Can I use Outlook 2010 (beta) with OWA account?

Question

One of the new features of Outlook 2010 (beta) is the support for multiple Exchange accounts. I'm wondering if there is any way to use this together with a (different) Outlook Web Access account to also get that email in Outlook.

Specifially, in additional to my regular corporate (Exchange) account, I also use another corporate account through OWA. With this second account, the only supported access is through OWA; while POP3 access is available, it is not actually suported.

I'm not very familiar with configuring Exchange servers, but in talking to those who are, it sounds like enabling Outlook Web Access is (slightly) different than allowing access from Outlook via HTTP(s). Is that correct? If so, it doesn't really semm quite right as absolute worst-case, one could (theoretically) resort to screen-scraping OWA.

Edit: this looks to be about the same as Activesync/OWA Desktop Client?

(This doesn't have anything to do with the question, but I'm actually using this second corporate account in Outlook by POP3'ing to Gmail, and then IMAP4 from Gmail to Outlook. Obviously, it would be much nicer to add it as a second Exchange account.).

Answer 1

Seriously, it seems that Microsoft is trying to keep people from using Outlook in an obvious way. I can use ActiveSync from my Android device with no problem. It seems utterly foolish of MS to not include this protocol in their flagship desktop e-mail app.

Google wins again. Shame on your Microsoft.

Answer 2

I wrote the question that you linked to in your edit, a question I still haven't found a good answer to.

Please someone correct me if I'm wrong. It seems there's 4 ways to connect to exchange: RPC, RPC over HTTPS(eg. Outlook Anywhere), OWA, and Activesync.

RPC is how Outlook connects to Exchange on the LAN(or VPN), you always hide this behind the firewall.

OWA is IIS serving up a web version of Outlook.

Outlook Anywhere is Outlook wrapping RPC in HTTPS(Why can't you just expose RPC to the world?)

Activesync is how WM phones/Blackberry's/iPhones/etc talk to Exchange.

Where I think the confusion sets in, MOST of the time, admins seem to set up Outlook Anywhere(a proxy), Activesync, and OWA on the same public server. This make them seem to be the same, but they are not. Case in point, where I work I have OWA and Activesync, but no Outlook Anywhere. Result of this, my iPod touch can talk activesync to Exchange, but my freakin' desktop Outlook cannot.

So my point is, you can connect to that "OWA" account if Outlook Anywhere is enabled.

Again, please correct me if I'm wrong on any of this.

Answer 3

Outlook Web Access is (slightly) different than allowing access from Outlook via HTTP(s).

Yes.

Outlook Web Access is the online web based email that you can use from anywhere.

Outlook via HTTP(s) is basically the Outlook protocol delivered in a http(s) wrapper, so it has no easy to use web based mail....

However, both are easy to install and administer

I highly recommend you try the Exchange Technet Virtual Labs where you can mess around and test this in a Virtual environment.

Answer 4

I would have to ask why the second account is only available through OWA. I can understand POP3 not being supoported (by your IT support team), and historically you would have had no benefit from the account being available through Outlook directly (since you could not have connected to it anyway).

If they will enable MAPI access, and delegate rights to your normal user to send and receive on behalf of this other 'user' then accessing both from Outlook 2010 would seem to be ideal. Note: this is Beta of course, so you won't have any support if things come unstuck. I've been running Outlook 2010 under the Technical Preview for several months with 2 exchange accounts quite happily though, but "your mileage may vary"

Answer 5

Outlook over HTTP requires quite a bit of architcture on the Exchange side of things. Specifically, it requires a two server Exchange environment. One is a web facing front end server for handling client connections and the other is the back end database the stores the actual mail data. Currently, this is the only way Outlook over HTTP (Outlook Anywhere) is supported. Why Microsoft has never enabled Outlook to connect to an Exchange server via ActiveSync Push is beyond me...seems liks a no brainer (if a phone can do it, why can't your PC?). Anyway, this may all change with Exchange 2010.