Cached mode always enhances the end user experience because it isolates them
from the desktop locking up when the network connection disappears between
them and the Exchange server. Here are some of the things of note...
* Pro - When in cached mode and scrolling thru messages to display them,
there is no round tripping the server to display body/attachments
* Pro - When in cached mode, no round tripping the server to address an
e-mail (by this I mean they pull the data from the offline address book).
Only time outlook round trips the server is when you need to see the
secondary tabs when you display the properties of a global address recipient
* Pro - Based on speed of connection, Outlook may adjust to pulling just
headers, headers follows by full item download, or remain in full item
download. (User may select how to pull items as well.)
* Con - Users with large mailboxes may notice that setting up their outlook
profile the first time will see sync delays or network guys will cringe
because of the bandwidth zapped to get the customer up and running with a
fully sync'd mailbox.
* Con - Outlook 2003 actually transmits sent items twice
* Con - When you add a new mailbox, users will complain that it can take up
to 24 hours to see the new entry in the global address list.
Just so you know, Microsoft does encourage the use of cached mode because it
is how you achieve higher user to server figures.
/neo
ps - didn't cover optimization or tricks to get around some things
mentioned. however a lot of the tricks/optimizations may depend on how your
site operates or what extra steps IT is willing to give in order to support
the customer.
