Using OS X Lion as a Business Server for a Windows & Mac Enviroment

Hi there, I am debating on using OS X Lion (on a Mac Mini) as a server for a small business.  I have some lingering questions that I need help with.
If I am using OS X Lion as the mail server,
Does it provide any kind of online/web access (similar to OWA)?
Does it work with Mac Outlook 2011?
Will it work with Windows Outlook?
Will the messenger work with a Window's machine at all?  (i.e., remote employee on a Windows laptop.)
If I am using OS X Lion as a file server,
Can I restrict access to certain folders?
Is there a way to allow clients access to certain folders (similar to SharePoint)?
Is there any FTP capabilities?
How secure is OS X Lion?  I work in a very contentious / data sensitive field.  The information we will have is highly confidential and highly sought after.
In the end, I am looking for a cost effective solution for a small group of consultants that deal with high profile matters, need to quickly and easily communicate and collaborate from both Windows laptops and MacBook Pros (90% remotely).
Thanks for the help!

And this is my problem.
In windows terms:
I want to assign a drive letter to a network drive, and have that be a machine-wide assignment, that is activated during bootup, and is visible to all users and services.
I can do that for an arbitrary partition that is physically attached to the machine.
I cannot seem to do that for any partition that is mounted over the network.
The problems are:
1. It doesn't map for every user,
2. It doesn't map for services that run when a user isn't logged in
3. It generates annoying inconsistencies in what programs see what.
Is there really no way for an XP box to use a file server? Even a microsoft file server? (if there is, how do I make my mac os with samba look like a real microsoft file server).
Annoying tidbit: The "conncet at login" information is stored in the user profile; if you rely on that, then the user profile cannot be stored with the rest of the user's personal files. If it weren't for that, I could probably live with a work around.
(2 to 1 someone will say "Xp Professional can do that trivially" and tell me to upgrade. I thought XP home was supposed to support home and small office networking, and I thought that included a single shared file server.)
Mac Mini 1.42 1G   Mac OS X (10.4.3)  

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