Exchange 2007 RTM and SP1 are available in two platform versions: the 64-bit version is for live production environments and the 32-bit version is for non-production environments (such as labs, training facilities, demos, and evaluation environments). Only the 64-bit version can be purchased because you cannot run 32-bit Exchange 2007 servers in production.

There are exceptions with respect to production and non-production use of the 32-bit platform because Microsoft does allow minimal supported use of the 32-bit version in production environments:

• You can use the 32-bit version in production to extend your Active Directory directory service schema. For detailed steps about how to prepare Active Directory for Exchange 2007, see How to Prepare Active Directory and Domains.
  
  
• You can use the 32-bit version of the release to manufacturing (RTM) management tools in production to administer Exchange 2007 servers from Windows Server 2003 or Windows XP.
  
  
• You can use the 32-bit version of the Service Pack 1 (SP1) management tools on Windows Server 2008 or on Windows Vista. Support for Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista is available only with Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 SP1. However, you cannot use the SP1 management tools (32-bit or 64-bit) on Windows Vista to remotely manage a clustered mailbox server in a failover cluster. This is because:
  
  
  • Windows Server does not support cross-operating system management of failover clusters. Thus, Windows Vista cannot be used to manage a Windows Server 2003 failover cluster, and neither Windows Server 2003 nor Windows XP can be used to remotely manage a Windows Server 2008 failover cluster.
    
    
  • Remote management of a Windows Server 2008 failover cluster requires the installation of the Failover Cluster Management tools, which currently do not exist for Windows Vista. Thus, Windows Vista cannot be used to remotely manage a Windows Server 2008 failover cluster.
    
    

For more information about managing mixed versions of clustered mailbox servers, see Upgrading Clustered Mailbox Servers to Exchange 2007 SP1 or SP2.

Important:
All other uses of the 32-bit version of Exchange 2007 in production environments are unsupported.

Although the 64-bit version can be Standard Edition or Enterprise Edition, the 32-bit version is only Standard Edition. SCC and CCR are only supported in production on the Enterprise Edition of Exchange 2007. However, Microsoft has made an exception in the 32-bit version code to allow SCC and CCR to be used for non-production use on the 32-bit version, even though the 32-bit version is Standard Edition. This means that you can set up a 32-bit test lab for evaluating or testing SCC and CCR. Because it is 32-bit, you can create the non-production environments in a Microsoft Virtual Server environment for your lab or demos. For a video demonstration of CCR that uses a virtual environment, see Video series - Exchange 2007 Cluster Continuous Replication (CCR). For a video demonstration of SCR that uses a virtual environment, see Video Series: Exchange 2007 SP1 Standby Continuous Replication (SCR).

Note:
You can also install Unified Messaging (UM) with the 32-bit version in a non-production environment so that you can evaluate the UM-related features. For details about using a software-based UM test phone to test or demo UM features, see Testing Unified Messaging Server Functionality.

What Is Missing from the 32-Bit Version

Exchange 2007 SP1 is a full re-release of Exchange 2007 with SP1 already integrated. This is similar to the service pack slipstreaming model used by Windows Server; however, it is not slipstreaming, and you do not need to perform any slipstreaming tasks for Exchange 2007 SP1.

Note:
To obtain Exchange 2007 SP1, see Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 1.

Exchange 2007 SP1 can be installed on computers running the RTM version of Exchange 2007 to perform an in-place upgrade. For new installations, you do not need to install Exchange 2007 RTM and then install SP1. Because SP1 is a completely updated set of installation files, it can be used to perform a fresh installation of Exchange 2007 SP1.

Exchange 2007 SP1 includes all update rollups previously released for Exchange 2007 up to and including Update Rollup 5. You do not need to manually uninstall any released update rollup (1-5). When you install Exchange 2007 SP1 on a system that has a released update rollup, the update rollup will be automatically uninstalled by SP1 Setup.

Exchange 2007 SP1 is supported in production in a hardware virtualization environment, provided that specific criteria are met. To review these criteria, along with the Microsoft support policy for running Exchange 2007 SP1 in production in a hardware virtualization environment, see Exchange Server Support Policy and Recommendations for Hardware Virtualization Software.

The RTM version of Exchange 2007 cannot be installed on Windows Server 2008. However, Exchange 2007 SP1 is supported for installation on Windows Server 2008. Although you cannot install the RTM version of Exchange 2007 on Windows Server 2008, the RTM version of Exchange 2007 will be supported for use with Windows Server 2008 directory servers.

Exchange Server 2003 cannot be installed on a computer running Windows Server 2008, but Exchange 2003 will be supported for use with Windows Server 2008 directory servers.

Be aware of the following when combining Microsoft Exchange with Windows Server 2008:

• Exchange 2007 RTM and all previous versions of Microsoft Exchange are not supported for installation on a computer running Windows Server 2008.
  
  
• Exchange 2007 SP1 can be installed on a computer running Windows Server 2008.
  
  
• Management tools for Exchange 2007 RTM and all previous versions of Microsoft Exchange are not supported for installation on a computer running Windows Server 2008 or Windows Vista.
  
  
• Management tools for Exchange 2007 SP1 can be installed on a computer running Windows Server 2008 or Windows Vista.
  
  

Important:
Exchange Server 2007 is not supported on Windows Server 2008 R2.

Exchange Server and Windows Server 2008 Directory Servers

When you install Exchange 2007, it is unlicensed and referred to as a Trial Edition. Unlicensed (Trial Edition) servers appear as Standard Edition, and they are not eligible for support from Microsoft Product Support Services. The Trial Edition expires 120 days after the date of installation. When you start the Exchange Management Console, if you have any unlicensed Exchange 2007 servers in your organization, Exchange displays a list of all unlicensed Exchange 2007 servers and the number of days that are remaining until the Trial Edition expires. If you have expired unlicensed Exchange 2007 servers, you also see a separate warning for each expired server. No loss of functionality will occur when the Trial Edition expires, so you can maintain lab, demo, training, and other non-production environments beyond 120 days without having to reinstall the Trial Edition of Exchange 2007. You can even upgrade an expired Trial Edition of Exchange 2007 RTM to SP1.

