Exchange Server 2016 is here and available to download starting today! We’ve spent nearly three years iterating, polishing and refining Exchange since the release of Exchange 2013, and we are excited to put a shiny, new version of Exchange into your hands today. What sets this version of Exchange apart from the past, is that it was forged in the cloud. This release brings the Exchange bits that already power millions of Office 365 mailboxes to your on-premises environment.
Here is a quick video look at some of our favorite features.
Email remains the backbone of business communication and the one that workers consider the most essential tool for getting things done. Because of this, it’s vital to have a modern messaging infrastructure that meets today’s business expectations. With the volume of email and other communications continuing to grow, people need tools that help them focus on what’s most important in their inboxes, schedules and interactions with others at work. And as the quantity of email data grows, so do the demands on IT to manage, preserve and protect it.
To help you meet these challenges, we’ve deepened the integration between Exchange and other Office products, so your organization can be more productive and collaborate more effectively. We’ve made it easier to manage your email with new ways to focus on what’s important, work more efficiently, and accomplish more with your devices. We’ve simplified the Exchange architecture and introduced additional recovery features. We’ve also enhanced our built-in compliance tools for protecting and preserving data.
Exchange 2016 builds on and improves features introduced in Exchange 2013, including Data Loss Prevention, Managed Availability, automatic recovery from storage failures, and the web-based Exchange admin center. Here are a few of our favorite new capabilities:
That’s just quick list of highlights; we encourage you to get a full view of what’s new by reviewing the Exchange 2016 documentation on TechNet, and the Product Guide. Or, if you are in the mood for something more bite-sized, check out these short demo videos in which a few members of the Exchange team show off their favorite features:
Exchange 2016 will follow the same servicing rhythm as Exchange 2013, with Cumulative Updates (CUs) released approximately every three months that contain bug fixes, product refinements, and selected new investments from Office 365. The CUs will include features such as search indexing from passive that we decided needed additional refinement or validation before arriving on-premises. The first CU will arrive in the first quarter of 2016.
For those of you eager to get hands on with Exchange 2016, you can start right away by getting the bits from the Microsoft download center to evaluate the fully-functional product for 180 days. We know that you’re hungry for more in-depth info, so we’ll be publishing a series of deep dive blogs on Exchange 2016 here on the EHLO blog in the weeks ahead.
A big thanks to all those who participated in our Technology Adoption Program, downloaded the public Preview, and contributed feedback to help shape this release. One such participant was King Saud University; read about their experience with Exchange Server 2016.
Enjoy Exchange Server 2016!
Exchange Team
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