Bynari Outlook Kolab Connector 64-bit for Windows

User Reviews

• Not perfect, but pretty close to it

  appollo_mail3/3/2011

  Pros

  Exchange style of usability with Kolab server Intuitive interface is almost native in Outlook 2010 64 bit is solid Performance is good Supports IMAP idle

  Cons

  It is not 100% like Exchange. It is one of the fastest IMAP connectors I have tested. Exchange is faster though. I mean delivering new content.

  Summary

  I have been looking for something that would replace Microsoft Exchange for a while now. Licensing is killing me and Exchange is getting to be a nightmare to maintain. I downloaded some other products from this company (Bynari) last week and started playing with them. Their server is based on Kolab (Germany). I have been watching Kolab for a while. The Bynari version of it is very nice. It has a nice admin GUI and web mail. I wanted to test Outlook with it, so I also downloaded this Kolab connector. I don't know what else to say about it other than it does everything they say it will. While it is not as fast as Exchange, it is very robust. I'm talking "seconds" difference in mail delivery to the inbox. At that point, who cares if it is a bit slower. The folder sharing works really well. Again, not as fast as Exchange (why I only gave it 4 stars) but it works consistently and performs well. All of the "groupware" (industry term for calendars, contacts, tasks, notes, etc) works seamlessly. Other than some minor spit polish, and end user would never know that this was not Exchange. An admin would know, for several reasons: 1) Set it and forget it - I have not so much as touched this server since setting it up. 2) Licensing nightmare is gone - CFO is now my friend again ;-) 3) I sleep better at night knowing that I don't have a Windows server in my DMZ (you know what I mean) There are a few compromizes, but they are ones that I am happy to live with.

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• Great plugin for Outlook!

  Bob_Bock2/19/2011

  Pros

  I upgraded to Outlook 2010 to take advantage of 64 bit, this plugin for Outlook 2010 is great!!

  Cons

  Nothing that I can pinpoint.

  Summary

  Been looking for a MS Exchange like support to use my cyrus server, but I wanted to be able to store my calendar, contacts, etc on the server. The connector does this for flawlessly. Just install it and go! I used ExportPST (64 bit) to get my data from Outlook 2007 POP3 pst file that I had from a backup (great application, gave a review on that also). The connector download everything from my server into Outlook 2010 without any issues. I've already demoed this to my president and he was quite impressed. We will be migrating over from POP3 to the IMAP cyrus server for everybody instead of using POP3. And to boot, Bynari also provide a LDAP Address Book that offer a global address book. I also made a review that also.

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• For my wife's email - so far so good

  dfsixstring2/16/2011

  Pros

  works with Kolab server, supports 2010 outlook in 64 bit, interface is invisible to me. Folder sharing is very easy. Email delivery is fast - like Exchange.

  Cons

  you can only set up one connector account in a profile.

  Summary

  I bought this for my wife. Her work uses a Kolab email server. She works from home a lot, so I picked this up and installed it for her. So far, I'm impressed. It picked up her work calendar, contacts and tasks without requiring me to do anything special. She works for a law firm and they share folders in their email. All of her shared folders showed up fine. She was able to see their company calendar and their group contact list. Email delivery is very fast. I use Zimbra at work and our outlook connector that we bought isn't near this nice. This makes their company mail server look more like Exchange.

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