Understanding Outlook Web App
Applies to: Exchange Server 2010 SP3, Exchange Server 2010 SP2
By default, when you install the Client Access server role on a computer that's running Microsoft Exchange Server 2010, you enable Outlook Web App. Microsoft Office Outlook Web App lets you access your Exchange mailbox from almost any Web browser.
Note
Outlook Web App was called Outlook Web Access in previous versions of Microsoft Exchange.
Looking for management tasks related to Outlook Web App? See Managing Outlook Web App.
Contents
New Features in Outlook Web App
Managing Outlook Web App
Tools for Managing Outlook Web App
Administrative Tasks for Managing Outlook Web App
New Features in Outlook Web App
Outlook Web App has been redesigned for Exchange 2010 to create a new look, add new features, and improve usability.
New features in Outlook Web App include:
Outlook Web App mailbox policies In previous versions of Outlook Web App, you controlled users' access to features by configuring the Outlook Web App virtual directories or by configuring individual mailboxes. In Exchange 2010, you can use Outlook Web App mailbox policies to control users' access to features in Outlook Web App. For more information, see Understanding Outlook Web App Mailbox Policies.
More Web browsers supported In Exchange 2010, users have access to the standard version of Outlook Web App through Safari and Firefox, in addition to Internet Explorer. For more information, see Outlook Web App Supported Browsers.
Conversation view Conversation view lets users see all messages in a thread, including messages not in the current folder.
Chat Outlook Web App can be configured to work with Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 or with Microsoft Lync Server 2010 to allow users to chat without having to install Office Communicator 2007 or Lync 2010. For more information, see Understanding Outlook Web App and Instant Messaging Integration.
Filters Users have access to a set of predefined filters to quickly search the contents of folders.
Right-click More actions have been added to the right-click menus in Outlook Web App.
Attach messages to messages Users can attach a message from their mailbox to a new message. In previous versions of Outlook Web App, users could attach files to messages, but couldn't attach a message to a message.
For more information about new features for users in Outlook Web App, see What's New in Outlook Web App.
Managing Outlook Web App
When you install the Client Access server role, a default virtual directory named owa is created. For more information about Outlook Web App virtual directories, see Managing Outlook Web App Virtual Directories.
In Exchange 2010, the most common Outlook Web App management tasks can be accomplished in the Exchange Management Console. All these tasks, and many other tasks, can be accomplished by using the Exchange Management Shell. You'll still use tools such as Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager for some tasks, for example, configuring Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) or setting up simple URLs for users.
For more information about how to manage Outlook Web App, see the following topics:
Tools for Managing Outlook Web App
The following table lists the tools that you can use to configure and manage Outlook Web App in Exchange 2010.
Tools for managing Outlook Web App
| Tool | Description |
|---|---|
Exchange Management Console |
This graphical user interface is used to manage an Exchange 2010 organization. The EMC can be used to manage the most common settings for Outlook Web App. |
Exchange Management Shell |
This command-line interface for Exchange Server and the associated command-line plug-ins automate administrative tasks and management for many features that aren't included in the EMC. |
Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager |
IIS Manager is used to manage user access to the Outlook Web App virtual directories, for example, for simplifying the URL and forcing users to use an HTTPS address. |
Web.config |
Some Outlook Web App settings, such as the |
Registry Editor |
Some Outlook Web App configuration settings, such as the Warning Incorrectly editing the registry can cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Problems resulting from editing the registry incorrectly may not be able to be resolved. Before editing the registry, back up any valuable data. |
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Administrative Tasks for Managing Outlook Web App
The following table lists the configuration and management tasks that you can perform for Outlook Web App.
Configuration and management tasks for Outlook Web App
| Task | Description | Link |
|---|---|---|
Configure the virtual directories that are created for Web access to Exchange content |
When you install the Client Access server role on your Exchange server, four virtual directories are created in the default IIS Web site on the Exchange 2010 server. |
|
Simplify the Outlook Web App URL |
By using IIS Manager, you can simplify the Outlook Web App URL that users use to access Outlook Web App. |
|
Modify attachment handling settings |
You can configure the types of attachments that can be accessed in Outlook Web App and how those attachments are displayed. |
|
Configure authentication methods |
You can configure authentication methods, such as standard and forms-based authentication, for Outlook Web App. |
|
Modify language and character handling settings |
You can configure the default language and character settings for an Outlook Web App virtual directory. |
|
Configure Gzip compression settings |
Gzip enables data compression. By using Gzip, you can improve performance for users who are using Outlook Web App over slow network connections. |
|
Disable Web beacons |
Outlook Web App prevents senders from using Web beacons in junk e-mail messages to retrieve e-mail addresses. |
Configure Web Beacon and HTML Form Filtering for Outlook Web App |
Configure segmentation settings |
You can enable or disable specific Outlook Web App features according to the needs of your organization. |
|
Configure Outlook Web App mailbox policies |
Outlook Web App mailbox policies can be used to manage users' access to features through Outlook Web App at the organization level. |
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