In 2007, Microsoft released their latest Mail, Messaging & Collaboration server, Exchange 2007. Microsoft has built on the Exchange 2003 platform with improvements to various aspects and new features to improve efficiency. Here is a brief outline of the new features and improvements:

• Outlook Web Access (webmail) is a lot more rich and functional. This will improve remote users ability to work on Outlook Web Access and may negate the need to use an Outlook client.
• Users can access file shares and Sharepoint sites through the OWA page
• The maximum size limit for the Exchange Information Store has increased from 75GB to 16TB (virtually unlimited size). This means users will not need to archive emails or have restrictions on their mailbox sizes. - Although Kinetics recommends some care here - large databases can cause performance and other problems
• The Exchange Anti-spam filter has been improved in Exchange 2007 and now offers modular options for improved spam prevention
• Exchange 2007 allows improved functionality for Antivirus products to scan at the perimeter
• Improved calendar sharing

 Exchange 2007 has certain requirements which need to be considered before it can be implemented:

• Exchange 2007 will only run on 64-bit versions of Windows Server 2003 or later.  This will require the server hardware to support 64-bit Windows.  Most servers currently running Exchange 2003 will not be able to be used for Exchange 2007 and therefore a new server will be required to run Exchange 2007.  
• Exchange 2007 Client Access Licences (CALs) no longer included a free licence for Outlook and therefore all users will need to have Outlook already on their PC or use Outlook Web Access

The new features and improvements in Exchange 2007 will need to be weighed up against the cost of the new product when considering whether migrating to Exchange 2007 from Exchange 2000 or 2003.