This is just in from our test labs: ORF 5.4 passed all Microsoft Exchange 2016 compatibility tests with flying colors and it is now officially compatible with the latest from Microsoft.

Transport Agent status on Exchange 2016

Architecture-wise, Exchange 2016 has reduced the number of roles further from Exchange 2013’s three roles (Edge Transport Server, Client Access Server, Mailbox Server) to just two roles, Edge Transport Server and Mailbox Server. Both roles are supported by ORF 5.4. In fact, from a technical perspective, the new Mailbox Server role is just a unified Client Access Server and Mailbox Server role, which makes Mailbox Server a prime installation site for ORF. However, when Edge Transport Server is available, we still recommend deploying ORF on that.

As ORF 5.4 pre-dates Exchange 2016 RTM, it still detects the new platform as Exchange 2013, but don’t be confused by that — every process and documentation we have for Exchange 2013 still applies to Exchange 2016. If you look behind the scenes, you will find that Exchange 2016 is arguably more like Exchange 2013 SP2, which is underlined by the fact that the Exchange internal version progressed from 15.0 to 15.1 with a minor version change only.

In the coming days we will update our documentation and materials to reflect the above. Meanwhile, feel free to head out and experiment with Exchange 2016 — we have your back! Just remember the following:

• Exchange 2016 is fully supported by ORF 5.4 (not by previous versions, though).
• Exchange 2016 Mailbox = Exchange 2013 Client Access Server + Mailbox Server
• ORF detects Exchange 2016 as Exchange 2013, but there’s no need to worry about that.

If you have any questions, leave a comment or contact our Customer Service.