Exchange Server SE set to debut just before 2019 version breathes its last
(2024/05/08)
- Reference: 1715175010
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2024/05/08/microsoft_exchange_server_roadmap/
- Source link:
Microsoft has finally broken its silence on the fate of on-premises Exchange, and administrators will need to move quickly to keep their servers supported.
Exchange Server 2016 and 2019 are due to [1]drop out of support on October 14, 2025. In a [2]post yesterday, Microsoft confirmed there would be no last-minute reprieve for either. Instead, a shiny new subscription edition, Exchange Server SE, will debut "early in the third quarter of calendar year 2025."
Just before Exchange 2019 and 2016 are scheduled to breathe their last.
[3]
Microsoft plans one last Cumulative Update (CU) for Exchange Server 2019 later in 2024; the first CU for Exchange SE will turn up at the end of 2025. The company has stressed that, on release, Exchange SE will be code equivalent ("the same exact code") as Exchange Server 2019 CU15, with the exception of a change in wording in the license agreement and version number.
[4]
[5]
The licensing model will be the same as Sharepoint Server Subscription edition, which requires subscription licenses or licenses with active Software Assurance for server and user licenses.
While administrators will welcome news after a lengthy silence from Microsoft, the pace at which they must upgrade is rapid. In September 2020, Microsoft said the next version of the server would appear in the second half of 2021. However, in 2022, after some high-profile security incidents, the company elected to [6]delay the upgrade .
[7]October 2025 will be a support massacre for a bunch of Microsoft products
[8]These 17,000 unpatched Microsoft Exchange servers are a ticking time bomb
[9]Crims found and exploited these two Microsoft bugs before Redmond fixed 'em
[10]Microsoft takes another run at closing Exchange brute-force security hole
Two years later, Microsoft is preparing the starting pistol for administrators. If a customer is running Exchange Server 2016, Microsoft recommends moving to 2019 prior to SE if the customer wants to remain on-premises. According to Microsoft, going from Exchange Server 2019 to SE will be "identical to installing a CU."
However, Scott Schnoll, Microsoft Product Marketing Manager for Exchange Online and Exchange Server, told users: "A legacy upgrade from Exchange 2016 to Exchange Server SE is possible and supported."
[11]
"We recommend moving to Exchange 2019 now, but the choice is yours."
Schnoll also directed customers wondering about costs to talk to their Microsoft account team for more information. At the time of writing, Microsoft's product terms cover Exchange Server 2019 but not SE. The terms are due for an update, according to Schnoll.
One customer, while pleased to see updates and new features, was not so delighted by the subscription model, [12]saying : "The timing lines up, well, pretty poorly. 2019 goes out of support in Q3 of 2025 and yet this is going to be released, aspirationally, in early Q3. Let's hope it isn't as buggy as the recent March SU was."
[13]
Mary Jo Foley of Directions on Microsoft [14]noted that the plan "doesn't give organizations much time to move to the coming Exchange Server SE release in Q3 2025."
As Foley said: "Ready, set, upgrade." ®
Get our [15]Tech Resources
[1] https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecycle/products/?terms=exchange%20server
[2] https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/exchange-team-blog/exchange-server-roadmap-update/ba-p/4132742
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2ZjuhneXUke1LxC6MDK4ztwAAAMs&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
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[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33ZjuhneXUke1LxC6MDK4ztwAAAMs&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/exchange-team-blog/exchange-server-roadmap-update/ba-p/34213892
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2024/04/18/2025_support_end_microsoft/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2024/03/28/germany_microsoft_exchange_patch/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2024/02/14/patch_tuesday_feb_2024/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2023/10/11/microsoft_exchange_bug_fix/
[11] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZjuhneXUke1LxC6MDK4ztwAAAMs&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[12] https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/exchange-team-blog/exchange-server-roadmap-update/bc-p/4133763/highlight/true#M38979
[13] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33ZjuhneXUke1LxC6MDK4ztwAAAMs&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[14] https://www.directionsonmicrosoft.com/blog/exchange-server-subscription-edition-its-happening-in-q3-2025/
[15] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Exchange Server 2016 and 2019 are due to [1]drop out of support on October 14, 2025. In a [2]post yesterday, Microsoft confirmed there would be no last-minute reprieve for either. Instead, a shiny new subscription edition, Exchange Server SE, will debut "early in the third quarter of calendar year 2025."
Just before Exchange 2019 and 2016 are scheduled to breathe their last.
[3]
Microsoft plans one last Cumulative Update (CU) for Exchange Server 2019 later in 2024; the first CU for Exchange SE will turn up at the end of 2025. The company has stressed that, on release, Exchange SE will be code equivalent ("the same exact code") as Exchange Server 2019 CU15, with the exception of a change in wording in the license agreement and version number.
[4]
[5]
The licensing model will be the same as Sharepoint Server Subscription edition, which requires subscription licenses or licenses with active Software Assurance for server and user licenses.
While administrators will welcome news after a lengthy silence from Microsoft, the pace at which they must upgrade is rapid. In September 2020, Microsoft said the next version of the server would appear in the second half of 2021. However, in 2022, after some high-profile security incidents, the company elected to [6]delay the upgrade .
