Outlook Web Access
Encyclopedia
Outlook Web App originally called Outlook Web Access and before that Exchange Web Connect (EWC), is a webmail service of Microsoft Exchange Server
5.0 and later. Outlook Web App comes as a part of Microsoft Exchange Server or Microsoft Office 365
.
), calendars, contacts, tasks, documents (used with SharePoint or in 2010, Office Web Apps
), and other mailbox content when access to the Microsoft Outlook desktop application is unavailable. In the Exchange 2007 release, OWA also offers read-only access to documents stored in Microsoft SharePoint
sites and network (UNC) shares. Microsoft provides Outlook Web App as part of Exchange Server to allow users to connect remotely via a web browser. Some of the functionality in Outlook is also available in this web "look-alike". The most important difference is that Microsoft Outlook allows users to work with e-mail, calendars, etc., even when an internet connection is unavailable, whereas OWA requires an internet connection to function.
Outlook Web App also is used to function on Microsoft Office 365
, with use of Microsoft Lync and SharePoint document sharing.
. Exchange 2000 and 2003 require Internet Explorer 5
and later and Exchange 2007 requires Internet Explorer 6
and later. Exchange 2010 requires Internet Explorer 7
or later, Mozilla Firefox
3.01 and later, Google Chrome
or Apple Safari 3.1 and later for full functionality, however performs checks on the operating system type to restrict Mac OS X and Linux users to Firefox or Safari, thereby making Google Chrome only officially compatible on their Windows operating system even though there is very little difference in their JavaScript and rendering capabilities between platforms. In all versions of Exchange, the "OWA Light" user interface
(UI) is rendered for other browsers. While the basic interface did not support search with Exchange Server 2003, the UI has been reworked for Exchange Server 2007 and OWA Light now supports search for mail items, and managing contacts and the calendar has also been improved. On Outlook Web Access 2010, a user is now available to connect email accounts on their Outlook Web Access. That feature is most ignored due to professional
uses of Outlook Web Access.
On Exchange 2007, a user would get a pop-up that a new message was sent, but this dropped on Outlook Web Access 2010.
Several alternatives to OWA/Exchange exist. In addition, many businesses may opt for either hosted options provided by familiar names like Google, Microsoft, or Yahoo! or may install local alternatives to Exchange server such as Zimbra
, Kolab
, Zarafa (software)
or Scalix
.
and standardized by the World Wide Web Consortium
, it has since become one of the cornerstones of the Ajax
technology used to build advanced web applications.
Microsoft Exchange Server
Microsoft Exchange Server is the server side of a client–server, collaborative application product developed by Microsoft. It is part of the Microsoft Servers line of server products and is used by enterprises using Microsoft infrastructure products...
5.0 and later. Outlook Web App comes as a part of Microsoft Exchange Server or Microsoft Office 365
Microsoft Office 365
Microsoft Office 365 is a commercial software plus services offering a set of products from Microsoft Corporation, with the initial plan including a Professional subscription and an Enterprise subscription...
.
Uses
Outlook Web App is used to access e-mail (including support for S/MIMES/MIME
S/MIME is a standard for public key encryption and signing of MIME data. S/MIME is on an IETF standards track and defined in a number of documents, most importantly RFCs. S/MIME was originally developed by RSA Data Security Inc...
), calendars, contacts, tasks, documents (used with SharePoint or in 2010, Office Web Apps
Office Web Apps
Microsoft Office Web Apps is a web-based version of the Microsoft Office productivity suite. It includes the web-based versions of Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft PowerPoint, and Microsoft OneNote. The web applications allow users to access their documents directly from anywhere within a...
), and other mailbox content when access to the Microsoft Outlook desktop application is unavailable. In the Exchange 2007 release, OWA also offers read-only access to documents stored in Microsoft SharePoint
Microsoft SharePoint
Microsoft SharePoint is a web application platform developed by Microsoft. First launched in 2001, SharePoint is typically associated with web content management and document management systems, but it is actually a much broader platform of web technologies, capable of being configured into a wide...
sites and network (UNC) shares. Microsoft provides Outlook Web App as part of Exchange Server to allow users to connect remotely via a web browser. Some of the functionality in Outlook is also available in this web "look-alike". The most important difference is that Microsoft Outlook allows users to work with e-mail, calendars, etc., even when an internet connection is unavailable, whereas OWA requires an internet connection to function.
Outlook Web App also is used to function on Microsoft Office 365
Microsoft Office 365
Microsoft Office 365 is a commercial software plus services offering a set of products from Microsoft Corporation, with the initial plan including a Professional subscription and an Enterprise subscription...
, with use of Microsoft Lync and SharePoint document sharing.
Functionality
The Outlook Web Access interface available since Exchange 2000 comes in two flavors, one with a complete feature set (known as "Premium") and one with reduced functionality (known as "Light" or sometimes "Lite"). Prior to Exchange 2010 "Premium" access required Internet ExplorerInternet Explorer
Windows Internet Explorer is a series of graphical web browsers developed by Microsoft and included as part of the Microsoft Windows line of operating systems, starting in 1995. It was first released as part of the add-on package Plus! for Windows 95 that year...
. Exchange 2000 and 2003 require Internet Explorer 5
Internet Explorer 5
Microsoft Internet Explorer 5 was a graphical web browser released in March 1999 by Microsoft, primarily for Microsoft Windows, but initially with versions available for Apple Macintosh, Sun Solaris, and HP-UX. It was one of the main participants of the first browser war...
and later and Exchange 2007 requires Internet Explorer 6
Internet Explorer 6
Internet Explorer 6 is the sixth major revision of Internet Explorer, a web browser developed by Microsoft for Windows operating systems...
and later. Exchange 2010 requires Internet Explorer 7
Internet Explorer 7
Windows Internet Explorer 7 is a web browser released by Microsoft in October 2006. Internet Explorer 7 is part of a long line of versions of Internet Explorer and was the first major update to the browser in more than 5 years...
or later, Mozilla Firefox
Mozilla Firefox
Mozilla Firefox is a free and open source web browser descended from the Mozilla Application Suite and managed by Mozilla Corporation. , Firefox is the second most widely used browser, with approximately 25% of worldwide usage share of web browsers...
