Ok, so what does this all mean?
The guy that wrote the article (Scott M. Fulton, III, BetaNews) is all confused and misinformed! The "Scalix Connector" he is referring to only exists
*in his mind*. Scalix does not have a "connector" for Windows Mobile-equipped handsets, or any mobile device for that matter, although it would be really nice if they did. The only mobile product Scalix has ever managed to develop and release to date is a much simplified version of a web page to fit a small screen, that's all, no more. no less.
The *Scalix Connector* as we know has absolutely nothing to do with mobiles. It's a product developed to integrate Office Outlook (or Evolution on linux) with a Scalix Server, again no more, no less!
The "true" mobile connector mentioned anywhere in his article is actually called *ActiveSync", which by the way is not all that great. .ActiveSync "connects" a strictly Windows Mobile based device (with Windows *Messenger* installed) via an USB or serial cable to a *computer* with Office Outlook or Outlook Express installed in it.. Again that's it, a lot less, "barely more". I say barely more because ActiveSync actually attempts to let Messenger (in the mobile) piggy-back on Outlook to reach a exchange like server at the other side. Sometimes the other side is a Scalix Server, so the stupid ActiveSync "connector" has to allow Messenger to connect with Outlook, which in turn relies on the Scalix connector to reach the server. Who said the scalix connector is the one to blame for ActiveSync being stupid?
Anyway, as he said, MS extended it to over-the-air synchronization with an Exchange Server, but it was not built for it. It is ugly.
So, based on what I understood from the deal, MS would release this *IP crap" (whatever the heck it is) to Xandros, so that the IP crap that Exchange server has already would also be integrated into the Scalix server. So here is the question:
wouldn't this ActiveSync over-the-air synchronization with the IP crap in a Scalix Server be as ugly as with an Exchange Server?Here is yet a more intriguing question:
Would Scalix be able to make a better integration of the IP crap than MS has been so far, so that ActiveSync over-the-air would work better with Scalix than with Exchange?So here is the ultimate question:
Why should Scalix bother with any of this MS garbage, and instead just develop a true Scalix connector for Mobile Messenger? Screw ActiveSync! Screw IP crap integration into Scalix! Just use it to learn better how exactly is that MS develops their Outlook and Messenger clients, and improve both the Scalix Server and the Scalix Connetors (Outlook, Evolution and Messenger). It would take way less time, and Scalix could take their server to a level way beyond what Exchange could ever reach, and still beat Zimbra and NotifyLink in their game.
Will ScalixConnect and SmartCache go away?
I don't think so. Now that I have it I don't want it to go. I love it and MS has nothing of the kind in their 2007 line of products yet. SP1 for vista and SP1 for Office2007 are over 1 year away, and I really don't expect them to introduce something as well conceived as SmartCache at least until SP2, 2 years away! Forget about it.
How long before we have a supported wireless product?
Hey Florian, can you tell us a little something about a possible supported integration with funambol or the likes (SyncML)?