Microsoft has extended its pact with Linux distributor Xandros.
Xandros has created a Linux distribution based on Debian for both desktops and servers. It also sells Scalix open-source mail servers, having acquired the company in July.
The pact is one of a series of agreements between the software giant and Linux companies, all aimed at bolstering interoperability between Microsoft's proprietary software and open-source alternatives.
Xandros' deal with Microsoft, which was signed in June, originally focused on improving interoperability between their servers to make it easier for IT professionals to manage both sets of systems.
On Wednesday, the two companies said they would extend that deal to help customers deploy Windows-based wireless e-mail offerings using Scalix servers.
Xandros will develop a server-side implementation of Exchange ActiveSync to enable wireless synchronization without having to install third-party software.
Windows Mobile-based e-mail has become increasingly popular as Microsoft tries to tap into a lucrative marketplace in which BlackBerry maker Research in Motion is a commanding presence.
"With the ubiquity of Windows Mobile-based smart phones, this agreement will enable us to provide the same range of Scalix connectivity choices for users of desktop, laptop and handheld devices that they currently enjoy with Microsoft Exchange," said Xandros' chief executive, Andreas Typaldos.
The two protocols that Xandros will license are Exchange ActiveSync and the Outlook-Exchange Transport Protocol. Xandros says it will release the first results from its use of the protocols in six to 12 months.
1) "Embrace, Extend, Extinguish" - just ask the Plays For Sure partners, Sun (Java), and a whole host of companies, big and small... MSFT's own history makes it impossible to trust them on any business partnership level.
2) Can be summed up as: <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://www.novell.com/products/openenterpriseserver/" target="_newWindow">http://www.novell.com/products/openenterpriseserver/</a>
3) We (as in, "the planet") already has full standards-compliant mobile email w/o having to resort to a proprietary solution. Mobile + WiFi suffices nicely... just ask Apple (iPhone).
Assuming you're on the same planet as the rest of us (not a certainty by any stretch), I think you should probably check what the VAST majority of folks use for the email on mobile devices.
I think once you subtract out Exchange, Blackberry, and your "non-smartphone" basic text email clients, you'll be left with tumbleweeds and a VERY small fraction of mobile email users.
The deal in question is targeted at THAT planet, not to make any assumptions about YOUR planet, by any means.
(Mail over WiFi??? WiFi isn't even CLOSE to the ubiquitous connection one needs for reliable email. But that's not the point here.)
Your iPhone is nothing but a Mac fanboy consumer-level toy. Microsoft and their products are the defacto standard in desktop and mobile computing, and the fact is that proprietary solutions are many times the best supported in the industry. It's support that determines the success or non of computing products, not "standards".
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1) "Embrace, Extend, Extinguish" - just ask the Plays For Sure partners, Sun (Java), and a whole host of companies, big and small... MSFT's own history makes it impossible to trust them on any business partnership level.
2) Can be summed up as: <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://www.novell.com/products/openenterpriseserver/" target="_newWindow">http://www.novell.com/products/openenterpriseserver/</a>
3) We (as in, "the planet") already has full standards-compliant mobile email w/o having to resort to a proprietary solution. Mobile + WiFi suffices nicely... just ask Apple (iPhone).
/P
I think once you subtract out Exchange, Blackberry, and your "non-smartphone" basic text email clients, you'll be left with tumbleweeds and a VERY small fraction of mobile email users.
The deal in question is targeted at THAT planet, not to make any assumptions about YOUR planet, by any means.
(Mail over WiFi??? WiFi isn't even CLOSE to the ubiquitous connection one needs for reliable email. But that's not the point here.)