Microsoft Exchange 2007 32bit and WS 2003 - what does it mean 'not for production environment'?

Question

I've installed Windows Server 2003 R2 32bit on a virtual machine. From what I've read so far, it appears that there are two versions of Exchange available for 32 bit versions of Windows Server 2003: Exchange 2003 and Exchange 2007. I'd like to install Exchange 2007 (and test it). However Exchange 2007 is described as 'for non-production environments only' and I don't really know what that means. Does it mean that it is somehow crippled / not tested / has fewer features that Exchange 2007 64bit?

Or is is possible to perform migration to 64bit after installing Exchange 2007 32bit? I want to set a stable Exchange environment and play with it (with my mobile phone) for some time. Should I rather install Exchange 2003 or Exchange 2007?

Regards.

Answer 1

Exchange 2007's 32-bit implementation is there just for dev/test environments. What this means is that when you call in for support on a 32-bit edition, you'll get told 'no'. The 32-bit environments are at feature parity with the 64-bit version, but the long-term supportability of the 32-bit version is nonexistent.

The 32-bit environments are there specifically so you can hack around and get to know the environment on the kinds of older hardware that many shops prototype on. As I said, feature-parity. However, when you go live on production hardware it must be 64-bit or you won't get support from Microsoft.

I could be wrong, but I believe Exchange 2007 is the last Exchange version to have a 32-bit edition. Exchange 2010 is 64-bit only. The same holds for Sharepoint 2007 and 2010 as I recall.