Yesterday, Kerio Technologies released Kerio MailServer 6.5, a new version of its messaging and calendaring server. The new version adds a rewritten Kerio Outlook Connector module for better support of Outlook and Entourage clients, and support for CalDAV for better linking of Windows and Mac calendars and syncing with handheld devices. Kerio MailServer 6.5 is also now certified to run on Windows Vista, but it also runs on Mac OS X, Linux, and Windows 2000/2003/XP.

"We're seen a growing adoption of Mac OS as a server operating system for small business," said a company spokesperson.

"60 percent of our server business is on Windows, but second most popular OS for server is Mac OS, about 26 percent. Linux is the third most popular server operating system."

The Kerio Outlook Connector is an extension to Outlook and used when using Kerio MailServer in Exchange mode for access to email and PIM data. The new Outlook Connector supports two new Entourage 2008 features: message flag synchronization and out-of-office message dialog synchronization. It also adds an offline data storage mode, includes a new database engine, and has improvements for full-text searches from Outlook and Google Desktop.

The addition CalDAV to the server enables Mac and Windows users to subscribe to each other's calendars using Microsoft Outlook and Entourage, Apple iCal, and Windows Mobile and Palm Treo smartphones. CalDAV in KerioMailServer also enables users to delegate calendars, according to the company. Apple supports CalDAV as a standard, and Leopard is the first Mac OS X to include CalDAV in iCal.

Kerio MailServer also provides connectivity with Microsoft ActiveSync enabled mobile devices such as Windows Mobile, Palm Treo, and Symbian and allows user management through Active Directory or Open Directory.