Google launched Apps Sync for Microsoft Outlook on June 9 in order to give users the option to use Outlook as a front end to the Gmail and Calendar component of the Premier and Education editions of Apps.

Currently, the plug-in lets people synchronize e-mail, contacts and calendar items between Outlook and Apps, but it doesn't provide the full parity of features that exist between Outlook and Exchange.

This is why a variety of industry analysts are recommending that before deciding to replace Exchange with Apps, IT managers run tests of the plug-in to make sure that their Outlook users will not miss functionality they need for their work.

The plug-in isn't available to users of the Standard edition of Apps, which is free and limited to 50 end-users per domain. Apps Sync for Microsoft Outlook is for Apps' Premier edition, which costs US$50 per user annually, and for Apps' Education edition, which is free and aimed at students, teachers and school staffers.

Microsoft didn't respond to a request for comment about the newest version of the Google plug-in.