Rating: 
Summary: Outstanding!
Review: Finally a comprehensive book on Exchange 2003! I've been waiting for months to read up on real world migration and maintenance experience with Exchange 2003. I found the "easy way" method of migration from Exchange v5.5 to Exchange 2003 (covered in Chapter 15) being the best documented recommendation from leading experts! My organization has been looking to do the migration in the way that the authors of the book describe as the "hard way" and I've been trying to convince my management there is a better way. This book clearly documents the step by step procedures, and I've been able to show my entire team that this easier method of migration not only accomplishes the migration task, but the authors provide ways to roll-back if there are problems, as well as very well documented arguements on the benefits of the easy way migration to Exchange 2003!This is the best information I've read on migrating to Exchange 2003! Definitely goes beyond the basics and really shows the authors have worked and lived with migrations to Exchange 2003 many times in the past. Excellent book!
Rating:
Summary: Brings it all together
Review: I am just starting out with Exchange, but have very extensive experience with Microsoft Networks. From that perspective, this book is great. This book just 'brings it all together'. Now I can see the why and what of Microsoft Server 2003. This books brings it all around from not only the Exchange point of view, but from an MCSE point of view. Active Directory, IIS, Voume Shadow Copy, etc. It does a really good job of covering Exchange and Windows Server as one integrated solution. KR
MCSE-2003-2000-NT, MCSA-2003-2000, MCDBA-2000, CCNA, CCA, CNA
Rating: 
Summary: Don't waste your time and money
Review: I bought this book because others rated it so high. It was a great disapointment. Microsoft's 70-284 training kit had a more in-depth coverage of Exchange 2003, even though it is basically a copy&paste of technet articles, than Unleashed. I found Microsoft's course 2009 material to be the best source of information on Exchange 2003. It is definetely the most complete out of the three. I was surprised! Well, my advice is if you want to go out and buy a book, don't get this one, get Microsoft's training kit. If you want to learn Exchange 2003, take course 2400 or 2009, they'll give you a better return on your time spent. FC
MCSE 2003,2000,4.0 MCSA Linux+ CCNA
Rating:
Summary: Buy this if you are planning or designing Exchange
Review: I bought this book recently in advance of our migration project that we performed. The author's do a very good job in explaining the nitty gritty of Exchange itself, and how to properly design an Exchange environment with all of the major items I was looking for. The migration section was great, and I also found some very good information on the best ways to setup and deploy clients with ActiveSync, RPC over HTTPS, Cached mode, etc. I did find that this book is not really the type of book that you would use for day-to-day admin of Exchange, I like the books by Jim McBee for those types of tasks, but for architectual design and migration, this is hands down the best book I've found.
Rating:
Summary: Buy this if you are planning or designing Exchange
Review: I bought this book recently in advance of our migration project that we performed. The author's do a very good job in explaining the nitty gritty of Exchange itself, and how to properly design an Exchange environment with all of the major items I was looking for. The migration section was great, and I also found some very good information on the best ways to setup and deploy clients with ActiveSync, RPC over HTTPS, Cached mode, etc. I did find that this book is not really the type of book that you would use for day-to-day admin of Exchange, I like the books by Jim McBee for those types of tasks, but for architectual design and migration, this is hands down the best book I've found.
Rating: 
Summary: Not enough depth, don't waste your time!
Review: I don't know how the other people rate this book so high, it doesn't go into depth at all. It talks about the surface of each topic and then jumps to the next one. This book is not for you if you really want to learn Exchange 2003. I really regret that I spent time reading through this book (little over 900 pages), I picked up may be 5 things at best out of the whole book. Go get the Tony Redmond's book.
Rating:
Summary: Contains mostly filler--listing but not using, the features
Review: I just don't understand reviews that found usefull information here or why I purchased it after browsing through it for 10 minutes.
The information is so generic that it reads more like marketing copy describing the features vs. how to use any of them.
Let's say you want to customize or troubleshoot or install the the new and improved OWA. Good luck. ES2003 Unleashed talks all what has been added, and that's it. No install recommendations, common pitfall or known issues.
Interested in the VPN-less Exchange functions 2003 introduces? Great. Look up RPC over HTTP in the index. (You'll find it listed as 'RFC over HTTP' ???) And what does it reference?-- a single paragraph that says yes, you can now use RPC exchange functions over HTTP. That's it. It probably says that on the back of the exchange product box too. No usage information, setup fyi's, common challenges, nothing.
The list goes on. If I want to investigate an Exchange technology like the event sink system, or public folder synchronizing, or pretty much anything with detail you would not find in a brochure, it is not there. It seems to be filled only with screenshots, descriptions and examples of what features the Exchange server 2003 product contains.
Rating:
Summary: Best Migration and Implementation Book for Exchange!!!
Review: I'm glad I bought this book, it helped me plan our migration to Exchange 2003. The step-by-step procedures were dead on accurate in walking me through the installation of the new servers, and the tips and tricks layed out throughout the book helped me migrate over 1,800 mailboxes in a weekend. Reading and following the steps in this book was like having an Exchange expert sitting with me throughout the migration process! I highly recommend this book!!!
Rating: 
Summary: Best so far
Review: Rand and SAM's publishing target this at an Intermediate-Advanced audience. This is certainly the case, I brought both the Sybex Master Exchange Server 2003 and SAMS Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 Unleashed and this ones the best by FAR. Plenty of good information on Design, Migration and Documentation. Excellent info on Mobility, Performance Monitoring and Recoverablility. All in all my pick on Exchange Server 2003 Books to date.
Rating:
Summary: Not Enough Technical Details
Review: This book lacks technical details. This book talks too much about planning and management.
I would rather have a book with more step by step instructions on how to accomplish different tasks. This book talks more what Exchange can do and less on how to do it.
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