SP1 (SP = service pack) for Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac includes about a dozen Exchange fixes and improvements as well as some new highly requested features, especially with Exchange Server 2007 connectivity.
While not all Entourage 12.1.0 improvements are geared toward any one version of Exchange Server, some are geared specifically toward Exchange Server 2007. Entourage currently connects to Exchange Server 2003 via WebDAV and Exchange Server 2007 via a combination of WebDAV and Web Services. WebDAV has been de-emphasized in Exchange 2007, which means it’s going away in future versions. (MAPI, which is Outlook’s primary connection protocol, has also been de-emphasized with an emphasis for Web Services as its replacement.)
Beginning with this service pack, expect more Entourage improvements for Exchange to come from its interaction with Web Services. That means more features for Exchange Server 2007 organizations and less for those with Exchange Server 2003 and older.
Free/Busy information now displays correctly in mixed Exchange environments
In a network environment with a mix of Exchange Server 2003 and Exchange Server 2007 servers, free/busy information may have been inaccurate. Those with accounts on an Exchange Server 2007 server who are viewing the free/busy information of other users whose accounts are on Exchange Server 2003 servers should now see those schedules displayed properly.
Out of Office Assistant should reliably connect to Exchange Server 2007
While attempting to set an Out of Office message, some users would receive the message “Out of Office status is temporarily unavailable because Entourage cannot connect to the server.” The Out of Office assistant uses Exchange Server 2007′s Web Services for setting the status whereas it uses WebDAV for Exchange Server 2003.
Meeting attendees can see a list of all other attendees
This fix is not Exchange specific but will probably be noticed more by Exchange users. Anyone receiving a meeting invitation with multiple attendees can initially view the first part of the attendee list in the Invite field at the top of the message. However, clicking that field did not allow recipients to view the rest of the list. Only the meeting organizer could do this. SP1 enables invitees to now click the Invite field and the full list will be displayed.
Auto-discovery simplified when connecting to Exchange Server 2007
An administrative pain point with Entourage has always been user setup. Account names, server names, SSL settings and LDAP settings are a lot to ask the user to configure for himself. And while some scripts are available, they still require some user interaction.
Unfortunately, the Account Setup Assistant required exacting network settings to auto-discover the user’s servers and this didn’t always work. This update now enables Entourage to discover the correct settings from a DNS AutoDiscover DNS Record. This is similar to Outlook 2007′s auto-discover mechanism. This requires Exchange Server 2007 SP1 or higher.
For more information read Configuring Outlook 2007 with Exchange Server 2007 on the MSExchange.com website.
Remove attachments from Exchange messages
Message attachments are the greatest consumers of disk space and can easily send a user over his storage quota. To reduce their message stores users were forced to archive messages to local folders, making them inaccessible on other computers. SP1 now enables the Remove button for attachments on Exchange messages allowing him to retain the message while discarding the attached files.
This feature works with Exchange Server 2003 and 2007, even if connected via Outlook Web Access (OWA). Keep in mind that the Sent date will not be altered but the Received date will probably be altered.
Similarly, messages edited via AppleScripts will now synchronize to the server.
For a complete list of Entourage improvements and fixes included in SP1 have a look at Microsoft’s website: Description of Office 2008 for Mac Service Pack 1 (12.1.0).
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Regarding removing attachments from Exchange messages, does this work with the Remove All Attachments option in the Message menu or do you have to open each message to click the Remove button?
It took a while before it registered that Entourage in Office 2004 would only remove the attachments from the cached copy, not the one on the server, when the Remove All Attachments option was used.
I’m finding the attachments can be removed with both the menu command as well as the Remove button in the Attachments pane of the message itself. You can even select multiple messages and select the Remove All Attachments command. Very nice!
And as for Entourage 2004, I don’t think it every allowed you to remove attachments from Exchange account messages. The Remove button was always grayed for me.
In Entourage 2004, the Remove button is indeed grayed-out, but the Remove All Attachments in the Message menu is not.
While the remove attachments functionallity is nice and useful, it already happened a couple of times to me that I removed attachments incidentally.
Is there a way to recuperate removed attachments?
This feature assumes you’re removing the attachments because you’ve already saved them elsewhere on your computer or the attachments are superfluous (e.g. background images). Unfortunately, Entourage has no undo mechanism for restoring items that have been deleted without going through the Deleted Items folder.
You may have some luck if you’ve selected the option to “Include attachments in Spotlight search results” found under Entourage –> Preferences… –> General Preferences –> Spotlight. Copies of all attachments are saved in your home folder under ~/Library/Caches/Metadata/Microsoft/Entourage/2008/Main Identity/Attachments. However, this will more than like be cleaned as soon as you remove an attachment.
If you’re worried about needing attachments later, you can create a rule for any type of account that will automatically save attachments to a location of your choice.
Thanks for the quick reply William. I understand the intention but since errors happen, I never like features that delete content without asking for confirmation or the possibility to recuperate them. Maybe in a future release.
Quick follow up question: Is the attachment canceled only from my local machine or also from Exchange server?
Just checked with my Exchange account and you are asked “Are you sure you want to permanently delete the selected attachment?” I’m glad to see that it doesn’t offer the ability to not to display this dialog in the future. You’ll always see it.
I do think a good feature would be to ask if you’d like to save them to your computer first. Please be sure to let Microsoft know you’d like to see this feature in future versions by using the Help –> Send Feedback mechanism in any Office application.
Effective with Entourage 2008 SP1 (12.1.0) the attachments are also removed from your Exchange Server. Prior to SP1 the Remove button was grayed and you had no ability to remove them except by using the Message –> Remove All Attachments menu command and this only removed them from the locally cached copy of the message and not on the server.
Just wanted to say thanks for not providing any Undo mechanism! I just accidentally removed an attachment that I needed for a project due today. Now, I get to spend the next who knows how long googling for cache locations. Fun and productive! I know, I know … if it’s so urgent, why am I posting silly comments on a blog. Well, as they say, no good deed goes unpunished, so I just wanted to give a pat on the back, a hand on the shoulder, a “job well done!” to the fine folks who decided that ~10 pixels of space between a “Save Attachment” and a similarly colored, shaped, and sized – yet permanent and unrecoverable – “Remove attachment” button was more than enough. That’s the kind of foresight and commitment to detail that one expects in a $400 enterprise software package.
Hi
Since I did the last upgrade to Office 2008 I have noticed that my exchange Calendar is not synchronising properly with my work exchange server. I have always connected using webdav under Entourage 2004 and had no problems now my diary is not correct at all missing new appointments.
has something changed?
Simon
Nothing has changed that would intentionally cause this problem.
Right-click or Control-click your Calendar, select Folder Properties and click the Empty button to empty the cache. You can also select the account itself and empty the cache for all of your folders. This often resolves problems like these.
If this doesn’t resolve your problem then be sure to post your question in the Entourage newsgroup or on the YouTalk mailing list .