Novell today announced its Connector
for Microsoft* Exchange Server will be integrated into Evolution(TM) 2.0
and made available as open source, beginning today with the current
Connector 1.4. Evolution is Novell’s award-winning e-mail and workgroup
client for Linux* systems and is the most widely used collaboration
suite on Linux. Evolution Connector allows Microsoft Exchange Server
2000/2003 users to easily manage their e-mail, calendars, group
schedules, address books, public folders and tasks from Linux desktops.
“As companies deploy Linux on the desktop, they must ensure that users
of either Windows* or Linux can collaborate with each other using
existing back-end systems and familiar processes,” said Nat Friedman,
vice president of the desktop technologies group at Novell.
“Technologies like the Connector which allow Linux desktops to operate
inside a mixed proprietary/open source environment make choosing a Linux
desktop easier for IT administrators. With the release of the Connector
source code, the entire Evolution product is now available under the GNU
General Public License, and we’re excited that customers are going to
see the benefits in Novell’s next Linux desktop as well as in future
releases of SUSE(R) LINUX.”
Novell(R) Evolution 2.0 includes a number of new features aimed at
improving user productivity and collaboration, such as built-in spam
filtering, S/MIME and PGP security certificate management, and tight
integration with the Linux desktop and Gaim instant messaging client.
Evolution supports key data exchange and communications standards, such
as IMAP, POP, SMTP, LDAP and iCalendar, and features vFolders, threaded
e-mail view, in-line text editing and synchronization with Palm* and
PocketPC handheld devices.
In addition to support for Microsoft Exchange, Evolution 2.0 features
integrated support for the newly available Novell GroupWise(R) 6.5 for
Linux, giving users the ability to use Evolution to access their
GroupWise mail, calendars, contacts and global address books. Other
features new to Evolution 2.0 include improved offline support for IMAP
accounts, calendar improvements and enhanced contact management. These
enhancements complement current Evolution collaboration capabilities
including the Connector for Novell’s SUSE LINUX Openexchange Server.
“HP is committed to building on innovation to bring customers better
value through open systems,” said Martin Fink, vice president of Linux,
HP. “Building on our recent announcement to bring Linux onto the
desktop, HP today joins Novell to help make the Linux desktop experience
more rich and manageable.”
Mitchell Baker, president of the Mozilla Foundation, said, “The open
source release of Novell’s Connector for Exchange adds an important
element to the open source desktop’s interoperability with existing
enterprise deployments. The Mozilla Foundation applauds Novell’s
decision to move this technology into the open source world.”
Availability
Novell Evolution 2.0 will be available in the third quarter as part of
Novell’s Linux desktop. For more information about Evolution, visit
http://www.novell.com/products/evolution. The Evolution Connector for
Microsoft Exchange Server source code can be found at
http://ftp.ximian.com, and developer information about Evolution can
be found at http://www.gnome.org/projects/evolution. The Connector code
is now available to the public along with the rest of Evolution under
the terms of the GNU General Public License (GPL). Beginning May 14,
current Evolution users will be able to download Connector for Microsoft
Exchange Server for no charge at
http://www.novell.com/products/connector/download.html.
