Other Optional Features

The following features may be useful in your organization. Review the related discussion before making a decision.

Using Microsoft Exchange Mail

The new Microsoft Exchange feature in Windows 95 manages all messaging information in one place, with a single inbox for electronic mail, faxes, and other messages. In addition, Windows 95 comes with a complete small-business mail system — that is, a mail client and a postoffice — that allows users to exchange electronic mail through a single postoffice. This mail client integrates well into Microsoft Mail servers, and the postoffice can be upgraded to provide an enterprise mail system.

You can also use a variety of other mail or messaging systems through Microsoft Exchange as long as they use a MAPI 1.0 driver. If you have an existing mail system that doesn't use a MAPI 1.0 driver, you can continue to use that mail system without running the Microsoft Exchange Mail capability. In this case, you would install Microsoft Exchange only if you wanted to use the Microsoft Fax capability so that incoming faxes are collected by Microsoft Exchange. For more information, see Chapter 26, "Electronic Mail and Microsoft Exchange," and Chapter 27, "Microsoft Fax."

Using Microsoft Fax

Microsoft Fax provides a built-in fax capability that allows a computer running Windows 95 to send and receive faxes as bitmap and binary files without any additional software. It also allows users within a Windows 95 workgroup to share a fax modem, but if you have an existing fax server in your organization, you should probably to continue to use that server for computers on the network. In that case, Microsoft Fax features would still be useful for portable computer users who travel. For more information, see Chapter 27, "Microsoft Fax."

Using Dial-Up Networking

This built-in client software allows the computer to use popular, server-based dial-in packages such as Windows NT RAS, Novell Netware Connect, and Shiva NetModem. Dial-Up Networking provides additional security for remote dial-up connections and requires some additional configuration of procotols and software. For more information, see Chapter 28, "Dial-Up Networking and Mobile Computing."

Using The Microsoft Network

The Microsoft Network is an online service that offers chat capability, information bulletin boards, and electronic mail. It is the best place to obtain Microsoft product information and technical support. For more information, see Chapter 29, "The Microsoft Network."

Using Disk Management Tools

Windows 95 ships with useful disk tools such as disk compression and defragmenting utilities that run from within Windows 95. The disk compression utility upgrades DoubleSpace® and DriveSpace™ programs from MS-DOS 6.2x. For details, see Chapter 20, "Disks and File Systems."