In Leopard, it is possible to sync your Microsoft Exchange Contacts with the Address Book app. Here’s how.

Requirements

The Exchange server virtual directory must not require encryption. Yes, this is a security risk. However, with a URL redirect, the users’ browsers can be redirected to still use SSL if it is properly configured. So syncing your contacts will not be encrypted.

Mac OS X Leopard. It might work on something else, but I haven’t tried.

Instructions

1. In Address Book preferences, click Synchronize with Exchange, then click Exchange…
2. Enter your username (my company has only one domain, so I’m not sure how it would work in a multi-domain environment.)
3. Enter your password
4. Enter the URL to the Outlook Web Access website. This might be webmail.acmeInc.com, or mail.acmeInc.com, or something like that. If you are not sure, try these combinations in Safari on your own.
5. click OK
6. If your Exchange email address is different from your username, click Exchange… again and change the URL in the bottom field. The field should be something like this: http://mail.mycompany.com/exchange/ben. You need to do this only if your username is like “jsmith” but your email address is “john@mycompany.com”. You should be able to copy and paste the URL in Safari and see your email inbox on Outlook Web Access.

Instructions, part two.

These steps may not be necessary, but you can force your Mac to sync to Exchange immediately, rather than wait for it.1. Open iSync preferences, and check “show status in menu bar”. Close preferences and iSync. 2. Now you have a circular arrow in your menu bar at the top of your screen. Click it, and choose “Sync Now”. 3. Your contacts should appear in Address Book