Microsoft Exchange 2010 Beta

I was so busy filing my taxes earlier this week that I did not notice that Microsoft released Exchange 2010 Beta on April 15 (go here for a product overview). The Beta version boasts support for: an integrated e-mail archive that will allow users to seamlessly move from their online inbox to an archived PST file; text preview of voice mails in Outlook; the ability to delegate administrative tasks to roles, e.g., an e-discovery manager; and up to 50 percent reduction in IO operations -- and that is in addition to the IO reductions introduced in Exchange Server 2007. The new features will also be available in beta later this year in Microsoft Exchange Online. For those lawyers in law firms that don't see much outside of Outlook, it's never to early to start kicking the tires on the new version.