[appsuite-announce] Open-Xchange releases OX App Suite v7.6.0 and OX 6 v6.22.7

[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 v7.6.0 and Open-Xchange Server 6 v6.22.7.

The main focus for this release of OX App Suite is an improved web frontend design and usability enhancements for all applications. With OX App Suite v7.6.0, Open-Xchange has made significant improvements to the general design concept of how users navigate and maximize the benefits of the App Suite interface. The v7.6.0 launch provides a new toolbar concept with a flat default theme that accentuates these design improvements. In addition, powerful developments to the OX Documents components like OX Text and OX Spreadsheet are now available. A more detailed overview of all the improvements to OX App Suite and the Open-Xchange Server 6 backend can be found at 

http://software.open-xchange.com/products/appsuite/doc/Feature_Overview_OXAppSuite_OXDocuments_7_6_0.pdf

Changes relevant for Administrators:

- Open-Xchange encourages administrators to update regularly to the latest available release. In order to ensure a stable and up to date environment please note the different supported versions. 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

- When updating from an earlier backend version to OX App Suite v7.6.0 please note that there is a major Hazelcast library update with v7.6.0, meaning session migration is not possible between versions. Due to the upgraded library, it is not possible to form a cluster of nodes running a previous version of Hazelcast, i.e. exiting volatile data in the cluster gets lost during the update. This usually affects all user sessions that are stored in a distributed map, and will require the users to re-login after the update. Furthermore the new serialization concept for distributed data requires that all packages that are using Hazelcast implicitly or explicitly need to be installed on all nodes participating in the cluster. For example, when installing the package open-xchange-realtime on one node, it must be installed on all other node of the cluster, too.

Important – Please Note:

- With this release of OX App Suite 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.

- Open-Xchange will also discontinue support for AJP based communication between the HTTP server and the OX back-end server. 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 release v7.6.0, 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 front-end support for Internet Explorer 9 with the release of OX App Suite v7.6.0.

- Open-Xchange has also discontinued 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 release of OX App Suite v7.6.0.

- Open-Xchange will discontinue support for Debian Squeeze (Debian 6) with the next major release of OX App Suite v7.8.0, planned for Q1 2015. We encourage administrator to update to the latest operating system version of Debian.


Shipped packages and versions:

- Open-Xchange App Suite backend v7.6.0-rev7
- Open-Xchange OX6 backend v7.6.0-rev7
- Open-Xchange App Suite frontend v7.6.0-rev7
- Open-Xchange OX6 frontend v6.22.7-rev7
- Open-Xchange USM v7.6.0-rev7
- Open-Xchange Connector for Microsoft Outlook v7.2.8
- Open-Xchange Connector for Business Mobility v7.6.0-rev7
- Open-Xchange Notifier v1.0.6
- Open-Xchange Client Updater v6.18.26
- Open-Xchange Textfrontend v7.6.0-rev7
- Open-Xchange Textbackend v7.6.0-rev7
- Open-Xchange Documentconverter v7.6.0-rev7
- Open-Xchange Readerengine v7.6.0-rev7

Complete Release Notes can be found at:

- Open-Xchange App Suite v7.6.0:

http://software.open-xchange.com/products/appsuite/doc/Release_Notes_for_Release_7.6.0_2014-06-25.pdf

- Open-Xchange Server 6 v6.22.7:

http://software.open-xchange.com/OX6/6.22/doc/Release_Notes_for_Release_7.6.0_2014-06-25.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