Macintosh and Exchange: maybe no longer the horror it has been

If you've ever worked with us you know we want to deal with the Macintosh about as much as we want to spend our vacation at Chernobyl where we consider the radioactive waste level lower.

However, anecdotal evidence from some of our calendar buddies (Hi, Vince!) has given us indication of light at the end of the tunnel. Herewith is what we learned:

• If you want to use Apple mail, you should upgrade to OS X 10.6. Earlier versions were not all that good in terms of calendaring and mail. 10.6 has MUCH better mail handling.
• If you want to stay with Entourage, adopt the mantra "patch Entourage to the max" (12.2.3) then install the EWS patch: http://www.microsoft.com/mac/itpros/entourage-ews.mspx
• Go to Exchange 2010 (NOT 2007). OWA is MUCH better for Macintosh users in Exchange 2010. http://www.macworld.com/article/140257/2009/04/exchange2010_mac.html
• Finally, check out this link to the Mac 2011 Road Show: https://microsoft.crgevents.com/OfficeMac2011/Content/Home.aspx

This gets us as giddy with excitement as is possible given that we want to suffocate the whole Macintosh platform in the first place.

There's a few other places migrating Exchange Admins should check out if your Windows-phobic execs conform to Jobsian non-conformity.

Exchange 2010: OWA has a good summary of Outlook Web Access via Safari on a Mac.

Entourage Mac for Exchange Servers: Tips and Reports has the most comprehensive list of Entourage / Exchange issues I've seen (and while there are a LOT of them most are for previous versions).