We tested DavMail 3.9.9 using Thunderbird 13.0.1 (you can explore the latest versions) with Lightning (a Thunderbird add-on for the Calendar set-up) on Windows XP and Windows 7. It also supports set-up of calendars and CardDAV protocol to sync address books. For smartphones, DavMail is used as a dedicated host to provide SMTP and IMAP services to those devices, hiding all the server configuration from those so-called less secure Internet devices. Using OWA instead of proprietary MAPI or IMAP/SMTP protocols itself ensures secure communication with the server. Tested successfully with the iPhone (gateway running on a server).įigure 1 shows various applications using DavMail (the yellow icon) to connect to OWA (Outlook Web Access) and Exchange. Releases are tested on Windows, Linux (Ubuntu) and Mac OS X. The DavMail gateway is implemented in Java, and should run on any platform. Thus, any standards-compliant client can be used with Microsoft Exchange. This means LDAP for a global address book, SMTP to send messages, IMAP to browse messages on the server in any folder, POP to retrieve inbox messages only, CalDAV for calendar support, and CardDAV for personal contacts sync. The popular FOSS website explains its architecture: The main goal of DavMail is to provide standards-compliant protocols in front of proprietary Exchange. So here’s a nice solution that lets you use any email client to connect to Exchange Server with a third-party gateway, in a secure way (optional encryption) and, of course, it’s free. MS Exchange uses proprietary MAPI protocols, which are incompatible with the open protocols that Thunderbird and other clients use.
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