Product keys can be used for the same edition key swaps and upgrades only, and they cannot be used for downgrades. You can use a valid product key to go from the evaluation version (Trial Edition) to either Standard Edition or Enterprise Edition. You can also use a valid product key to go from Standard Edition to Enterprise Edition. You can also license the server again using the same edition product key. For example, if you had two Standard Edition servers with two keys, but you accidentally used the same key on both servers, you can change the key for one of them to be the other key that you were issued. You can take these actions without having to reinstall or reconfigure anything. After you enter the product key, the edition corresponding to that product key will be reflected.

Note:

On stand-alone computers that have the Mailbox server role installed, the Microsoft Exchange Information Store service must be restarted for the product key change to take effect. In an SCC or CCR environment, the clustered mailbox server must be stopped and started for the product key change to take effect. In addition, for computers with the Edge Transport server role installed, if the license key is applied to the Edge Transport server after you perform the Edge Subscription process, the licensing information is not updated in the Exchange organization and you must re-subscribe the Edge Transport server.

You cannot use product keys to downgrade from Enterprise Edition to Standard Edition, nor can you use them to revert to the Trial Edition. These types of downgrades can only be done by uninstalling Exchange 2007, reinstalling Exchange 2007, and entering the correct product key.

You can upgrade from the Trial Edition to the retail version by purchasing the appropriate licenses and by entering the product key that you get when you make the purchase. You can find the product key on the Exchange 2007 DVD case. It is a 25-character alphanumeric string, grouped in sets of five characters separated by hyphens. Step-by-step instructions for entering your product key can be found in How to Enter the Product Key. These steps include instructions for entering the key using either the Exchange Management Console or the Exchange Management Shell. However, in the 32-bit version, there is no Exchange Management Console interface for this because you cannot purchase 32-bit licenses.

By using either the Exchange Management Console or the Exchange Management Shell, you can see what edition you are running. By using the Exchange Management Shell, you can also see how many days, hours, minutes, seconds, and milliseconds are left on the 120-day trial period. Use the Get-ExchangeServer cmdlet and look for the Edition and RemainingTrialPeriod values.

The final RTM build of Exchange 2007 is build 685.25, but in some places it is listed as 685.24. Both are correct. When you view the version information in the Exchange Management Console or examine the value of the AdminDisplayVersion property for Exchange servers in the Exchange Management Shell, it shows the version as 685.24. When you view the Exchange version information in the Windows registry, it shows 685.25. If you use Microsoft Operations Manager, it also shows version 685.25, but if you view version information in Microsoft Office Outlook, it shows 685.24.

An exception to this version mismatch problem is present on the Edge Transport server. That only displays 685.25 for the version. This makes things interesting when looking at several Exchange servers in the Exchange Management Console that include one or more synchronized Edge Transport servers because the Version column will show both 685.24 (for non-Edge Transport servers) and 685.25 (for Edge Transport servers).

Also, when you click Help, and then click About Exchange Server 2007, you will see a different version number altogether: 685.018. This happens on all Exchange 2007 servers. These versioning discrepancies are resolved in Exchange 2007 SP1.

Finally, if you use the Get-ExchangeServer cmdlet and examine the ExchangeVersion property, you will notice a different version number: 0.1 (8.0.535.0). However, this number does not refer to the version of an installed product, but rather it refers to the minimum version of the product that can read the object. In this case, any Exchange 2007 server that is version 8.0.535.0 or later can read this object because the last changes to this object's schema were made in build 8.0.535.0. The following table lists the build numbers that are associated with each Exchange 2007 product:

Note:
Update Rollup 7 is the final Update Rollup that will be released for Exchange Server 2007.

The RTM version of Exchange 2007 SP1 is build 08.01.0240.006, which is also represented as Version 8.1 (Build 240.6). This version information is consistently displayed in the Exchange Management Console, the Exchange Management Shell, and in the About Exchange Server 2007 Help dialog box. However, after applying SP1 to an Edge Transport server running the RTM version of Exchange 2007, the version information for the Edge Transport server will not be updated in the Exchange Management Console unless the Edge Transport server is re-subscribed to the Active Directory site. This is because the Edge Transport server does not directly update Active Directory with any configuration information. Instead, the version information for Edge Transport servers is recorded in Active Directory during the creation of an Edge Subscription.

You can also determine the installed version of Exchange 2007 by examining the value for each installed role in the Registry at:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Exchange\v8.0\<Role>\ConfiguredVersion

ConfiguredVersion is a string value in the format of X.X.XXX.X (e.g., 8.1.240.6). 8 is the major version number. The .1 portion indicates it is SP1 (RTM would have .0). 240 is the build number, and the .0 after 240 would be .6, the minor build number.

The value of the ExchangeVersion property remains unchanged in Exchange 2007 SP1; the output of the Get-ExchangeServer cmdlet for the ExchangeVersion parameter is 0.1 (8.0.535.0). The following table lists the build numbers that are associated with each Exchange 2007 SP1 product:

For more information about Exchange 2007 servicing, see the Exchange 2007 Servicing topic.

For more information about Exchange Server 2010 , see Exchange 2010: Editions and Versions.

For more information about legacy Exchange Versions, see Microsoft Knowledge Base article 158350, Build numbers and release dates for Exchange Server.

For more information about Exchange support, see Exchange Server Supportability Matrix.