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: http://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:
| 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