Exchange Server 2010 is now available worldwide!
Published Nov 09 2009 11:23 AM 7,083 Views

It is my distinct pleasure to announce today the global availability of Exchange Server 2010. This has been an amazing journey from conception to launch, and the team has delivered an unprecedented line up of innovations in this release. I am incredibly proud of the team and our product.

The dedication of the Exchange community working side by side with us to deliver Exchange 2010 has been inspiring for me. I want to thank you for your commitment over the past 3 years helping us develop new ideas, make product enhancements and test pre-release bits to ensure our final product is rock solid. I believe Exchange has the most impressive IT Pro and Developer community in the world today. We could not have shipped this product without you!

In return, I hope you realize the full value of everything Exchange 2010 offers. We are all working in a very challenging economic environment today. Being cost conscious has never been more important - but also helping your organizations differentiate themselves and compete effectively is just as critical. I am delighted to see how Exchange 2010 is helping early adopters accomplish these goals. I want to share just a sampling of their stories, so you can see for yourself.

Organizations are cutting costs and simplifying administration with Exchange 2010.

"Performance with large mailboxes greatly exceeds our expectations. With the growing amount of data that needs to be retained, it is not uncommon for us to have 30-gigabyte plus mailboxes, making these performance improvements crucial to our business. I have been using Exchange 2010 and Outlook 2010 for e-mail since June and have been extremely satisfied with the performance and the user experience. It is a robust, very stable platform. And, we found RBAC to be a huge benefit. That is something I have needed for a long time-to have more granular rights for administrators and lower-level IT staff to do targeted tasks." - Alexander Diaz, Enterprise Development Manager, Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP

"The cost savings from switching from fiber channel to SATA disks is about 70 percent. The I/O system of Exchange Server 2010 is really optimized. If you look at Exchange Server 2007, it's good; but Exchange Server 2010 is really great. You can significantly reduce the disk costs when you run Exchange Server 2010." - Thomas Keck, CIO, Elabs

"We're always moving users around. We've been doing that with custom scripts in Exchange Server 2003, but we will definitely be using the Online Move Mailbox feature in 2010. Now we can move them without taking the mailbox offline." - Allan Tagg, SVP, Global Messaging Exec, Bank of America

Organizations are improving everyday productivity and meeting the expectations of a new generation of workers with Exchange 2010.

"Our salespeople need to respond quickly to dealer concerns. With Exchange Server 2010 and voice-to-text conversion, within 20 seconds after a dealer leaves a voice-mail message, our users see an e-mail preview on their cell phone. Our mobile employees might check voice mail anywhere from 5 to 10 times a day, at 5 to 10 minutes a session. By using Office Communications Server 2007 R2 and taking advantage of the voice-mail preview feature in Exchange Server 2010, they can increase their responsiveness while saving more than 15 minutes a day. From a business perspective, that's an incredibly valuable productivity increase." - George Hamin, Director of E-Business and Information Systems, Subaru Canada

"Having Conversation View on the new mobile client is really nice. It provides an extremely fast and efficient means of surveying my inbox and taking needed actions on the go." - Steven Schafer, Director of Collaboration and Network Services, Global Crossing

"By taking advantage of Outlook Web App, employees can start being productive from new locations almost immediately. As soon as they get their workstation and network connectivity, administrators can quickly provide them with access to e-mail and IM at a moment's notice without having to manage a lot of logistics. That's tremendous. Just simplifying the process of giving our remote employees access to e-mail and IM with Exchange Server 2010 will increase the productivity of our IT administrators by at least 20 to 30 percent." - Dan Evans, Manager of Messaging and Collaboration, Morgan Keegan & Company

Organizations of all sizes are better managing risk and the cost of compliance with Exchange 2010.

"With Exchange Server 2010, we can give the auditors permission to pull mail out of mailboxes themselves, rather than having me pull the data and ship it to them in a PST file. Now the nine hours a month I spend on compliance will be cut down to zero. Getting rid of PST files using Exchange Server 2010 solves a whole series of nightmares that I'm sure every Exchange Server administrator has had" - Andrew McNair, Wintel Infrastructure Manager, Cell C

"By using the compliance features in Microsoft Exchange Server 2010, we can save about $400,000 in hardware and software costs. That's a big savings." - Joseph Nguyen, Systems Architect at a large U.S. university.

