Outlook 2013 vs. OWA 2013

I have had a few customers ask for a comparison table of the differences between Outlook (OL) 2013 and the Outlook Web App (OWA) 2013 experience. So here is a short, quick view into the comparison of OL vs. OWA.

Outlook vs. OWA 2013 Comparison Table

Feature

Feature Description

Outlook 2013

OWA 2013 (online mode)

AD Rights Management Services

Protects messages from unauthorized access.

Yes

Yes

Address Book Defaults

Allows a default address list (such as Contacts, GAL) to be chosen

Yes

Yes (Limited)

No offline address book

Auto discover Compatibility

Automatic setup of Exchange account

Yes

N/A

Auto Archive

Automatically moves older items to a local PST

Yes

N/A

Calendar Preview in Meeting Requests

Meeting requests show a preview of adjacent or conflicting appointments

Yes

No

Conversation Actions

Ignore and Clean Up/Delete buttons

Yes

Yes

Conversation View

Improved Conversation Threading

Yes

Yes

Cross Forest Mailbox Move Support

Auto reconfigure using auto discover

Yes

Yes

CSV Contacts Import/Export

Import/ Export CSV files in a standard format

Yes

No

Distribution Group Management

Management of memberships of Exchange Distribution Groups

Yes

Yes

Distribution Group Expansion

Expand DGs before sending to see all members

Yes

No

Enhanced Out of Office

Set external/internal message and from/to date range

Yes

Yes

Export PST

Allow PST files to be created and data exported

Yes

No

Federated Sharing Compatibility

Integration to allow access to remote calendar, share local calendar

Yes

Yes

Group Schedule View

Combine Multiple Calendars in One View

Yes

Yes

Import PST

Allow PST files to be imported to the mailbox

Yes

No

Instant Search

Fast searching using pre-built search index

Yes

Yes

Integrated E-Mail Archive

Online Archive Access

Yes

Yes

Mailbox Delegation

Assign permissions to other users (also called delegates) to allow them to sign in to the user’s mailbox or send messages on behalf of the user

Yes

Limited - Full Access Only

MailTips

Server side mail tips for OOF, Large DG, permissions to send or comments

Yes

Yes

Multiple Exchange Accounts

Multiple accounts with different servers or domains

Yes

No

Offline Address Book

OAB access and download

Yes

No

Lync

Start conversations video, call IM

Yes

Yes (IM)

Outlook Contact Card Photo and Voice Description

GAL Photos and UM Name along with availability

Yes

Yes

Reply to embedded email messages

Ability for users to reply to email messages sent as attachments

Yes

No

Quick Actions

Macros to perform multiple or common actions at once

Yes

No

Quick View

Allows viewing of compatible attachments without leaving Outlook

Yes

Yes

Resend Message

Resend button allows you to resend an email

Yes

No

Retention and Archive Policy Management

Set and view retention policy for folders

Yes

Yes

  Distribution list moderation  

ability to moderate distribution lists

Yes

No

Right-Hand Preview Pane

Message preview shown to the right of messages

Yes

Yes

Roaming Autocomplete List

Stored Nicknames on the server

Yes

Yes

RSS Aggregator

Subscribe to RSS Feeds from Outlook

Yes

No

Scheduling Assistance / Availability Service Integration

Real time calendar view for meeting and room bookings

Yes

Yes

Server-side Junk E-mail List

Modification of server side junk email allow/block list

Yes

Yes

Server-side rules

Modification of server side inbox rules

Yes

Yes

Reading pane at the bottom of the window

Option to display the reading pane at the bottom of the Outlook

Yes

No

Unified Inbox

Combined view of Inbox across multiple email accounts.

No

N/A

S/MIME Support

Allows the possibility of sending and/or receiving email encrypted

Yes

No

Voting Buttons

Allows approval of moderated messages or voting on user generated emails.

Yes

No

 

OWA Offline Mode Limitations

As of Exchange 2013 and IE 10 or higher and other supported browsers, OWA does have ‘Offline’ capabilities. However, there are some limitations:

  • Email from the last 3 days, up to 150 total items will be available offline.
  • Your calendar will contain the previous month and the next year of appointments.
  • Calendar reminders will exist for a limited period of time. If a computer is offline for a long period of time calendar reminders would no longer appear.
  • Archives are online only, and as such do not exist offline.
  • While contacts from your Exchange Server account are available offline, the auto-complete cache does not work.
  • Searching and sorting may not fully function
  • Attachments will not be available offline

Types of experience based on browser and Windows version

  • Best: All OWA App features will work
  • Good: Most features will work
  • Light: The browser will display the light version of OWA.

Desktops and laptops: OWA features available by Windows operating system and browser combination:

Web browser

Windows XP and Windows Server 2003

Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008

Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2

Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012

IE 7

Light

Not available

Not available

Not available

IE 8

Good

Good

Good

Not available

IE 9

Not available

Best

Best

Not available

IE 10

Not available

Not available

Best – plus offline access

Best – plus offline access

Chrome 24 or later

Good – plus offline access

Good – plus offline access

Best – plus offline access

Best – plus offline access

Firefox 17 or later

Good

Good

Best

Best

Safari 5 or later

Light

Light

Light

Light

 One major drawback is the fact that previous versions of OWA had a built-in spell checker. In Exchange 2013, OWA now relies on the web browser for spell checking, which IE prior to v10 does not provide.

See this page for additional information: https://officepreview.microsoft.com/en-us/support/supported-browsers-for-outlook-web-app-HA102824601.aspx

 

Differences between ‘Light’ and ‘Premium’ versions of OWA 2013

Feature

Light

Premium

Spelling checker

Not available

Available

Reading pane

Not available

Available

Accessibility for blind and low-vision users

Available

Not available

Notifications and Reminders

Not available

Available

Weekly calendar views

Not available

Available

Compose messages by using HTML

Only plain text is available in Outlook Web Access Light

Available

Calendar options

Limited to the following features:

  • Show week numbers
  • Set the first day of the week
  • Select days of the week
  • Set day start and end times

Available

Arrange By

Limited to a subset of choices, depending on the folder type

Available

Right-click menu

Not available

Available

Drag-and-drop

Not available

Available

Resource mailbox management

Not available

Available

Voice mail options

Not available

Available

Favorites

Not available

Available

OCS integration

Not available

Available

Public folders

Not available

Available

Share a calendar

Not available

Available

Open a shared calendar

Not available

Available

Monthly calendar views

Not available

Available

Conversation view

Not available

Available

Scroll between pages

Available

Not available

Retention Policies

Not available

Available

Users can create and edit personal distribution lists

Not available

Available

Users can create and edit server-side rules

Not available

Available

RMS protection

Not available

Available

RBAC - Change user settings

Not available

Available

RBAC - Administrator settings

Not available

Available

Web-ready document viewing

Not available

Available

Nickname cache

Not available

Available

Message tracking

Not available

Available

Advanced search

Not available

Available

MailTips

Not available

Available

Exchange control panel

Not available

Available

Attach message to a message

Not available

Available

 

I hope this helps by consolidating some of the information out there on the internet into one listed table.  

 

Mike