

[eric06]

eric06> are you connecting to exchange over IMAP? does it support RPC over HTTP etc, or do you need an active connection to the exchange server to view mail?

IMAP, I am guessing.

Here is how I kinda set it up: http://faq.1and1.com/ms_exchange/ms_exchange_account/outlook_2003_setup/14.html.

I have to have an active internet connection to check my mail and download new mail and update folders.