@scottalanmiller
Hi, My use is perhaps not the usual user so I do understand if perhaps you do not need any of the following.
I tend to work away from the office quite a lot and I work on desktops which aren't mine, but at the client site, therefore I cannot install anything on their PC.
Therefore I need a fully integrated solution which I can replicate in the same way at home as when I am (mostly the case) on site.
That includes:
a) email of course
b) activesync support for mobile devices (free with z-push). As I have all the mobile phones synced in native protocol. This way I have everything synced on the mobile phones, including tasks, notes, contacts, email etc. etc. Natively.
c) Outlook 2016 support with Exchange integration (not IMAP, but proper activesync) (comes again with z-push). When I go home I use Outlook 2016 and I tend to see that activesync and full integration is a lot better than IMAP.
d) very important for me. Cloud storage integrated with the main webapp application. I can create e-mails from attachments to and from the cloud and when I get back home, my main PC has the files on the cloud itself. It's all integrated in webapp. I have owncloud running and I can see my files everywhere I go, within the application. They are remotely synced on the main server and on the phone when I need.
e) chat (mostly) and videoconferencing which I do with the people who are at another site. Again it needs to be embedded in the same application, not requiring any plugins or software to be installed, but simply work out of the box within Chrome or Firefox (webmeetings).
My understanding of Zimbra is rather limited and I am sure some of them may be available in one shape or other. However, I did stop looking and investigating when I looked at the following webpage:
https://www.zimbra.com/email-server-software/product-edition-comparison/
And realised that most of what I need is either only in the paid editions or even in the paid editions you still have to pay for it (e.g. zimbra talk).
My usage is too limited for me to justify buying a license.
In addition as you say the Kopano application looks a lot slicker at least from the demos and screenshots I have seen of Zimbra.
All the features I have listed above are downloadable for you at the Kopano community site.
Who knows, there may be some teething issues (that I do not have perhaps right now) but I get the entire software and it works for me. I get the entire packages and integration with cloud, web conferencing etc. etc.
I do understand if your needs are different and you are looking for something else.
That's why perhaps there is more than one product on the market to satisfy different needs.
As I said I did look at Zimbra but it is simply lacking the features (at least in the community edition) and I cannot use it. If it did, I'd be very happy to use it.
There may be public domains or whatever plugins to make Zimbra look or have those features, I am not sure, perhaps, but then, I am familiar with Kopano, I'll stick to it.