QuickMail & AppleShare 3.0

Oh dear, this will be unpopular. It seems that Apple’s recently released AppleShare Server 3.0 software is incompatible with versions of CE Software’s QuickMail mail server software from 2.2.x up through the current 2.5 and the forthcoming 2.5.1. You cannot run both AppleShare 3.0 and QuickMail on the same Macintosh, something which many people have done with previous versions of AppleShare.

This is related to, but separate from, another incompatibility. QuickMail server software also conflicts with System 7’s Personal FileSharing, though this conflict is less likely to cause as much frustration as the conflict with AppleShare Server 3.0. Luckily the conflicts are only between servers on the same machine, so an AppleShare client machine will work happily with a QuickMail server, and a QuickMail client will coexist with an AppleShare client. It’s a silly thought, but I wonder if an AppleShare server will get along with a QuickMail client? 🙂

If you want to run both AppleShare Server 3.0 and QuickMail server, CE recommends that you do it on two separate Macs. I’m sure that this won’t be entirely feasible for many smaller organizations, but I know that a user can coexist with QuickMail server on a personal machine since I’ve done it on a small scale (though before I was using System 7 and Personal FileSharing). That would be a stopgap measure until CE and Apple fix the incompatibility.

CE is working hard to fix this problem, but unfortunately, it’s not a trivial fix. Apple and CE are evaluating changes to their server software so that the two can coexist better in the future. You can be sure that both companies are interested in better compatibility, since QuickMail is the most popular Macintosh email software, and I’m willing to bet that the combination of AppleShare 3.0 and System 7’s FileSharing holds the lion’s share of Macintosh networking software in use.

Information from:
Christian F. Gurney, Manager of Technical Support, CE Software
Mark H. Anbinder — [email protected]