iCloud and Exchange?

iCloud and Exchange do not sync with each other. They are effectively two totally seperate calendar systems (although viewable on the same device independently), but with no interaction between the two.

However the information handled by my iPhone should be able to sync to my Mac and iCal and since this information is probobly converted to be handled by the iOS system or OSX it should be able to sync that information to iCloud.

You're making assumptions that simply aren't correct. The iCloud and Exchange calendars are seperate entities within the phone and Mac OS X. There's no conversion going on between them or merging of calendars. The Calendar app and iCal just view both within the same user interface. Exchange and CalDAV (which iCloud uses) are very different protocols, and no conversion between them is occuring inside the phone or Mac.

So if these systems can handle the Exchange information then im pretty sure iCloud can to once it synced with iOS or OSX.

Well, as you have discovered, it doesn't work like that for the reason I outlined above.

I half expected iCloud not to work with Exchange as outlined by Julian Wright, but why is it that there are check boxes for my calendars and contacts from my Exchange acouunt in the iCloud settings? What function does it serve? Also, why can I "create" an Exchange account within iCloud. Very confusing.

It does not make sense to sync Exchange data to iCloud. Your Exchange account could be full of sensitive / confidential information. Your IT dept are already having a hard enough time security-wise by letting you sync your iPhone to your Exchange account. Imagine if all that data now magically goes to iCloud and all of your other devices... that is an IT dept's worst nightmare!

And why the **** would you make such a service like iCloud without it beeing able to handle this informations since probobly 90 % of the worlds big companies uses Exchange.

iCloud (and it's predecessor MobileMe) were designed as an alternative to Exchange for the general public who don't use Exchange but want something like it. Most Exchange users, as you say, use it at work. iCloud and MobileMe were designed for home users. It was never designed to sync with Exchange.

MobileMe was even marketed as "Exchange for the rest of us". iCloud continues that sentiment.

If you're already syncing with Exchange on your devices/computers why would you want to incorporate iCloud anyway? They do virtually the same job of keeping contacts, calendars and email in sync across multiple devices. There's be no point using iCloud if you already have an Exchange setup.

I have not quarrel with this argument. As I said earlier, I never really expected it, UNTIL I saw all the references to Exchange accounts within iCloud and the new Mail. Calendars, and Contacts control panel. What other interpretation should one have with the very explicit mention of Exchange therein?

This support article from MobileMe may explain the Exchange references: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2483

While both Exchange and MobileMe calendars are available in Outlook, the data will not sync between Exchange and MobileMe. Both will co-exist simultaneously in Outlook and you will be able to see either your MobileMe or your Exchange calendars, or both at once on the same screen.

One of the reasons I want to merge my contacts from Exchange to iCloud is so that I can use iMessaging across my devices. Many of my contacts are within Exchange, for whatever reason, not on my iPhone. Right now, iCloud will not sync my Exchange contacts, therefore rendering iMessaging useless across my devices. How can I get that working without syncing my Exchange contacts?

Thank you ChrisApple81. I was trying to do the same thing as you and it works perfect. Now I can use all my computers to log appointments and track clients both MAC and PC along with all my IOS devices and it sync's perfectly with my exchange server.

Thank you ChrisApple81. I was trying to do the same thing as you and it works perfect. Now I can use all my computers to log appointments and track clients both MAC and PC along with all my IOS devices and it sync's perfectly with my exchange server.

I would also like to be able to merge my iCloud contacts with my Exchange contacts, mainly because I've had the contacts synced with my Exchange account at work for months, but want that now synced with my Mac & iPad. However I turned on iCloud contacts on my iPhone & it creates a separate list of groups & a lot of contacts end up duplicated etc. I also no longer want it synced with the Exchange as I'm not going to be at this job forever & no longer need it now iCloud exists, if I can get it correct. Ideally I would like to take the contact groups I have on my iPhone & replace anything on iCloud with these as is it is exactly right, that would be the perfect solution. Is this possible?

There are many reasons any mac user would want to be able to sync both Exchange and Address Book in the Cloud. The assumption that Exchange is an alternative is technically correct but functionally against many company policies that do not want employees using company software for personal purposes. Thus personal contacts e.g. Doctors, family, banks etc should be in your personal Address Book (in the cloud) and Exchange address books managed by the companies many of us work for sustain all appropriate contacts. Apple needs to allow us to sync with exchange which does not add any data to the cloud storage.