Replacement strategy for Public Folders (and network shares)?

Well, if like me, you were wondering what Microsoft has up their sleeves to replace Public Folders when Exchange 13 (Exchange 2009?) comes out, it looks like  Ferris Research might have seen the answer.

I wrote about how Microsoft is removing Public Folders from Exchange in the release after next (next is 12 and 13 is after that) about 3 weeks ago. My how time flies.

Lee Benjamin over at Ferris Research wrote yesterday about Microsoft Enterprise Contact Management, which apparently will be a major component (or add-on?) of Office 12 (the next version of Office, yeah I know it's confusing trying to keep track of upcoming releases).

The interesting bits in his post are that Microsoft is merging Sharepoint and their Content Management Server functionality, they will be adding "offline document libraries" in Office 12 that appear to be a pathway to replace Public Folders, and admins will be able to create enterprise scalable document repositories that will ultimately replace Network Shares.

So basically, we still have no real idea what our Microsoft networks will look like in 2007 (or 2009 for that matter). I'm betting lucky Linux guys probably have a real good idea what their networks will look like.

While you are waiting with baited breath for Microsoft to lift the veil on their grand plans, you can read Chris Pirillo's thoughts on Outlook 2003, Microsoft's CURRENT "collaboration" smart client. I'm sure he'll give you some sort of prize if you can win his "Why Outlook 2003 sucks" challenge.