3.01 and later, Google Chrome
Google Chrome
Google Chrome is a web browser developed by Google that uses the WebKit layout engine. It was first released as a beta version for Microsoft Windows on September 2, 2008, and the public stable release was on December 11, 2008. The name is derived from the graphical user interface frame, or...
or Apple Safari 3.1 and later for full functionality, however performs checks on the operating system type to restrict Mac OS X and Linux users to Firefox or Safari, thereby making Google Chrome only officially compatible on their Windows operating system even though there is very little difference in their JavaScript and rendering capabilities between platforms. In all versions of Exchange, the "OWA Light" user interface
User interface
The user interface, in the industrial design field of human–machine interaction, is the space where interaction between humans and machines occurs. The goal of interaction between a human and a machine at the user interface is effective operation and control of the machine, and feedback from the...
(UI) is rendered for other browsers. While the basic interface did not support search with Exchange Server 2003, the UI has been reworked for Exchange Server 2007 and OWA Light now supports search for mail items, and managing contacts and the calendar has also been improved. On Outlook Web Access 2010, a user is now available to connect email accounts on their Outlook Web Access. That feature is most ignored due to professional
Professional
A professional is a person who is paid to undertake a specialised set of tasks and to complete them for a fee. The traditional professions were doctors, lawyers, clergymen, and commissioned military officers. Today, the term is applied to estate agents, surveyors , environmental scientists,...
uses of Outlook Web Access.
On Exchange 2007, a user would get a pop-up that a new message was sent, but this dropped on Outlook Web Access 2010.
Comparison to alternative web-based groupware
In previous versions OWA provided a limited user experience to those not using Microsoft's Internet Explorer. As of OWA 2010 (provided with Exchange 2010) browser support for Firefox, Chrome and Safari browsers is available.Several alternatives to OWA/Exchange exist. In addition, many businesses may opt for either hosted options provided by familiar names like Google, Microsoft, or Yahoo! or may install local alternatives to Exchange server such as Zimbra
Zimbra
Zimbra Collaboration Suite is a groupware product created by Zimbra, Inc., located in Palo Alto, California, USA. The company was purchased by Yahoo! in September 2007, and subsequently purchased by VMware on Tuesday, January 12, 2010. The software consists of both client and server components...
, Kolab
Kolab
Kolab is an open source groupware suite. It consists of the Kolab server and a wide variety of Kolab clients, including KDE PIM-Suite Kontact, Horde Webfrontend, Mozilla Thunderbird and Mozilla Lightning with SyncKolab extension and Microsoft Outlook with proprietary Kolab-Connector PlugIns.-Basic...
, Zarafa (software)
Zarafa (software)
Zarafa is the name of an European open source collaborative software, developed in Delft, the Netherlands. The company that develops Zarafa, previously known as Connectux, is also called Zarafa. The Zarafa groupware provides email storage on the server side and brings its own Ajax-based mail client...
or Scalix
Scalix
Scalix is an e-mail and groupware server that runs on Linux, licensed under the Scalix Public License .Scalix provides e-mail, group calendaring and other collaborative software, which are standard in groupware...
.
Use of OWA handheld/smart phone mail
OWA is used for several 3rd party clients to MS Exchange Server.Technology
The first component to allow client-side scripts to issue HTTP requests (XMLHTTP) was originally written by the Outlook Web Access team. It soon became a part of Internet Explorer 5.0. Renamed XmlHttpRequestXMLHttpRequest
XMLHttpRequest is an API available in web browser scripting languages such as JavaScript. It is used to send HTTP or HTTPS requests directly to a web server and load the server response data directly back into the script. The data might be received from the server as XML text or as plain text...
and standardized by the World Wide Web Consortium
World Wide Web Consortium
The World Wide Web Consortium is the main international standards organization for the World Wide Web .Founded and headed by Tim Berners-Lee, the consortium is made up of member organizations which maintain full-time staff for the purpose of working together in the development of standards for the...
, it has since become one of the cornerstones of the Ajax
Ajax (programming)
Ajax is a group of interrelated web development methods used on the client-side to create asynchronous web applications...
technology used to build advanced web applications.
Login
There are multiple ways to login into Outlook Web App. On Office 365, you will need to put in your Microsoft Online Services ID and you will not be launched into the regular Outlook Web App login screen. On regular Exchange servers, you will be greeted to login by user domain\username or either username@domain. You must have the correct server to login.See also
- Microsoft OutlookMicrosoft OutlookMicrosoft Outlook is a personal information manager from Microsoft, available both as a separate application as well as a part of the Microsoft Office suite...
- Microsoft Exchange ServerMicrosoft Exchange ServerMicrosoft Exchange Server is the server side of a client–server, collaborative application product developed by Microsoft. It is part of the Microsoft Servers line of server products and is used by enterprises using Microsoft infrastructure products...
- Microsoft OfficeMicrosoft OfficeMicrosoft Office is a non-free commercial office suite of inter-related desktop applications, servers and services for the Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X operating systems, introduced by Microsoft in August 1, 1989. Initially a marketing term for a bundled set of applications, the first version of...
- Microsoft Office 365Microsoft Office 365Microsoft Office 365 is a commercial software plus services offering a set of products from Microsoft Corporation, with the initial plan including a Professional subscription and an Enterprise subscription...