Exchange 2007 SP1 Now Available

Microsoft released the long-awaited update to Exchange 2007 last Thursday.  SP1 includes many improvements and is a beefy download at 900 MB; assuming the bulk comes from the MUI packs.

Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 1 (SP1) has been designed specifically to help meet the challenges of any business and the needs of all the different groups with a stake in the messaging system. Exchange Server 2007 SP1 is a mission-critical communications tool that enables employees to be more productive and access their information anywhere and anytime while providing a messaging system that enables rich, efficient access to e-mail, calendar items, voice mail, and contacts. For the administrator, Exchange Server 2007 SP1 provides advanced protection options against e-mail security threats, such as spam and viruses, as well as the tools to help manage internal compliance and high availability needs.

The addition of Standby Continuous Replication (SCR) is welcomed by those looking for some added redundancy and high availability.

And just when you thought you had heard the last of them, they threw in a new Public Folder Management Console.  Yuck, but I guess a necessary evil for large companies who have leveraged public folders in their environments.  Once they’re in, they’re pretty darn hard to get rid of.

SP1 was of particular interest to me since it added Vista as a supported platform for the management tools.  I thought it was odd that they would release a product with management tools that weren’t compatible with it’s own platform; a similar scenario played out with the adminpak.msi when Vista was first released.

To read more about the release, or download the SP1 bits, click here.