When you are implementing Office 2008 in a Microsoft Exchange Server environment, you can choose any of the following e-mail applications for Macintosh clients in your enterprise:
Entourage 2008, which enables Web Distributed Authoring and Versioning (DAV(Also known as WebDAV). World Wide Web Distributed Authoring and Versioning. An Internet protocol that is used by Entourage and Outlook Web Access to communicate with an Exchange server.) access to a server that is running Microsoft Exchange.
Outlook Web Access Light, which enables browser-based access to an Exchange server.
Remote Desktop Connection Client for Mac, which enables a Macintosh client computer to connect to Outlook on a Windows-based computer for access to an Exchange server.
Solutions such as Boot Camp, Parallels, or other third-party products that allow Microsoft Office Outlook to run under Windows on the Macintosh computer and to connect from there to an Exchange server.
The following table shows system requirements for each e-mail application.
E-mail application | Client operating system requirements | Client-side software requirements | Server-side software requirements |
|---|---|---|---|
Entourage 2008 | Mac OS X v10.4 or a later version | Entourage 2008 | For e-mail support, Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server (with latest service pack), Microsoft Exchange Server 2003, or Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 must be installed. For GAL and Active Directory support, Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server (with latest service pack), Microsoft Exchange Server 2003, or Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 must be installed on Microsoft Windows 2000 Server or a later version of Windows Server. Outlook Web Access must be functioning. |
Outlook Web Access | Mac OS 8.1 to 9.x or Mac OS X | Web browser | Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server (with latest service pack), Microsoft Exchange Server 2003, or Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 must be installed. Tasks are supported beginning with Microsoft Exchange Server 2003. Outlook Web Access must be functioning. |
Remote Desktop Connection Client for Mac | Mac OS X v10.1 or a later version | Remote Desktop Connection Client for Mac | Outlook must be installed on one of the following:
The appropriate version of Exchange Server must be installed to support the version of Outlook that is installed. |
Outlook for Windows running on a Macintosh computer | Mac OS X v10.5 or a later version that supports Boot Camp(Mac OS X v10.4 for Boot Camp beta), or a third-party virtualization product with supporting version of Mac OS X | Any version of the Microsoft Windows client operating system and any version of Outlook for Windows | The appropriate version of Exchange Server must be installed to support the version of Outlook that is installed. |
The following table lists the important characteristics of each e-mail application.
Characteristic | Implemented in Entourage 2008? | Implemented in Outlook Web Access Light? | Implemented in Outlook for Windows on a Macintosh computer? |
|---|---|---|---|
Support for Microsoft Exchange account e-mail | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Support for HTML e-mail | Yes | Read: Yes Compose: No | Yes |
Support for other e-mail protocols such as POP, IMAP, and Windows Live Hotmail Plus accounts | Yes | No | Yes |
Support for Global Address List (GAL) directory search | Yes; includes browse capability when the Exchange server is running Windows Server 2003 or a later version. | Limited | Yes |
Support for offline access to GAL | No | No | Yes |
Support for offline access to data and reminders | Yes | No | Yes |
Support for handheld synchronization | Yes | No | Yes |
Support for public folders | Yes | Yes: Exchange 2000 and Exchange 2003 No: Exchange 2007 | Yes |
Support for scheduling and delegated group calendaring | Yes | Yes Note In an Exchange 2003 environment, delegates have read-only access to the delegated or shared calendar by using Outlook Web Access. For more information about how to open another user's calendar by using Outlook Web Access, see
How to open another user's calendar by using Exchange Server 2003 Outlook Web Access (KB923618) | Yes |
Support for .pst files | Only when importing .pst files from Outlook 2001 for Mac | No | Yes |
Support for delegation rights assignment | Yes | No | Yes |
Consistent with Macintosh application interface style | Yes | No | No |
The same user experience as when using Outlook on a Windows-based computer | No; however, the experience is similar. | No; however, the experience is similar. | Yes |
Knowledge of Windows required | No | No | Yes |
Can be used with other e-mail clients at the same time | Yes | Yes | Yes |