"With Exchange Server 2010, we can set up transport protection rules for things like social security numbers to comply with HIPAA and for voice mails to ensure that they can't be forwarded outside the company." - Thomas Dechmann, Senior Principal IT Technologist, Medtronic

I'm also particularly proud of the work the team has done delivering Exchange as a server and a service. This has been an incredible engineering endeavor that no one else in the industry comes close to delivering. Today, we've successfully scaled Exchange 2010 to more than 15 million Outlook Live accounts around the world and, moving forward, to millions more with Exchange Online. Our promise to deliver a seamless Exchange experience on premises with the server, in the cloud as a service or a combination of the two truly gives customers choice and peace of mind.

You can see more customer results from the case studies published today, read about the launch in press coverage, hear from MBD President Stephen Elop in his TechEd Europe keynote launching Exchange 2010 and this evening at the Exchange Connections conference in Las Vegas in my keynote.

I know many of you are already underway with your Exchange 2010 deployments and many more will be starting today. The Exchange Server 2010 bits are available for download now. As always, keep the feedback coming. Listening to customers and partners is how the team has made Exchange the premier e-mail solution across the globe and that's the way we intend to keep it.

Thank you!

- Rajesh Jha

45 Comments
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Awesome !
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YES ! thanks for this great works and improvement :)
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Great news.

When will there be a Exchange 2010 version of the storage calculator?
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Did an upgrade from RC1 to RTM after downloading it on TechNET.  It is still prompting me for a Product Key.

The TechNET website says: This product is pre-pidded

Suggestions?
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Pingback from:
http://chrislehr.com/2009/11/exchange-2010-general-availability.htm

Congrats to all involved in this release.  Now, time to get working!
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Congrats to the Exchange team!
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Wow, ask and ye shall receive!! *lol*

Congrats on a truly great product!
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I too did an upgrade from RC1 after downloading the RTM version from the TechNet website and am also still getting prompted for a product key. Any suggestions?
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Where is the MSDN key, used to activate it?
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Now to hurry up and wait for RIM to get their act together...  Want to go to 2010, but need to setup/keep 2007 around for BB users...
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Congrats to the MS Exchange team!  I think the Database Availability Group (DAG) feature in particular will have huge long-term benefits for the industry.  I can't imagine how complex these releases must be to manage, so I hope the team is getting a nice break for a while!

Nick
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Congratulations, MS Exchange Team!  This release is the most significant version I've had the pleasure of using.  A huge step forward!

See my upgrade notes here: http://www.expta.com/2009/10/exchange-server-2010-rtm-upgrade-and.html
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Congrats! My Mailbox is already on Exchange 2010...
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Houston we may have a problem here...I have been running a copy of the public release candidate for a couple of months now. Today I upgraded to the TechNet version (without a single issue I might add). However when invoking the EMC I am still told my copy will expire in 56 days?

Should this happed with the "pre-pidded" TechNet version?

- Adam
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I just did a fresh install (ie clean AD forest, everything from scratch) with the TechNet copy and am getting prompted for product keys.

So much for 'Pre PIDed'....
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I'm having the same "Pre-pidded" problem.  I had installed the leaked RTM build from a few weeks back before I could get my hands on the TechNet RTM, but after comparing SHA1's, they are the same.  MS needs to release some keys for us, because I really don't want to have to reinstall AGAIN.
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Also, the UM language packs seem to have been pulled from the Download Center within the last 12 hours. Any reason for this?
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I found the install frustrating.  Lots of powershell commands prior to doing getting the actual install working.  I was getting several "useless" error messages during the prereq check until I ran across this KB and apparently fixed it by following this article.

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb691354(EXCHG.140).aspx
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I installed a fresh RTM copy from msdn subscribers and it asks me for product code!! Any help? It is not pre-pidded!
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Same issue : Fresh install of AD Forest and Exchange Org made with Technet iso. Exchange product key asked when connecting on console.
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According to a post on the Technet E2010 forums, a MS rep is aware of the key issue.

"Other" Robert: You don't have to use those commands to install the prerequisites - you can use the Server Manager and manually select all of the roles/features.  However, most find it easiest to copy and paste those lines of codes into a batch file and install everything in one go (two if you need to install RSAT).

It is the same as with Exchange 2007.
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Everyone asking about the "pre-pidded" TechNet version, few things:

- Exchange 2010 licensing warning is a licensing warning only, like it used to be with Exchange 2007. The server - when installed - does not have a product PID. A PID needs to be entered post setup, and the PID will determine the version of the server. Once the evaluation period is over, the product will still work the same, with same limitations of the non-licensed server. It is not a "time bomb" but rather a licensing warning. The details around keys mentioned here still apply: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb232170.aspx

- Please post a comment on this: I am guessing that somewhere, we mention that the TechNet version is Pre-pidded or else not so many of you would be asking about this. Can you tell us exactly where we say this, so we can correct this? We do not have a pre-pidded version.
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Hi Exchange,

When accessing TechNet or MSDN downloads and accessing the Exchange 2010 download you can choose to view the setup key. On this product it states "this product is pre-pidded"

- Adam
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Thanks Adam, will look into this!

