Wanna Kick Exchange 2007's Tires? Call Unisys

If you're an enterprise and want to check out Exchange Server 2007 without cost , Unisys is there for you.

Unisys, Blue Bell, Pa., says it will help enterprise customers try out the new Microsoft mail system for free. Yup. Free.

The hope is that some of those looky lous will end up paying to migrate and run the let's-just"say-resource-intensive mail on Unisys ES7000 servers.

E-mail implementers are bullish on the new Exchange's features and functions, but agree that the hardware tax can be painful.

Exchange, after all, requires 64-bit servers, a specification that some say is leading companies to look at alternatives. Novell Groupwiseand even IBM Domino do not have the same hardware requirements. Nor do the new kids on the block like Zimbra et al.

All of those options, unlike Microsoft Exchange, will also run on Linux which may be a plus in accounts that do not want to lock into Microsoft Enterprise Agreements.

A licensing change inaugurated with this release may also cause consternation: The new Exchange no longer includes a CAL for full Outlook 2007. Now only Software Assurance buyers get full Outlook rights.

It remains to be seen how many enterprises will bite the bullet and upgrade existing Exchange 5.5, and 2003 infrastructure to this new edition, or will simply hang tough. Or, god forbid, switch from Exchange.

A Unisys spokeswoman would not comment on whether this free trial, which she said is the first Unisys has offered, was motivated by slower-than-expected pick up of Exchange 2007.