See the original post here:
http://www.crn.com/software/219400510

Download Exchange 2010 RC1 here:
Exchange 2010 RC1 Download
.

1. Database Availability Groups – allows Exchange administrators to have multiple copies of a database reside on multiple Exchange servers. In the event of a failure, the Exchange admin can bring up that secondary copy of the database on another already working Exchange server. A database failure will also be detected by Exchange automatically, and the secondary copy of the database will automatically be brought online within seconds.

   Another advantage of the DAG, is that having multiple copies of the database, allows Exchange to repair itself.. That’s right, it’s self healing..
   .

2. Outlook Web Access Features – There are quite a few new features with OWA.
   • Side-by-side comparison of calendars
   • Ability to attach messages to messages
   • Integration with Communicator including presence, chat, and a contact list
   • Conversation View! – I’ve been waiting for this.
   • Support for multiple browsers such as Firefox and Safari
     .
3. Unified Messaging Features :
   • Message Waiting Indicator
   • Voicemail Preview – This is basically speech to text that will display the text in your e-mail message to get a preview of what the voice mail includes
   • Personal auto attendants
   • Protected Voice Mail – Ability to track and restrict where voice mails can go
     .
4. Store Functionality:
   • No more Storage Groups
   • Mailboxes are no longer connected to the server object
   • I/O Improvements requiring 30% less I/O from Exchange 2007, and 70% less I/O from Exchange 2003.
   • Backupless by having multiple database copies stored on DAG members. ( backups are still recommended in order to go back in time to restore deleted items )
     .
5. Other
   • Multi-Mailbox Search
   • Text Messaging Integration (SMS)
   • Moderation and approval of distribution group submissions
   • Mail Tips – Will notify an Outlook user of an impeding error before it happens so the user doesn’t get a confusing NDR.  For example, if your message size limit is 10MB and the user tries sending a 15MB message, Outlook will notify the user before the user tries to send out the e-mail saving Exchange resources and making the failure experience more intuitive for the end user.

There’s quite a bit more, as I have only scratched the surface here. Read more about Exchange 2010 here.

Exchange My Mail, Inc has Exchange 2010 running internally in our Lab. We hope to be able to launch shortly after Microsoft releases the final version.

Stay tuned….

..