A major part of the Scalix pitch is based on "clients of choice," meaning the opportunity to choose Microsoft Outlook, Novell Evolution, Scalix Wireless Solution, or the Scalix Web client for e-mail and groupware services. Scalix is not alone in supporting a range of clients (although including Novell is unusual), but our testing leads us to believe it is among the most consistent in making this choice easy to accomplish.

In our experience, the promise of "Outlook functionality" by a non-Microsoft server (whether on Linux or Windows) is often hedged and accompanied by unpleasant furbelows of implementation, such as the need to configure synchronization rules. Scalix Connect for Microsoft Outlook, a client plug-in, is quickly installed by either direct CD setup or an automated setup, and it does not require elaborate configuration.

The level of support for Outlook functionality is outstanding: rich e-mail, calendar/scheduling, contacts, tasks, e-mail rules, and public folders are included. Scalix does not support journaling, forms, message recall, or MSN Messenger integration. In general, it matches the support for Outlook found in Microsoft Exchange, which is why Scalix can legitimately claim to be one of the best alternatives.

The Scalix Web client uses the latest AJAX programming techniques. It is snappy and well-ordered, although slightly less sexy than the clever "mouse-over" interface provided by the similarly AJAX-powered Zimbra Collaboration Suite client.

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