“Nature repeats herself, or almost does:
repeat, repeat, repeat; revise, revise, revise.”

--Elizabeth Bishop
from North Haven

 

It’s a common theme in software, the “mid cycle” release.  Software developers like to do these types of releases because it demonstrates commitment to patching bugs, making incremental improvements, and further developing the product. But is it worth the time and potential risk to upgrade?  It’s a question every admin has to ask themselves—especially when it comes to business critical systems like email.

GroupWise 2014 R2 just had such a release:  Service Pack 1.  There are some handy features that make this service pack attractive.  Not only will it make managing shared folders a bit easier—but now it has single sign on to Active Directory—even if the post office agent is running on Linux.  Check out what’s new in this release.

 

What’s new in GroupWise 2014 R2 SP1?

Building on the great base of GroupWise 2014 R2, SP1 has key new features and enhancements that are sure to please.

• Save email as PDF – Now you can save email as PDFs directly out of GroupWise, one of the top requests out of the GroupWise Ideas Forum.

• Changing ownership of shared folders – When the owner of a shared folder changes roles or leaves, admins or team members can now change the owner.

• Set “time due” when creating a task – Timing matters, and if a task needs to be done by a certain time on a certain day—you can now all that when you create the task.

• Enhanced support for Active Directory Single Sign On – Now you can support single sign-on (SSO) to Active Directory (AD), even when the Post Office Agent is running on Linux.

• Micro Focus branding – Micro Focus believes in GroupWise and wants you to know it. It’s more than just a name and logo change—it’s a commitment to the future of GroupWise.

This is in addition to general quality and security improvements typical of a service pack release.

 

What’s new in GroupWise Mobility Service 2014 R2 SP1?

Right on the heels of GroupWise 2014 R2 SP1, comes the GroupWise Mobility Service 2014 R2 SP1 release as well, planned for August.  This release will contain these new features:

• Increased team collaboration on mobiles – Shared folders, calendars and address books are now available on mobile devices, further improving collaboration on the go.

• Additional server platform support – Removed YAST Dependencies for installation and added SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 (SLES 12) support.

 

What’s next? GroupWise 2017?


Maybe you’ve heard the rumors:  there’s another version of GroupWise coming out next year.  I'm happy to say it’s true!

Product Management is planning on the next version of GroupWise—due out sometime in 2017.  While it’s not fully feature-locked and still under development, I can say they are focusing on making the administration of GroupWise and associated components easier.  Additionally, it looks like there are planned improvements and new features for end-users as well. I don't want to spill the beans yet, but from what I've seen so far: I'm excited for it.

Are there some cool new features you’re dying to see in the next major release of GroupWise?  If so, you should definitely let us know through the ideas portal.  This is your space to vote on suggestions for improvements or features submitted by other GroupWise customers—as well as request your own enhancements and new features.

 

Where can I find GroupWise 2014 R2 SP1?

Finding the service pack can be a bit confusing—because it is listed under “Patches” as the download.  But you can easily locate the Windows Client, Windows Full, and Linux Full versions by clicking here.  The patch itself requires you to login to your Micro Focus/Novell account to download it.  And even though the service pack is listed as a patch—you can do a full install from it, if needed.  So if you’re not on GroupWise 2014 R2 already, you can still do your upgrade right from the SP1 download.

I don't know about you-- but I think GroupWise 2014 R2 SP1 is a great "mid cycle" release.  Sure, it's more "repeat and revise" than something completely new-- but it does demonstrate an on-going commitment by Micro Focus to the future of GroupWise-- and a desire to really listen to what GroupWise admins and end-users want in their product.  What do you think?