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wowway1 · Jul 11, 2006, 08:18 AM

Hi all,

After getting my hands on a MacBook running boot camp for the first time last night, I think I can ditch my work lappy and get one (my job requires me to demo our applications that run on Windoze - fortunately they are not graphic-intensive so I think a Macbook with bootcamp or parallels will work fine).

Anywho...some questions for you folks:

1) Does mail/calendar have any connectivity options to an Exchange server? We are living in the dark ages here, using Exchange 2000.
2.) If the answer to the above is 'no', how about Entourage? Can I use that as an effective Outlook replacement in the same environment? Being able to schedule meetings and check Outlook users' calendars is pretty important to me.
3.) Does iSync work well with any of the above and the Motorola Razr so I can keep my phone up to date with all contacts?

Thanks!

besson3c · Jul 11, 2006, 08:24 AM

Originally Posted by wowway1

Hi all,

After getting my hands on a MacBook running boot camp for the first time last night, I think I can ditch my work lappy and get one (my job requires me to demo our applications that run on Windoze - fortunately they are not graphic-intensive so I think a Macbook with bootcamp or parallels will work fine).

Anywho...some questions for you folks:

1) Does mail/calendar have any connectivity options to an Exchange server? We are living in the dark ages here, using Exchange 2000.
2.) If the answer to the above is 'no', how about Entourage? Can I use that as an effective Outlook replacement in the same environment? Being able to schedule meetings and check Outlook users' calendars is pretty important to me.
3.) Does iSync work well with any of the above and the Motorola Razr so I can keep my phone up to date with all contacts?

Thanks!

Entourage seems to finally handle most Exchange tasks after all these many years. However, for full functionality I'd imagine it would work best with an Exchange 2003 server. Of course, you can use OS X Mail and/or Entourage for IMAP and GAL access to Exchange (providing this is enabled on the server), the sticking point is the calendar.

Cadaver · Jul 11, 2006, 09:36 PM

I can answer #3...
iSync will transfer OS X's address book and iCal items to my Cingular RAZR V3 just fine.

- - e r i k - - · Jul 11, 2006, 09:42 PM

Outlook ought to work very well in Parallels I think. At my office ages ago we had to use Microsoft Outlook in classic to work with our exchange software.

Chips G · Jul 12, 2006, 08:21 AM

If your job requires you to demonstrate Windows applications, than I would not recommend using beta software (Boot Camp) to do so. I would suggest waiting until Apple releases OS 10.5 and seeing what Windows integration is included.

It would be a shame for something to happen to Boot Camp (crash, etc.) while you are with potential clients.

-Chris

besson3c · Jul 12, 2006, 08:38 AM

Originally Posted by Chris Gilpin

If your job requires you to demonstrate Windows applications, than I would not recommend using beta software (Boot Camp) to do so. I would suggest waiting until Apple releases OS 10.5 and seeing what Windows integration is included.

It would be a shame for something to happen to Boot Camp (crash, etc.) while you are with potential clients.

-Chris

All Boot Camp does is turn over the reigns to Windows. Once you are booted into Windows XP, there is no Boot Camp process running, so there is nothing Apple related that could crash except for the Windows XP drivers provided by Apple. However, it is also likely that any other Windows XP driver could cause a crash too, so I don't think that this is a big deal.

Brass · Jul 12, 2006, 06:23 PM

Originally Posted by Chris Gilpin

If your job requires you to demonstrate Windows applications, than I would not recommend using beta software (Boot Camp) to do so. I would suggest waiting until Apple releases OS 10.5 and seeing what Windows integration is included.

It would be a shame for something to happen to Boot Camp (crash, etc.) while you are with potential clients.

-Chris

Parallels, (which in NOT beta) is a much better option in any case. I use it daily (need windows at work for some tasks), and it works exceptionally well. Can run it in full screen if you want your machine to appear to be a completely windows machine.

Of course, the main advantage to Parallels, is that you can run both OSs at the same time, and switch back and fourth between them as frequently as you like, and never have to reboot either. It also handles sharing directories and files between the two (or more) OSs quite well.

Havin 2-finger tapping on the trackpad on the Intel Mac laptops for the secondary click, works in Windows (through parallels) just fine, and therefore you have everythiing you need for a complete windows on mac solution.

Angus_D · Jul 12, 2006, 06:31 PM

Originally Posted by besson3c

All Boot Camp does is turn over the reigns to Windows. Once you are booted into Windows XP, there is no Boot Camp process running, so there is nothing Apple related that could crash except for the Windows XP drivers provided by Apple. However, it is also likely that any other Windows XP driver could cause a crash too, so I don't think that this is a big deal.

The Boot Camp drivers seemed a bit dodgy when I was playing with it. Had a fair few bluescreens, which is unusual these days.

imitchellg5 · Jul 12, 2006, 08:11 PM

There is now a bootcamp update.http://www.apple.com/macosx/bootcamp/

Gossamer · Jul 13, 2006, 08:46 AM

I've heard rumors of shodding USB support within parallels, wouldn't want that to hold you back.

msuper69 · Jul 13, 2006, 09:16 AM

Originally Posted by Gossamer

I've heard rumors of shodding USB support within parallels, wouldn't want that to hold you back.

USB support is nearly non-existent in Parallels. That is a show-stopper for me. Too bad because it seems pretty decent otherwise.

Brass · Jul 13, 2006, 06:17 PM

Originally Posted by msuper69

USB support is nearly non-existent in Parallels. That is a show-stopper for me. Too bad because it seems pretty decent otherwise.

I've heard these rumours too, and more than just rumours.. it's in the reviews (such as on ArsTechnica).

BUT... I've had no trouble with USB support so far. I've only used two USB devices, but both work fine. One was a CD/DVD burner, which I used to burn a CD in Windows in Parallels (to work around the limitation that the internal CD/DVD drive is presented to the guest OS as a read-only device); I also used a Brother P-Touch 2300 with no problems for printing barcodes.

BkueKanoodle · Jul 14, 2006, 12:39 AM

Mail works fine with an exchange server, although for group calendaring and such, there really is no alternative to exchange, so it's not exactly the Dark ages. Lotus Notes, maybe, but that's way worse then exchange.

besson3c · Jul 14, 2006, 06:44 AM

Originally Posted by BkueKanoodle

Mail works fine with an exchange server, although for group calendaring and such, there really is no alternative to exchange, so it's not exactly the Dark ages. Lotus Notes, maybe, but that's way worse then exchange.

Zimbra and Kolab are reasonable Exchange alternatives... Have you tried them?