Outlook Addins?

[natediggs]

Is there any plan in the future to make the Scalix Outlook connector more compatible with Outlook addins such as Xobni, Gist, or even Blackberry Desktop Manager?

Among my many frustrations with the Scalix platform is my complete inability to use any Outlook addins that regular Exchange users can use just fine. When I purchased Scalix I was told that it is "native MAPI" and almost identical to Exchange yet Exchange mailboxes work fine with most Outlook addins while Scalix combined with any Outlook addins is a sure Outlook crash.

[ls-al]

Please define "compatible". The MAPI Specs - given that the developers of those plugins are fully read and understood them - have enough room for interpretion.

Can you make sure that the plugin do not use a special feature or just look at a special behaviour of the Exchange MAPI Service Provider (which is on top of the MAPI and comparable to the Scalix MAPI SP aka Scalix Connect)?
AFAIK this is especially true for the BBDM crap. The developers of this piece of software want to see money from Scalix for a patch for every new BBDM version. Are you - and all the CE users around who dont spend a penny for the connector - willing to pay extra money for this? Just to make *their* product more compatible to the specs. Again and again?

I would not say that the Scalix connector is perfect. The Buglist is long. But I know that the developers are working hard to make it as stable as possible.

BTW: Some weeks ago I found the following: "MAPI support on the server has always been shakey at best".
The author was talking about Exchange.
http://msexchangeteam.com/archive/2008/03/31/448537.aspx
Read more about the the author here: http://msexchangeteam.com/articles/95362.aspx

[natediggs]

Don't spend a penny for the connector? Come on. I am a service provider and pay for Scalix on a monthly basis so every month my business is paying pennies for the connector.

The problem is the Scalix smart cache store on the computer. BBDM and most other connectors can't properly read or write to the store.

These are tools I've been totally unable to use with Scalix:
BBDM
Card Scan
Xobni

Among others that I can't think of right now.

[Valerion]

The problem comes in when developers either a) explicitly check for Exchange (like BBDM), or b) only implement a part of the spec, rendering their interoperability with third-party providers like the Scalix MAPI provider troublesome or c) make assumptions about the backend data-handling (like AVG).

To be honest, most of the add-ins I tested works perfectly. The biggest issues are usually anti-virus software.

[bikerider]

anti-virus software is not a issue , it's a necessity and should be part of testing