Scalix 11.5 and Outlook XP/2002

[da]

Could you please clarify the status of the Scalix Outlook connector for PCs running Outlook XP in the forthcoming Scalix version 11.5.

The release notes for version 11.4.4 state:

"Scalix is planning to freeze development of Scalix Connect for Outlook for Outlook versions 9 (Outlook 2000) and 10 (Outlook XP/2002) in Scalix 11.5. We recommend that you consider upgrading to Outlook 2003 or Outlook 2007. Note that we will continue to provide support on the basis of a frozen connector version, however, no new functionality in Scalix Connect will be made available for these platforms."

This is different terminology to that used in relation to SLES 9 which states that "Scalix 11.4.x is the "last release of Scalix to provide support..."

Do the comments on freezing development in Scalix 11.5 mean that version 11.5 or version 11.4 will be the last version to include improved functionality and reliability for Outlook XP? Most of our PCs run that version of Outlook, so I am hoping that improvements will continue in 11.5.

Regards,

da

[florian]

Well, I think the first question would typically be: What functionality is missing for you with these older versions of Outlook?

We believe that Scalix Connect for Outlook is very stable and complete in it's support for Outlook 2000 and 2002/XP. We haven't received specific error reports or feedback related to these versions in a while, also because most of our customers have moved on to use Outlook 2003 or 2007, in line with Microsoft's End-of-Life policies.

At this point, I can say that all versions of Scalix 11.4.x including possible future patch releases will work with these Outlook versions.

It is highly likely that the Scalix 11.5 connector will still work with it as well, however we are planning for some architectural and design changes to the software in the future and going forward that may break compatibility, so there will be a version of it that is the last supported one for these Outlook platforms. You will then still be able to keep using that version against newer versions of the Scalix server (our compatibility states that older versions of the connector shall work with newer server versions, but NOT vice versa) and we may still ship it in addition to the then-current version, however it won't see further change.

I don't think that statement will have much relevance in day-to-day practice, although I must say that for reasons of limited Unicode support alone and other deficiencies opening the door to spam and virus attacks, I would recommend upgrading to a later version of Outlook - or moving off Outlook completely.

Florian

[mmas]

Any news about scalix 11.5 ? What about SWA ? Florian we are curious...

Can I vote in scalix bugzilla for a feature request/bug resolution ?

[florian]

Looking at Q4/2009....

What news would you expect with regards to SWA? In 11.5 - Safari, Tasks, Paging, then some.....

We don't really use Bugzilla voting, but leave a comment in the BugZ entries and we'll note interest. If you're commercial customer and it's about a bugfix, open a support case - that's most likely to put the biggest weight behind it.

Florian.

[da]

Hi, Florian

In your original response some time ago, you asked what functionality is missing for me with these older versions of Outlook.

My concern is stability (bug fixes) rather than additional functionality. I have not responded to your question in this thread previously as I have been working with our local Scalix distributor on a particular problem we have had involving Scalix and multiple versions of Outlook (including Outlook XP and Outlook 2003). I have logged a support case on that problem and have been working with Scalix support to resolve the situation. If appropriate I will post the resolution in the forums.

We have a number (the majority) of PCs running Outlook XP/2002 and would prefer not to upgrade them unless absolutely necessary. As such, it would be greatly preferable for us for bug fixes (especially for our current problem) to apply to Outlook XP.

Thanks again for your help.

[florian]

Hi,

my point was - if I look at the release notes for the 11.4.x series of products, only a very small number of bugfixes applicable to multiple versions of Outlook have been added. Most of our work these days is to address specific issues with complex character set environments (which OL2K and OLXP do not support properly anyway) and/or to support new versions of Outlook.

In addition, fewer and fewer of our customers overall continue to use these versions, reason for that being the fact that they are now outside any kind of MSFT support. The pending release of Office 2010 makes this point even more grave.

So - at some point it simply doesn't make any further economic sense to invest into testing newer Scalix Connect versions on these Outlook versions - the QA part is by far the most involved and expensive component. So while we'll not put anything in the connector to explicitly stop it from working on these platforms, we'll stop the testing - which automatically makes the configuration unsupported and if problems arise, we won't invest to address them.

Best,
Florian

[da]

Thanks for your response, Florian.

The bug I was concerned about seems to have been fixed in version 11.4.5 and, it turns out, was fixed in the server upgrade rather than the Outlook Connector itself.

Regards,

da

[florian]

See... I don't think people will need to be too concerned about this specific line item.

And yeah, sure it would always be desirable for someone that we keep supporting older platforms and doing things the old way as well. Reality is, there is no progress w/o change. And platform support cost is extremely high, especially because of all the testing and support required, so at some point in a product lifecycle, one has to make a cut. Our resources are sufficient to progress Scalix as a product, however they are still limited ... and I'm pretty sure majority here would agree that moving forward to support new platforms - like Outlook 2010 - is more important than keeping those old ones afloat.

Cheers,
Florian

[mmas]

Any news about 11.5 ?

[florian]

in the works. does a small teaser help?

Florian

Screen shot 2010-02-19 at 09.41.11.png

[mmas]

sure!

thanks

[Uluquai]

hehe great!

Will there be a 1.4.7 before 1.5?

[florian]

further patch releases for 11.4 and the initial release of 11.5 are developed in parallel, so can't say for sure. At this point, it looks more likely that 11.5 is the next piece of bits we'll push, but it may depend on bug fixes that accumulate.

Florian.