Microsoft, Unisys launch Exchange test drive

Microsoft and Unisys teamed up Thursday to launch a free online trial of Exchange Server 2007 for any user looking to take a test drive.

Unisys is hosting the deployment of Exchange 2007, which will give users a look at its messaging, collaboration and voice features whether they are using a PC, a Web browser or a mobile phone. The trial is valid for five days per user.

Among other features, Exchange includes unified messaging, improved ActiveSync technology for mobile devices and upgrades in Outlook Web Access.

Microsoft shipped Exchange 2007 in November to corporate users. It is part of Microsoft’s push into unified communications including Office Communications Server 2007. At the time, experts said the company might face a hard time pitching upgrades to many Exchange users, given that nearly a quarter of the user base migrated off Exchange 5.5 in just the past year.

The Exchange trial version provides users access to Exchange features and functions without their having to deploy anything in their network. Unisys officials said it also would provide a glimpse into its own managed-hosting services. The company already offers a hosted version of Exchange to corporate users.

With Unisys hosting Exchange, however, corporate users will not get to test the server’s new role-based architecture that lets users deploy the software for specific workloads, such as remote client access, transport and routing, mailboxes, and unified messaging.

“This is an opportunity for enterprises to try Exchange 2007 and all the new features, which they would not do immediately without having to build big test labs,” says Nick Parker, general manager of systems and services for Microsoft’s enterprise and partner group.

This is the second time Microsoft has rolled out a model for a test drive. Last November, the company launched its VHD Test Drive Program, named for Microsoft’s Virtual Hard Disk format. The program provided users with free, preconfigured .VHD files for SQL Server 2005, Live Communications Server 2005, Internet Security and Acceleration Server 2006, and Exchange 2007 (the 32-bit test version). The files could be dropped onto any virtual machine that supports the .VHD format, such as Microsoft’s Virtual Server 2005, which also is free.

Microsoft could not use the VHD program for the shipping version of Exchange because it is a 64-bit-only application, and Microsoft’s virtualization technology does not support 64-bit applications.

To run Exchange 2007 in a virtualized environment, users would have to use technology from Microsoft competitor VMware.

Unisys is hosting Exchange 2007 on its 64-bit ES7000 servers and an integrated voice application from Network Equipment Technologies.