[nylug-talk] The futureof Zimbra after Microsoft's bid forYahoo!

[Ron Guerin]

Zach Stern wrote:
> Well what microsoft is required to do and what they actually do are not always or even usually the same thing.
> 
> What alternative, if any, does apple offer for groupware?

I myself know nothing about what Apple's up to, but I know that if Apple 
wants in on those corporate desktops,  Steve Jobs has got to have 
Exchange on his radar.  Exchange is a good deal more than just the 
shared calendars and address books that we talk about here.  Those are 
however, the most important things it does from what I can tell.  I 
don't personally know of anyone doing actual groupware with it, so I 
suspect the number of Exchange users that are using the groupware 
features is on the low end of things.

That said, Exchange groupware generally involves VBA scripting, and I 
just read recently that there's no VB engine for Intel OS X, and there 
isn't going to be.  So my guess is that Apple has no intention of trying 
to play nice with Exchange groupware, and will attempt their own 
solution that works transparently with Microsoft clients.

/me removes the Cringely mask

- Ron