PFE Supported on Microsoft Windows 7, Server 2008R2, Office 2007/2010 with new MyFax Interface

1. Microsoft Windows 7 / Server 2008R2 Support:

   It is with great excitement that we announce Microsoft Windows 7 and Server 2008R2 support for PointForce Enterprise versions 6.0 (effective build 0639) and 6.1 (effective build 0364). This support will require you to upgrade your current ProvideX (PVX) installation (both client and server) from the current PVX 6.3 to PVX 9. Support for Windows 7 and/or Server 2008R2 is only provided under PVX 9.

   Although you may be running PVX 6.3 it is very possible that you have a PVX license key of level 7 or greater. This will enable you to run version 9 without purchasing an upgrade. However for those who have a PVX license key of level 6 or less you will need to purchase the level 9 license key prior to upgrading.

   For more information or help in determining your current PVX license key level, and assistance in upgrading your current Enterprise clients please contact SMBSupport@tecsys.com.

   PRODUCT		REQUIREMENT
   Windows 7		-Server 2003 or Server 2008R2 -ProvideX 9
   Server2008R2		-Vista (32Bit) client and/or Windows 7 (32Bit/64Bit) client -ProvideX 9

   Important Notes:

   • We only support the following editions of Microsoft Windows 7:
     • Professional Edition (32Bit and 64Bit)
     • Ultimate Edition (32Bit and 64Bit)
     • Enterprise Edition (32Bit and 64Bit)

   • We now support Microsoft Server 2008R2 (64Bit) on the PointForce Enterprise Server:
     • We are NOT supporting the Server 2008 version without the R2 designation.
     • We will only support Windows Vista (32Bit) and Windows 7 (32 Bit and 64Bit) clients in a Server 2008R2 environment.
     • iTopia 7.7 is not supported on Server 2008R2.
     • Should you move to a Server 2008R2 environment you can no longer use XP.

   • Finally, please note that it is our understanding that some clients using PVX 6.3 or lower have implemented Windows 7 on their PCs even though it is not supported. It may appear to be functioning, but we have found that sites running Windows 7 on versions of PVX lower than 9 have experienced stability and data corruption issues.

   Effective with these builds, if you are running PointForce Enterprise with PVX 6.3 or lower on a Windows 7 Operating System your session will be terminated. A message will appear stating this fact, and you can contact SMB Support for options.

2. Office 2007/2010:

   Effective with PointForce Enterprise 6.0 (build 0639) PointForce Enterprise 6.1 (build 0364), we now support the integration of Office 2007 and Office 2010 for both Mail Merge and Photo Quotes.

3. MyFax replacing Castelle FaxPress as Recommended Fax Solution:

   As part of our Windows 7 Support effort, we discovered that Castelle FaxPress is not compatible with Windows 7 and, upon further investigation, OpenText (Castelle’s current parent company) has no plans to offer support for FaxPress on Windows 7. This presented us with a challenge. We needed to offer an integrated, package fax solution on a go-forward basis that would work natively on Windows 7 but that was also backward-compatible to work on our other supported client Operating Systems such as Microsoft Vista and Microsoft XP.

   We have selected the internet fax solution MyFax as our preferred integrated fax solution.

   Note: MyFax is available to you in PointForce Enterprise version 6.0 effective with Build 0620 and version 6.1 effective with Build 0341.

   MyFax is a Canadian company with one of the highest customer service ratings in the industry. Their solutions are both affordable and can scale with your business. They have rate plans that will most likely offer a lower overall cost-of-use than Castelle FaxPress, offering a quicker return on investment over a hardware-based fax solution with no hardware to purchase, install or maintain. For details on MyFax, their rates, and how their service works, including help in calculating your specific ROI over Castelle FaxPress’, please visit www.MyFax.com. There are two technologies that MyFax utilizes, one is SMTP Email faxing, the other is XML Web Services faxing. Although not explicitly outlined on their website, our interface supports both. The MyFax representative will determine the optimal technology based on your specific volume requirements.

   Please note that we are not removing our existing Castelle FaxPress interface but rather adding an additional fax solution with MyFax. Those of you already using the Castelle FaxPress interface may continue to do so, and are not required to upgrade or switch to MyFax if you do not feel it necessary. However, as previously stated, the FaxPress software does not work natively with Windows 7, and, since it’s not supported by Castelle, there are no plans to support FaxPress on Windows 7.

   That said, Microsoft does offer what they call "XP Mode" on Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise and Ultimate Editions (the only editions we support). XP Mode is a no charge virtual copy of the 32Bit version of XP Professional that runs inside your Windows 7 Operating System and allows software to be installed and run within the XP Virtual environment, even though you are running Windows 7. XP Mode is being offered for free directly from Microsoft and only in Windows 7 to help bring legacy software that is not natively compatible with Windows 7 to run on a Windows 7 machine. We have successfully tested FaxPress under Windows 7 XP Mode and it does work.

   However, if you want the WinSol/Enterprise integration you must also install the WinSol/Enterprise Client under XP mode. Please note that XP mode is a copy of XP running in a virtual machine and will be slower than applications running under the native Windows 7 machine.

   Please note that there are specific PC hardware requirements to utilize Windows 7 XP Mode and not every PC is capable of running XP Mode. Also note that XP Mode can be tricky to install and maintain. For more information on Windows 7 XP Mode please refer to the following Microsoft link: Install and Use Windows XP Mode in Windows 7

   For more information on the new MyFax integration, please send your inquiries to smbinfo@tecsys.com