Having had some problems with Outlook working with IMAP mail stores, and having a few computers needing setup quickly, and facing a lack of valid licenses - it seemed an ideal time to have a quick look around for alternatives. And its interesting to see Thunderbird being adopted in the corporate environment. This article being the inspiration for my trial…
HowTo: Thunderbird & MS Exchange Server - Download Squad
“It is now possible to use Thunderbird at home and work and still get all of your exchange server email as well as your company’s Global Address Book.”
As it turns out, Thunderbird offers very flexible and robust IMAP handling as well as providing a way to work with Exchange mail… so that’s what we’re using right now. Of course, you loose all the office integration and scheduling capabilities - but that’s not something I’m using right now, having moved all my calendar requirements out to Google.