Nino.
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MSDN Pro with Premium same issue with pre-pidded.
Need a key or something then added just like exchange 2007
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@Exchange:

here is a screenshot from the "pre-pidded" Exchange 2010 Technet download page:

http://www2.win-professional.com/images2/exchange_2010_pre_pidded.png

There is no standard/enterprise key available for Technet/MSDN users.
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Thanks Morten, we are sorthing this out, this helps. :)

Nino.
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Exchenge,

if no code is required, why exchange says we have 120 days to activate it and to enter a code? Why there is a form to enter a code?

I don't understand, you say that code is for determining version.. but we don't have one, how could we do it?
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The UM lang pack downloads have reappeared, as exe files. Installation just got a lot easier :)
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Exchange:

What are your findings on the above?

Any updates?
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Marco,

The key is a licensing requirement. In other words - you have 120 days to evaluate the product and buy it. Once you buy it - you can just enter the key and not having to reinstall the product. In that way - the transition from Eval to Full is not disruptive to your users.

So the license prompt is there to remind you of the fact, that is all.

Please see the http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb232170.aspx, specifically the "Evaluations and Product Keys" section. I am looking to have that added to Exchange 2010 documentation too, as it still applies.

NOTE TO ALL: it might take us a day or two to sort this out, but your servers will keep working. Even if the counter reaches zero (0) - there is no loss of functionality or service disruption that you will experience.
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hi all. The keys for the TechNet and MSDN Exchange 2010 subscriber downloads are now available. Return to the Exchange 2010 download and click the 'Keys' link. Let us know if you have any difficulties by creating a thread at http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/exchange2010/threads

Thanks.
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OK, this should now be fixed. Please log back into MSDN / TechNet and you should now see the keys at the Exchange 2010 download. You can use the key with the download that you already have.
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I have Keys!  I guess waiting one more day wasn't too bad.

Must work on my patience... :)

Thanks again and well done on the release.
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Great work Exchange Team!  I know lots of blood, sweat and tears went into this release and can't wait.

*** QUESTION:  My Org is at a critical point where we need to decide between rolling 2007 or 2010.  We are deploying in a new forest with a new ORG, but I can't find ANY information related to Free/Busy replication.  Our production environment is Exchange 2003 Native mode.  Please point me in the right direction as this is a non-negotiable item for our tranistion (50k mailboxes)
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How in the world do I perform an in place upgrade from the Exchange 2010 RC to RTM version?  I just keep getting failures, and the upgrade sets all exchange services to disabled.  What's the trick?  I have all necessary Exchange e-mail services and IIS on a member server all server 2008 R2.
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How in the world do I perform an in place upgrade from the Exchange 2010 RC to RTM version?  I just keep getting failures, and the upgrade sets all exchange services to disabled.  What's the trick?  I have all necessary Exchange e-mail services and IIS on a member server all server 2008 R2.
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russian version of this post is here:
на русском яззыке здесь:
http://www.maximumexchange.ru/2009/11/11/download-exchange-server-2010/
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While I love the ability to Sync my text messages with Exchange Server 2010 and Windows Mobile 6.5, I do NOT want them in my Inbox.  I would much rather prefer a choice to keep all of my SMS/MMS messages that are sync'ed in a new SMS folder at the top level of my Exchange hierarchy.
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My Blog post on doing RC to RTM upgrade is available here

http://wellytonian.com/2009/11/exchange-2010-rc-to-rtm-upgrade/
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i believe exchange needs some more fixes. tired administering it and we upgraded to linux based mail systems
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*** QUESTION:  My Org is at a critical point where we need to decide between rolling 2007 or 2010.  We are deploying in a new forest with a new ORG, but I can't find ANY information related to Free/Busy replication.  Our production environment is Exchange 2003 Native mode.  Please point me in the right direction as this is a non-negotiable item for our tranistion (50k mailboxes)
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prkrnt:

There are specifically two docs that you should look into for this kind of deployment.

E2007: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa996010.aspx

E2010: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb124734(EXCHG.140).aspx

The F/B lookups are typically done by the Availability Service.
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Thank you!
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