Today, Microsoft Corp. and Linux platform provider Xandros announced a messaging protocol license and collaboration agreement that will enhance the interoperability of Scalix email servers with various mobile and personal computer-based email applications that utilize Microsoft email protocols. This agreement expands on the ongoing Microsoft-Xandros collaboration.
Both companies' commitment to protocol licensing and technical cooperation will help to provide more email choices and value. By continuing their focus on mixed-source solutions, Xandros and Microsoft are demonstrating how protocol-level collaboration can benefit customers who rely on a mix of Windows®-based and Linux systems. By licensing the Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync® protocol and the Outlook® Exchange Transport Protocol, Scalix Mail Servers can now synchronize data over wireless networks with Microsoft Exchange Server as well as various email clients that use these and other Microsoft protocols.
“The expansion of our agreement with Xandros is a strong example of how collaboration through intellectual property licensing can foster innovation that benefits the overall IT ecosystem,” said Horacio Gutierrez, Vice President, Intellectual Property and Licensing at Microsoft.
“Today's enterprise users 'on the go' employ a plethora of mobile messaging devices to access a mix of Linux and Windows-based messaging systems,” said Andreas Typaldos, CEO of Xandros. “With the ubiquity of Windows Mobile® -based Smart phones, this agreement will enable us to provide the same range of Scalix connectivity choices for users of desktop, laptop, and handheld devices that they currently enjoy with Microsoft Exchange. With this new Scalix interoperability, Microsoft and Xandros enable companies to freely implement a broad range of proprietary and open systems and devices.”
The agreement is focused on two areas of protocol licensing:
Exchange ActiveSync protocol. Xandros will be given the specification and documentation license necessary to develop a server-side implementation of the Exchange ActiveSync protocol. Such implementation would provide organizations with the ability to enable mobile, "over-the-air" access to e-mail messages, calendars, contacts, tasks lists, and other mailbox data.
Outlook-Exchange Transport Protocol. Xandros will be given the specification and documentation license necessary to develop a server-side implementation of the Outlook-Exchange Transport Protocol 2007. Such implementation will provide organization with better mediation options between client applications and the Scalix Mail Server.
For Xandros, the agreement is another milestone in its strategic vision to deliver a complete Linux stack, including desktops, servers, Windows-Linux cross-platform management tools and mission-critical applications, in order to provide single vendor support for diverse and growing enterprise IT infrastructures, and to make certain that its stack is interoperable and integrates within existing customer IT infrastructure ecosystems, for both platforms, applications, and messaging.
For Microsoft, the agreement is the latest in a series of efforts to encourage the development of interoperable solutions between Microsoft software and open source software.