Network Corner Microsoft's long-awaited Exchange 2003 is finished Three years in the making, the enhanced e-mail client and server has been released to production and is expected to be available to licensed enterprise customers by the end of the summer. Microsoft also plans to formally announce this week a per-user licensing option for Exchange 2003 similar to the one introduced for Windows Server 2003. Microsoft originally expected to ship the e-mail server midyear. The last Exchange upgrade shipped in October 2000. While enterprise customers will get their hands on the CDs in late summer, general availability is expected by the end of the year. The new release of Exchange is one of the key components of Microsoft's Office System 2003 product wave this fall, which also includes Office 2003 and SharePoint Portal Server 2003. Exchange 2003 offers Exchange 2000 customers major improvements for server consolidation, Outlook Web Access usability, mobile and wireless support and new antispam features. In addition, the vastly improved performance and stability of Exchange 2003 makes it an ideal server consolidation solution for both version 2000 and version 5.5 customers.