Give me my MS MAPI, or Give me Death!
Mac guys love IMAP - and compared to POP who can blame them - well... the rest of us <that have used MAPI>
First, Windows Mobile is a terrific piece of software that becomes truly awesome when the mobile client works opposite Microsoft's Exchange Server 2003 with Service Pack(2). Windows Mobile devices with either the SFP [Security Feature Pack] or newer builds of Windows Mobile 5 [OS 5.1.195 (Build 14960.2.4.0)], or Windows Mobile 6, all support "Direct Push" Back to MAPI... and more on Windows Mobile in a moment...
Beginning with Outlook 2000, Exchange 2000 and ISA Server 2000, it was possible to securely connect a remote Outlook client to a securely hosted Exchange Server by publishing the RPC service through ISA 2000 - it was called, "Forced Encryption over TCP" and it required no VPN, or additional client software and the remote client did not need to be a member of the domain into which the Exchange Organization was a member. It worked, works to this day, but it got even better.
As early as August 2003, Microsoft published a way to allow enterprising network and Exchange Server administrators the means to connect remote Outlook 2003 clients and Windows Mobile users, to a secured internal Exchange 2003 Server - using RPC over HTTP(S).
To any network admin, this was huge! Microsoft created a way to securely publish an RPC listener via an HTTP Proxy that one could face the cloud in the DMZ and secure it using SSL. The client, via the published FQDN, could connect remotely and without the need for the servicing ISP to allow out-bound requests for TCP Port 139. It was all done over the default SSL Port TCP 443 - and literally, no ISP, Hotel, or Network Admin at any location would have 443 blocked out-bound.
This meant and continues to mean that a full on MS MAPI client [Outlook 2003/2007] can connect to the secured internal Exchange from any location on the Internet.
It gets better.... The client is smarter now <since 2003> and uses a cache that remains network aware and state-full. As network conditions change, locally cached mail items sync in the background and are adjusted on the fly - if there is ever a loss of connection, the user just keeps chugging and it reconnects when the network connection is restored <especially nice when travelling> All objects, no matter the number of clients a user has installed, on any number of computers, all remain the same and identically sync'd.
It got even better.... when the Windows Mobile SFP shipped, <last year> "Direct Push" support was added for mobile clients. It works as well as Blackberry BES Server, but without the added server services, maintenance and costs! As messages arrive at the Exchange, they are routed to connected mobile users first, then the same users' connected Outlook 2003/2007 client programs. Instantly. Did I say, instantly? Let me say it again, instantly. Better still, items processed on either the mobile, or full client, sync back the other way and users never have to re-process or assess old mail items. It works for mail, contacts, calendar items and even tasks. and... one can browse the Global Catalog from the Windows Mobile Client.
IMAP, ISHMAP! Mac, Gmail and other addicts gush over IMAP. They herald gears as the second coming - well, after the iPhone any way....
The truth is, that Microsoft, since 2000, has had a better and more secure solution that is both less costly and easier on all - admins and users - where even remote management within Active Directory is enabled. The synchronization is bullet proof, secure and through the air - we do not even bother to install local machine client software on pre-Vista and its Mobility Center enabled systems.
So you see, as in most cases, there is what is in the press, and then there is the truth - well established since August 2003 [easy] and prior to that [2000] when one had to be a bit more familiar with Microsoft's software than they need to be today.
IMAP, ISHMAP... Gears, Smears.... <damn journalists...they never learn>