Zimbra Collaboration Suite 5.0 now available

Zimbra, a Yahoo-owned company which happens to be a leader in open source, next-generation email has announced the immediate availability of Zimbra Collaboration Suite (ZCS) 5.0. The latest version included many enhancements.

According to Satish Dharmaraj, Yahoo! vice president and Zimbra co-founder, “We are proud of our achievements in ZCS 5.0 and appreciate the passionate feedback from the 13,500 open source community members and customers that made our most significant release to date a huge success. Together, we have built one of the world’s premier e-mail and collaboration products, and with Yahoo!’s support, are continuing to innovate at a more rapid pace.”

Enhancements in the Zimbra Collaboration Suite 5.0 include support for Microsoft Outlook 2007 and the ability to access it from virtually any device including support for BlackBerry Enterprise Server, J2ME-enabled handsets like Motorola RAZR.

The Zimbra Collaboration Suite 5.0 also includes totally new features such as instant messaging, briefcase and task applications. ZCS 5.0 also includes Zimbra Desktop, which is the world’s first offline-capable Web 2.0 collaboration experience.

But these are just a few of the newly added features. Here is the entire list of new features in Zimbra Collaboration Suite 5.0:

Native e-mail, contacts, calendar, and task synchronization from Zimbra to Outlook 2007

Access Zimbra on all BlackBerry handsets, J2ME enabled devices, or any mobile web browser, including the Apple iPhone

Zimbra Tasks monitor start and due dates, priority, progress, and percent complete of tasks

Built directly into ZCS, Web-based Instant Messaging supports multiple conversations and group chats

Conveniently store any file from an e-mail in Zimbra Briefcase instead of as an e-mail attachment; easily share Briefcase folders with others

Work online or offline with Zimbra Desktop, the AJAX experience for Zimbra users and users of existing POP and IMAP e-mail servers

Share inboxes and e-mail folders with others, including the ability to provide read-only-access or allow others to completely manage

Fifteen fully certified languages ship within ZCS for end-users to choose

The Zimbra Collaboration Suite 5.0 Open Source Edition is immediately available and that too for no cost at all. The commercially supported ZCS 5.0 Network Edition is available for a 60-day free trial on the Zimbra website.