[appsuite-announce] Open-Xchange releases OX App Suite v7.4.2 and OX 6 v6.22.6

[Open-Xchange App Suite Maintenance Announcements]

Dear Customers and Partners of Open-Xchange,

Open-Xchange is pleased to announce the release of OX App Suite v7.4.2 and Open-Xchange Server 6 v6.22.6.

The main focus for this release of OX App Suite is improved web frontend design and usability enhancements for all applications.

An overview of all improvements for OX App Suite, Open-Xchange Server 6 backend can be found at

http://software.open-xchange.com/products/appsuite/doc/Feature_Overview_OXAppSuite_7_4_2.pdf

Open-Xchange has created an announcement list for details relating to upcoming releases and all other information relevant to OX App Suite. You can subscribe to appsuite-announce at open-xchange.com at the link below:

https://lists.open-xchange.com/mailman/listinfo/appsuite-announce or directly at the Open-Xchange License Database.

Changes relevant for Administrators:

- Open-Xchange encourages administrators to update regularly to the latest available release. An overview of the latest supported Major, Minor and Public Patch Releases can be found in the Knowledgebase at 

http://oxpedia.org/wiki/index.php?title=AppSuite:Version_Support_Committment

In order to ensure a stable and up to date environment please note the different supported versions.

- When updating from an earlier backend version to 7.4.2, exceptions and errors might be logged to the open-xchange-osgi.log. This is because the existing logging framework (log4j or commons-logging) has been replaced by LogBack. Libraries that are actively in use are replaced by the update mechanism. While these error messages are expected and unavoidable, this handling may negatively influence log results. Please consider shutting down nodes before updating, or restarting them as soon as possible after updating to the latest packages.

Note that due to the LogBack implementation, backend logging syntax has slightly changed with 7.4.2. This means existing log analysis scripts or patterns may need adjusting. Existing commons-logging or log4j configurations will be migrated to the new central logging configuration, logback.xml. Please review this file after updating to ensure all customized parameters have been migrated successfully.

Important - Please Note:

- With OX App Suite v7.4.2, the name of the “Files” app is changed to “Drive”. As part of our product strategy we developed clients for different desktop and mobile devices to provide improved file handling and synchronization. During development it became clear that a change of name would better reflect the customer functionality provided by OX Drive and provide greatest consistency and clarity for users across devices.

- Open-Xchange will discontinue Connector for Business Mobility support for Windows Mobile 6, 6.5, Symbian (Mail for Exchange 3.x), Apple iPhone iOS 5 and Blackberry with the major release of OX App Suite v7.6.0, planned for Q2 2014. Further information about supported platforms is available at
 http://oxpedia.org/wiki/index.php?title=AppSuite:OX_System_Requirements#Mobility_Solution_-_Supported-_Platforms.2C_Features_and_Devices

- Open-Xchange will discontinue Support for AJP based communication between the HTTP server and the OX backend server with the next major release of OX App Suite v7.6.0, planned for Q2 2014. Open-Xchange already provides a new HTTP connector, which is based on the Grizzly project. Download and configuration instructions are available at

http://oxpedia.org/wiki/index.php?title=AppSuite:Grizzly

Starting with the release in Q2 2014, the current AJP based communication will no longer be supported. We encourage administrators to update to the latest Grizzly implementation.

- Open-Xchange will discontinue OX App Suite web frontend support for Internet Explorer 9 with the next major release of OX App Suite, v7.6.0, planned for Q2 2014. With the release v7.4.2, Open-Xchange officially supports Internet Explorer 11.

- Open-Xchange will discontinue Open-Xchange Server 6 and OX App Suite calendar and contact synchronization (CalDAV/CardDAV) support for Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard) and Mac OS X 10.7 (Lion) with the major release of OX App Suite v7.6.0, planned for Q2 2014.

Shipped packages and versions:

- Open-Xchange AppSuite backend 7.4.2-rev6
- Open-Xchange OX6 backend 7.4.2-rev6
- Open-Xchange AppSuite frontend 7.4.2-rev6
- Open-Xchange OX6 frontend 6.22.6-rev6
- Open-Xchange USM 7.4.2-rev6
- Open-Xchange OXtender 2 for Microsoft Outlook 7.2.5
- Open-Xchange OXtender for Business Mobility 7.4.2-rev6
- Open-Xchange Notifier 1.0.6
- Open-Xchange Client Updater 6.18.25
- Open-Xchange Text frontend 7.4.2-rev6
- Open-Xchange Text backend 7.4.2-rev6
- Open-Xchange Documentconverter 7.4.2-rev6
- Open-Xchange Readerengine 7.4.2-rev6

Complete Release Notes can be found at:

- Open-Xchange App Suite v7.4.2:

http://software.open-xchange.com/products/appsuite/doc/Release_Notes_for_Release_7.4.2_2014-02-11.pdf

- Open-Xchange Server 6 v6.22.6: 

http://software.open-xchange.com/OX6/doc/Release_Notes_for_Release_7.4.2_2014-02-11.pdf

For details of how to install and update OX App Suite please refer to the instructions given at

http://oxpedia.org/wiki/index.php?title=AppSuite:UpdatingOXPackages 

For Open-Xchange Server 6 update please follow the instructions given at

http://oxpedia.org/wiki/index.php?title=UpdatingOXPackages#Updating_Open-Xchange_Server_Packages_6.22.x

to install the updates.

Best regards,
Your Open-Xchange Team

--
Open-Xchange AG, Rollnerstr. 14, 90408 Nürnberg
Amtsgericht Nürnberg HRB 24738
Vorstand: Rafael Laguna de la Vera, Carsten Dirks
Aufsichtsratsvorsitzender: Richard Seibt