[7]October 2025 will be a support massacre for a bunch of Microsoft products
[8]These 17,000 unpatched Microsoft Exchange servers are a ticking time bomb
[9]Crims found and exploited these two Microsoft bugs before Redmond fixed 'em
[10]Microsoft takes another run at closing Exchange brute-force security hole
Two years later, Microsoft is preparing the starting pistol for administrators. If a customer is running Exchange Server 2016, Microsoft recommends moving to 2019 prior to SE if the customer wants to remain on-premises. According to Microsoft, going from Exchange Server 2019 to SE will be "identical to installing a CU."
However, Scott Schnoll, Microsoft Product Marketing Manager for Exchange Online and Exchange Server, told users: "A legacy upgrade from Exchange 2016 to Exchange Server SE is possible and supported."
[11]
"We recommend moving to Exchange 2019 now, but the choice is yours."
Schnoll also directed customers wondering about costs to talk to their Microsoft account team for more information. At the time of writing, Microsoft's product terms cover Exchange Server 2019 but not SE. The terms are due for an update, according to Schnoll.
One customer, while pleased to see updates and new features, was not so delighted by the subscription model, [12]saying : "The timing lines up, well, pretty poorly. 2019 goes out of support in Q3 of 2025 and yet this is going to be released, aspirationally, in early Q3. Let's hope it isn't as buggy as the recent March SU was."
[13]
Mary Jo Foley of Directions on Microsoft [14]noted that the plan "doesn't give organizations much time to move to the coming Exchange Server SE release in Q3 2025."
As Foley said: "Ready, set, upgrade." ®
Get our [15]Tech Resources
[1] https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecycle/products/?terms=exchange%20server
[2] https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/exchange-team-blog/exchange-server-roadmap-update/ba-p/4132742
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2ZjuhneXUke1LxC6MDK4ztwAAAMs&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZjuhneXUke1LxC6MDK4ztwAAAMs&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33ZjuhneXUke1LxC6MDK4ztwAAAMs&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/exchange-team-blog/exchange-server-roadmap-update/ba-p/34213892
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2024/04/18/2025_support_end_microsoft/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2024/03/28/germany_microsoft_exchange_patch/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2024/02/14/patch_tuesday_feb_2024/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2023/10/11/microsoft_exchange_bug_fix/
[11] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZjuhneXUke1LxC6MDK4ztwAAAMs&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[12] https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/exchange-team-blog/exchange-server-roadmap-update/bc-p/4133763/highlight/true#M38979
[13] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33ZjuhneXUke1LxC6MDK4ztwAAAMs&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[14] https://www.directionsonmicrosoft.com/blog/exchange-server-subscription-edition-its-happening-in-q3-2025/
[15] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
terry 1
Some of my 'sub 10 staff' clients have been moved over to IMAP because of the subscription threat. I ask if the loss of the 'out of office' or synced address books will be an issue and usually get a no, or I show how to add a Outlook rule.
Not everyone wants 365 nor subscription and forcing subscription won't make everyone run to 365
Time to evaluate options
Charlie Clark
We only recently migrated to Exchange 2019 and the costs of keeping all the MS VMs up to date are staggering in comparison with any fairly standard unix setup and that's not including the annual SNAFUs that Microsoft seems to manage: the most recent one with Exchange even led to a poorly worded e-mail from our internet provider. I'm definitely going to assess the competition next year: the clients can wait but I'm fed up of massive VMs for fairly trivial services.
Lotus Notes R5 Competitive Analysis (1999)
‘Everyone who’s interested in platinum should definitely check out " [1]Lotus Notes R5 Competitive Analysis " on \\boweb \bodocs\Polar\jan25.
This is a comparison of platinum/pkm (the project code named tahoe) and notes R5 I’m about 1/2 way through and have found it to be fascinating reading It’s the best concrete document I’ve seen so far on some of the many cool things that the platinum store does and on why betting on platinum is a good move for the server extensions (because tahoe is taking competition with notes very seriously and adding features that compete with notes -’
--
“In Platinum we’re making a big investment in web/filesysten/Office integration, in an effort to merge the way that users and corporations use and manage their documents, email, and web content. We believe that will represent a significant advantage, and one that will be very hard for Lotus to emulate.
The lack of a tightly integrated tools story for Platinum wall be a major competitive weakness that won’t be addressed until Visual Studio 7 & Office 10 (and even then only if we dramatically increase our investment). We are also investing heavily an NT5 integration, optimizing our product’s performance and administerability for this platform alone.
Along these lines, the Active Directory integration will be a mixed proposition in the near term, but will represent a big win for both Microsoft and customers in the long run. Our continuing strong enterprise-DS focus is both a strength and a weakness, though, since Lotus is taking a grassroots approach that will likely allow it to get de facto deployment in many of today’s heterogeneous network environments.
The overall Microsoft response to Lotus has been uncoordinated and uneven to date. Since Notes features touch many different product areas at M~crosofl, many teams feel that Notes is a competitor, and each of these teams are building features to compete with Notes and in some cases positioning their products directly against Notes.”
[1] http://iowa.gotthefacts.org/011607/8000/PX08143.pdf