Paul Schnackenburg05 November 2006, 1:27 PM
We've all seen Outlook Web Access before -- it's slow and has limitations that become glaringly obvious compared to the real Outlook. No longer - OWA in Exchange 2007 rocks!
We've all seen Outlook Web Access before -- it's slow and has limitations that become glaringly obvious compared to the real Outlook. No longer - OWA in Exchange 2007 rocks!
Microsoft is "de-emphasizing" the little-used public folders feature of Exchange, so the 2007 version now gives access to SharePoint documents and Windows file shares directly from within the OWA interface. The idea is that SharePoint will take over as a general document repository from Exchange public folders.
You can open files in two ways via OWA 2007: directly in your browser (or saved to your local disk) or "web ready document viewing" which formats the document for viewing in your browser. File access settings are controlled by the Exchange Server administrator, including the option to block access to particular servers.
 File access in OWA2007 |
OWA2007 now lets users manage Windows Mobile devices, such as PDAs and smart phones.
If you've forgotten your phone's password, it can be retrieved via OWA, but even better, if you lose your device, you can issue a remote wipe command via OWA which erases all your personal data from the phone. This was possible in Exchange 2003 SP2 but it was only accessible to the server administrator.
 OWA's Windows Mobile device management: one click and your data's gone |
Grouping and sorting emails is easier. Search is vastly improved in Exchange 2007 and OWA takes advantage of this so now you can actually use the search facilities.
Out of Office messages can now be scheduled from OWA so that you don't have to remember to do it just before going on holidays. These messages can also be different for internal and external recipients.
 Out of office: now you can set it remotely |
The Global Address book and your own contacts list are now easily accessible in OWA. Earlier versions of OWA presented a search interface so you had to enter a name first; OWA 2007 lists addresses directly.
 OWA address book: now with global addresses |
The calendar is more accessible and you can read details of meetings without opening each item. Scheduling meetings is improved with colour coding of suggested times corresponding to best availability of all attendants.
 Setting up a meeting |
Meeting reminders show up on top of OWA as a separate dialog box, just as in Outlook.
 Meeting reminders: that look just like you're running Outlook locally |
Notification of incoming messages can be different for mail, fax, and voice messages. Exchange 2007 supports integration with telephone systems and will realise the idea of the Universal Inbox with built in support for voice, fax and email.
It's a never-ending quest; attempting to make a web application, with nothing installed on the client except for a browser, behave as a fully-fledged installed application. In OWA 2007 Microsoft has come much closer to that goal.
Overall the OWA experience is vastly improved in Exchange 2007. It feels more like the real Outlook and it's easier to use. OWA 2007 is the first version where I could recommend it as a solution for people who want to use it as their sole email client.