Enterprise E-Mail and IM, the Linux Way

Even before this week’s LinuxWorld Conference & Expo in San Francisco officially kicked off, there was already Linux business email and IM news.First, IBM said it will be releasing its Lotus Sametime IM (instant messaging) platform, both the server and the client, for Linux.

A Java version of the Sametime client had existed before. The new native client is written in Eclipse RCP (Rich Client Platform). The client will be released in September, with the server to follow in 2007’s first quarter.

Scalix Corp. won’t let IBM get all the glory though. The email and groupware company announced the release of Scalix 11, its new Linux email, calendaring, and messaging platform for enterprises.

The latest version includes a Web services platform and mobile client, enhanced management capabilities, and ongoing improvements to Scalix’s Web client and Outlook support. A community preview is available for download as of today, at the company’s Scalix preview site. The commercial version is scheduled to see the light of day in in November.

Scalix’s leadership is also making no bones that it sees its competition as not IBM or its fellow Linux email power, OpenXchange, but Microsoft and Exchange.

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