Microsoft Exchange 2013 is getting closer, and one of the areas Microsoft are focusing on with their next release is improved Outlook Web Access (OWA) support for mobile users. Most modern mobile platforms support ActiveSync (provided free of charge with our hosted Microsoft Exchange platforms) however there are times when OWA access is the preferred option.

Exchange 2013 OWA improvements.

Amongst the improvements for Outlook Web Access 2013 are:

OWA Offline

When using a compatible browser (IE 10, or the latest Safari and Chrome) OWA can used cached mailbox data in offline mode. This means users can make changes to their mailbox (read messages, flag for follow-up, move to folders, etc) and OWA will sync those changes back to the Exchange server when the network is available.

Wider browser support

OWA 2012 already works across non-IE browsers, however OWA 2013 improves the webmail’s interface on modern browser platforms.

Interface scaling

The Outlook Web Access web interface has been redesigned to scale nicely across different browser display widths. This means users should enjoy a great email experience whether on a smartphone, tablet, or desktop display.