This article will probably be the first of several on Exchange 2007 related topics.  Some of the information covered below may change before release due to the fact that information is still coming out and it is still in beta.  After the release of beta 2 I plan on upgrading one of my ?production? servers to Exchange 2007 and will write an article on upgrading from Exchange 2003 shortly afterwards.  The information covered in this article comes from sessions at TechEd 2006, beta documentation, and several other sources.  This article is not meant to cover all of the new or changed features in Exchange 2007 or to go into great detail on the ones that are covered.  Some of the features covered will also require Outlook 2007 on the client.  With that said, lets see what’s in Exchange 2007 to get you excided about it!

Infrastructure Improvements:

• 64 Bit Support (Required)
  • Because memory limitations with 32 bit code are the number one scalability limiting factor, Microsoft has redesigned Exchange to take full advantage of 64 bit hardware.
• Server roles
  • Edge Transport Server
    • The Edge Transport server role provides antivirus and anti-spam protection for the Exchange organization at the perimeter of the network and secured communications with other Edge and Hub servers.
  • Hub Transport Server
    • The Hub Transport server role handles internal message delivery and routing and is tightly integrated with Active Directory directory services. The Hub Transport role can also apply policies to messages to enforce compliance requirements.
  • Client Access Server (CAS)
    • The Client Access server role enables mailbox access through Outlook Web Access (OWA), POP3, IMAP4, Outlook Anywhere (formerly known as RPC over HTTP), and Exchange Server ActiveSync.
  • Mailbox Server
    • The Mailbox server role is responsible for hosting mailbox databases. A mailbox database contains users’ e-mail, calendar, contacts, and task data.
  • Unified Messaging Server
    • The Unified Messaging server role enables users to receive voice mail, e-mail, fax messages, and calendar information in their Exchange inbox; voice access to the inbox from any phone; and speech-enabled Automated Attendant functionality that allows callers to interact through touch tone menus or their voice using speech recognition.
• Active Directory site topology used for message routing
• Reduced network traffic
  • Messages routed directly from Hub Server to Hub Server, if possible.
• Transport rules
  • Also allows for rules based message filtering and actions.
• No dependence on Public Folders
  • Free/Busy and Offline Address Books are no longer stored in Public Folders

End-user Improvements:

• Calendaring Concierge Service
  • Provides more intelligent meeting booking and suggestions, real support for resources like conference rooms.  Also keeps everyone’s calendars up to date, no more “This meeting request is out of date” messages!
• Better control over Free/Busy data
  • Can control who can see what level of your Free/Busy data, which can now include subject and location.
• Better control over Out-of-Office Messages
  • Can define internal and external Out-of-Office message and schedule when they start and stop.
• Unified messaging support
  • E-mail, voice mails, and faxes (inbound only) can all be delivered to a user’s mailbox.
• Voice access to e-mails and calendars
  • Provided by the Unified Messaging server role, this allows users to “call the Exchange server” to listen to, delete, or forward e-mails and meetings.
•  Outlook Web Access enhancements
  • Address book, calendar, meeting booking process, UNC & SharePoint access, searching, reminders, and many other areas improved.
• Better searching
  • Exchange indexing completely rewritten for better performance and reliability.

This article continues on here: http://www.outlookexchange.com/articles/JasonSherry/sherry_c10p2.asp