WHS Outlook is an add-in that integrates Microsoft Outlook® with the Windows Home Server Console application. As the author, Mike Craven explains on his website:
WHS Outlook allows a single installation of Microsoft Outlook to be shared by up to 10 different client PC’s via the Windows Home Server Console. Using the Remote Access features of Windows Home Server, you can even gain full access to all of your Microsoft Outlook e-mail, contacts, calendar, etc. from anywhere in the world that Internet access is available.
The add-in has already received mixed reviews from the community. The two maon negative points that have been made it are that firstly, it is a commercial add-in, and therefore required payment. Secondly, you could just run Outlook on your home server and remote desktop into it without the need for Console integration. Both are very valid points that I won’t dismiss. But I’ve been running both the first beta and the latestest Beta 2 release and I really love this add-in. It is a wonderful email solution that is specifically developed for Windows Home Server.
Yes, you can “just” run Outlook from remote desktop, but the whole point of Windows Home Server is to be able to manage the home server from any computer via the WHS Console. WHS Outlook enables Outlook to be tightly integrated into the WHS Console. The buttons and menus that you would normally need for Outlook are cleverly placed in a toolbar. Most of the buttons have drop down menus that allow you to perform all of the standard tasks your require straight from that toolbar. Plus a few others, such as listing all windows created by Outlook and the ability to bring them into focus, or a general purpose menu button that has pretty much every menu option that you would normally need in the course of using Outlook.
Mike Craven has enabled the add-In so that it can launch links in emails and RSS feed entries on your client computer, via your default browser. For me, this is absolutely awesome - I use Outlook for my feed reader and have 20 or more feeds on it. It loads them inside the console if you are using the web interface but other than that, it works great! And this is not something you could do by just running Outlook on your home server!!
The add-in as downloadable as a free trial that lasts 21 days before it stops working. At that time you can uninstall it and use Outlook normally, or you can purchase the add-in for $24.95.
There are a few things to note about Outlook and WHS Outlook. The first and most important is that Microsoft technically requires that you have a seperate licence for each computer running Office or Outlook. That means if you have Office 2007 running on one PC at home, you would have to get another copy to install, one on your server, and the other on what ever computer. While I doubt this will stop some people, this is the offical licensing policy. Another thing, is that I would recommend configuring Outlook exactly how you want it working before installing or using WHS Outlook. This way, you have less chance of issues with it.
It is currently in it’s third beta, but feels pretty much complete. Mike has said he currently doesn’t have plans to work on either a web interface for WHS Outlook, or another add-in he had mentioned: “WHS Office”. This is mainly due to the fact that he does make a living from the programs he writes. He will continue to support the product and update it, but there are no plans for further development.
If you feel that this is a product worth paying for, and want to see further development from him, let Mike know by heading over to his website and purchasing a copy! I know I’m probably going to buy a couple copies for friends!
September 30th, 2008 at 1:38 am
I think that this plug-in is great so far….however not adding a web interface to it would be like handing the plugin a grave stone. Its great that i can access my emails from my home computers….however what if i want to access my email from work or on the road without having to remote access my server. I should be able to access my email by typing my web address and typing my username and password. Currently i have to do the before mentioned steps then log on to the server which is slow if not impossible to get into. Please dont hand a good piece of software a death stone before its prime.
September 30th, 2008 at 8:59 am
I agree, but as Mike Craven himself has said: he doesn’t have the time to keep on working on new features if it isn’t going to be earning enough money. He does make a living off selling apps such as this, so if you really do want to see web interface and such, support him.
I know I will be, when rent isn’t due.
September 30th, 2008 at 1:25 pm
Yes with that i agree as well…and i will support him as well. Once the software becomes available and mostly stable i will most likely purchase a licence. Managing 6 different email accounts would be so much simpler finally. I and many others would be willing to pay more for this extra feature. I program microprocessors ocasionally so i do understand it requires time and patience so im not expecting something for free.
September 30th, 2008 at 8:42 pm
I think before we get carried away here it would be sensible to get a definitive answer from Microsoft on the licensing issue.
There is another concern that I have and that is that generally speaking it is bad practice to install Office software on a server. It might be really useful but it’s also increasing your attack surface area. It’s something else that has to be patched and maintained.