Microsoft "clarifies" position on Public Folders

One of the biggest uproars about Exchange 2007 came from Microsoft's "de-emphasis" of the role of the Public Folder store. Not only were the admin tools not included in the GUI until SP1 but there are also limitations in the OWA access. Plus, Microsoft was pushing SharePoint so hard that it seemed pretty clear that Public Folders were headed for their demise. Not so fast, say the folks over on the Exchange Team blog. Here's an excerpt of a recent post:

...[T]here seems to be much confusion over the use of the word "de-emphasized". Many people have interpreted this guidance as "Public Folders are dead, and we need to migrate to SharePoint now!" This is not true. Our updated guidance is centered around the major scenarios in which Exchange Public Folders are used today. Depending on each scenario, the strengths of each server and known issues, you should find our guidance more specific to your environment. For this reason, Microsoft will continue to support Public Folders in the next major release of Exchange Server, after Exchange 2007. This means Public Folders will have full support for 10 years from release of the next major release of Exchange Server.

So I guess we all have some time to think more logically about the migration plans and whether we need to invest in SharePoint so quickly or not. The post also includes a pretty good comparison chart of the different uses for PFs and suggestions on whether those functions should be migrated to SharePoint or stick with PFs. Not surprisingly, a number of the functions actually are recommended to stick with PFs, and even to consider PFs as the deployment option in a new installation. The main areas where SharePoint is compelling are no surprise - Custom Apps and Document Libraries. Those also happen to be two areas where SharePoint is incredibly strong. But for other things, like shared calendars, contacts and task lists, PFs are not dead yet. Sure, the UI is fancier in SharePoint for team calendars and lists, but the administrative and infrastructure overhead is also much higher.

SharePoint is great - for some things. But Exchange Public Folders also serve a good purpose. It is good to see this "clarification" from Microsoft that ensures the survival of such a strong tool.