Topic Last Modified: 2011-05-16

This section describes the compatibility of Microsoft Lync 2010 with various versions of Microsoft Office suites, Microsoft Exchange Server, Windows operating systems, and selected public instant messaging (IM) clients.

Office and Lync 2010

The following table describes the Lync 2010 features that are supported by various versions of Office.

Lync 2010 and Microsoft Office Compatibility

Feature Microsoft Office 2003 with Service Pack 3 (SP3) Microsoft Office 2007 Microsoft Office 2010

Presence status in the Microsoft Outlook To and Cc fields

Presence status appears on hover

Presence status is always shown

Presence status is always shown

Reply with conference call from the availability menu

No

Yes

Yes (from the contact card)

Presence status in a meeting request on the Scheduling Assistant tab

No

Yes

Yes

Reply with IM, or call from the toolbar or ribbon in a received email

No

Yes

Yes

Presence status in the Outlook From field

Yes

Yes

Yes

Reply with IM or voice from availability menu

Yes

Yes

Yes (from the contact card)

IM and presence in Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel files (smart tags enabled)

Yes

Yes

Microsoft Word only

IM and presence in Microsoft SharePoint sites (Outlook must be installed)

Yes

Yes

Yes

The following features are available only with Office 2010 and Lync:

  • New contact card with expanded options, such as video call and desktop sharing

  • Quick search from the Find a Contact field in Outlook

  • Reply with an IM or call from the Outlook Home ribbon in the Mail, Calendar, Contacts, and Tasks folders

  • Lync Contacts list in Outlook To-Do Bar

  • Office Backstage (File tab) presence status, program sharing, and file transfer

  • Presence menu in Microsoft Office SharePoint Workspace 2010 (formerly Microsoft Office Groove 2007)

  • Presence menu extensibility

Exchange Server and Lync 2010

The following table describes Lync 2010 support for various versions of Exchange Server. Outlook must be installed on the client computer to handle Extended MAPI calls, and some features require the use of Exchange Web Services (EWS).

Lync 2010 and Exchange Server Compatibility

Exchange Server version Lync 2010 support

Exchange Server 2003

Outlook MAPI only. EWS-only features are not available (see the next row).

Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 1 (SP1)

The following features are available only through EWS:

  • Read or delete items in the Conversation History folder

  • Read or delete voice mail items

  • Display extended free/busy information and meeting subject and location

Note:
For a complete list of the communication interfaces that are used by Lync 2010, see Lync 2010 Integration.

Public folders are optional in Exchange Server 2007 with Service Pack 1 (SP1) (required) or the latest service pack or release (recommended).

Exchange Server 2010

Same as Exchange Server 2007 SP1 support, with the addition of Exchange contact sync.

Note:
For details, see Lync 2010 Integration.

Windows and Lync 2010

The following table describes Lync compatibility with various versions of Windows.

Lync 2010 and Windows Compatibility

Windows version Lync 2010 support

The 32-bit version of the Windows 7 operating system

Supported

The 64-bit version of the Windows 7 operating system

Supported in Windows on Windows 64 mode

The 32-bit editions of the Windows Vista operating system

Supported

The 64-bit editions of the Windows Vista operating system

Supported in Windows on Windows 64 mode

The 32-bit version of the Windows XP Professional operating system with SP3

Supported

Note:
Windows Installer 3.1 and Microsoft Core XML services (MSXML) 6.0 SP1 must be installed before deploying Lync 2010.

Windows Server 2008 SP2 or greater

Windows Server 2003 SP2 or greater

Supported

Windows 2000 SP4

Not supported

Macintosh and Lync 2010

Lync and Microsoft Lync 2010 Attendee are available only for Windows. However, Microsoft Lync Server 2010 supports the following clients on computers running Macintosh operating systems.

Lync 2010 and Macintosh Compatibility

Client Description Platform requirements

Microsoft Communicator for Mac 2011

Lync Server 2010 client available through volume licensing. For details about supported features, see Client Comparison Tables. For additional details, see “Communicator for Mac 2011 Deployment Guide” at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=205317.

Mac OS 10.5.8 or the latest service pack or release (Intel-based)

Super VGA 1280 x 800

Safari 5 or any of the Safari 5.x releases

Microsoft Lync Web App

Web-based conferencing client. For details about supported features, see Client Comparison Tables.

Mac OS 10.4.8 the latest service pack or release (Intel-based)

Safari 4 or any of the Safari 4.x releases

Public Instant Messaging Clients and Lync 2010

If you have configured your server for public IM connectivity, Lync supports the following capabilities with public IM networks. Presence status is filtered to those supported by the public IM client.

Lync 2010 and Public IM Clients Compatibility

Client Supported Capabilities

Windows Live Messenger

IM, basic presence, audio/video (A/V)*

AOL

IM and basic presence

Yahoo!

IM and basic presence

*A/V is supported with the latest version of Windows Live Messenger. If you are implementing audio/video (A/V) federation with Windows Live Messenger, you must also modify the Lync Server encryption level. By default, the encryption level is Required. You must change this setting to Supported by using the Lync Server Management Shell. For details, see Prepare for Support of Public IM Connectivity in the Deployment documentation.