Unified Comm

This update for Outlook 2007 adds support for the following Internet Calendar features:

Users can now respond to a meeting invitation that is received in iCalendar format with a proposal for a new meeting time.

Extended yearly recurrence patterns are now supported for appointments or meetings that recur every year or every several years.

This update also improves the compatibility between Outlook 2007 and some IMAP e-mail servers.

Download it here. Read more details about all the other fixes included in the rollup here.

If you check all the other fixes included, the combined total is pretty massive. I've been running this update for the past few days and Outlook seems to be a bit snappier overall.

Mostly of interest for enterprises using a disjointed namespace (DNS suffix of the node's FQDN differs from the domain name) - this fixes an error in the Clustering code.

Read more about it and download it from here.

This sample shows how an administrator can control which users can and cannot communicate using the instant messaging facilities of the Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007. This sample allows the administrator to place users into Organizational Units in Active Directory and to configure the sample to block communications between members of the different Organizational Units.

Download it here.

I know a few people that have run into KB 947360 and especially KB 947391, to the point of looking into a third party PST importation tool.

It is good to know these are fixed.

Update Rollup 2 for Exchange Server 2007 SP1 fixes:

KB 940462 - The public folder store may take several minutes to mount on an Exchange 2007 server

KB 944153 - Exchange Server 2007 does not have Transport Neutral Encapsulation Format (TNEF) capabilities for POP and IMAP protocols

KB 945917 - You receive an error message when you try to access the Microsoft Office Outlook Web Access global address list in a Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 environment

KB 947346 - Exchange Server 2007 mailbox users cannot retrieve the free/busy information for Exchange Server 2003 mailbox users in a large Exchange Server organization that has more than 100 administrative groups

KB 947360 - Error message occurs, and users cannot access the free/busy information after you use the Import-Mailbox cmdlet to import data to a mailbox in Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 1

KB 947391 - The contents of .pst files are not imported into Exchange Server 2007 mailboxes when you use the Import-Mailbox cmdlet

KB 947451 - A recipient sees unexpected text in the top of an e-mail message that you send in Exchange Server 2007

KB 947458 - The Edgetransport.exe process may crash on an Edge server that is running Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 1

KB 947551 - The Edgetransport.exe process may crash intermittently on an Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 1 Edge server

KB 947577 - If you try to connect a mobile device to a mailbox server through a server that is running Exchange Server 2007, the mobile device may be unable to connect

KB 947646 - Event ID 12011 is logged every time that the MSExchangeTransport service starts after you install Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 1 on a computer that is running the German version of Windows Server 2003

KB 948047 - An event ID 1080 message is logged in the System log every three seconds after you run the Set-ExchangeServer command to set the static domain controllers on an Exchange 2007 cluster node

KB 948297 - The OOF template may be delivered as an attachment in an Exchange 2007 environment when you use the "Reply with Template" option in Microsoft Outlook

KB 948332 - Failover takes a long time to finish in an Exchange Server 2007 cluster continuous replication environment

KB 948374 - The EdgeTransport.exe process crashes intermittently, and event ID 1033 is logged in Exchange Server 2007

KB 948666 - When you try to migrate a mailbox from Exchange Server 2003 to Exchange Server 2007, the Exchange Management Shell may stop responding

KB 948830 - The MSExchangeSyncAppPool application pool crashes on a server that hosts an Exchange Server 2007 Client Access Server role

KB 948831 - A user may be unable to synchronize with an Exchange Server mailbox from a mobile device when a Client Access server has been upgraded to Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 1

KB 948844 - An exception occurs, and event IDs 4999 and 5000 are logged when you modify the Outlook Web Access user interface

KB 949186 - When you try to run the Restore-mailbox cmdlet on a server that is running Exchange Server 2007, you receive an error message

KB 949193 - The address rewrite agent does not rewrite the address for Out of Office (OOF) messages in Exchange Server 2007

KB 949463 - An exception error is generated after you run a Set-AttachmentfilterListConfig command together with the ExceptionConnectors option on an Exchange 2007 S949463-based server

KB 949541 - You cannot log on to Outlook Web Access Light, and an error message occurs in Exchange Server 2007

KB 949703 - Error message in Outlook when you click the signature icon of a signed e-mail message that an Exchange Server 2007-based Edge server receives: "The digital signature is invalid"

KB 949726 - After you install Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 1, the Set-ExcecutionPolicy task causes an error message, and event ID 103 is logged

KB 949772 - If you run the "isinteg -dump" command against a dismounted store on a server that is running Exchange Server 2007, the Store.exe process stops unexpectedly

KB 950123 - Error message after you apply Update Rollup 1 for Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 1 in a Japanese environment: "Public Folder Management Console is not an allowed Snap-in"

I can't say enough good things about this Outlook plugin. I even demoed it to the Windows Search v4 team at the Microsoft MVP Summit a few weeks ago and told them, "Make Windows Search do this!"

Originally introduced to me by my manager and another coworker, Xobni is finally available to everyone to download and install.

If you tried Xobni in the past and had performance problems in Outlook afterwards, that bug was fixed a few builds ago. If you don't know what Xobni is, read the press release here.

It is actually one of the only add-ins I use in Outlook. I normally avoid them. I love the analytics built into the interface and how it can pull phone numbers out of e-mail messages. I also like the fact that it keeps track of file attachments I have sent and received, per person.

Fun fact: Bill Gates uses it.

Note: This isn't a paid endorsement, but if they want to send me some coin, I'll gladly accept it.

Pretty neat. A little application does it for you, located here.

Web 2.0 convergence is upon us, little by little.

Most new MS products come with Powershell functionality. It is a good scripting language to learn. I find myself replacing 20 lines of VBScript with 2 lines of Powershell code. Anyone that does Exchange or System Center work should look into learning Powershell.

With that said, here is the second CTP for the next version of Powershell, here.

Here is the official description:
Windows PowerShell V2 CTP2 introduces several significant features to Windows PowerShell 1.0 and Windows PowerShell V2 CTP that extends its use, improves its usability, and allows you to control and manage the Windows environment more easily and comprehensively.

My good buddy Matt Wade spotted a new release of the OC 2007 client here.

This update fixes the following issues:
KB 951870 - Event IDs 8239 and 8206 are logged when you schedule and then cancel a meeting in Communicator 2007

KB 949498 - Error message when a Communicator 2007 user sends a message that contains only Japanese characters to Communicator 2005 users: " cannot receive message in the format you used"

KB 951871 - The presence status changes to Away for all Terminal Server users when an administrator locks the desktop or lets the screen saver run in Communicator 2007

KB 951868 - Registry settings for certain protocols are overwritten, and Communicator 2007 becomes the default application for these protocols when you log on to Communicator 2007

Note: This update now enforces HTTPS in High Security mode. Some services that previously worked by using HTTP will now be required to use HTTPS when they are in High Security mode. These services include the address book service, the custom tabs service, and the custom presence service.