Turn off MAPI on Exchange, good news for hosters, but....

I just saw this post from the Exchange team.  This is great news for hosters that want to offer a choice of packages, but does it really save anything?  OWA is as big of a pig as a full MAPI user, just without the hassle of client configuration.   Support teams win, but the infrastructure doesn’t gain anything.

The other issue is licensing.  I believe the SPLA license doesn’t differentiate between a MAPI user and an OWA user.  OWA users get most of the advantages of the MAPI user, so I can’t imagine there would be a break in the cost.

Just thought it was cool to see the Exchange team listen to Hosters, which is a relatively small percent of the target audience for Exchange.