Frequently Asked Questions

Summary: This page answers some of the most frequently asked questions about UW Exchange.

Topics on this page

• Who Can Use UW Exchange?
• What Are the Benefits of Outlook and Exchange?
• When Will UW Exchange Be Available?
• How Much Does UW Exchange Cost?
• How Do It Get a UW Exchange Account?
• What Is the Difference Between Exchange, Outlook, and Outlook Express?
• Can I Use UW Exchange With a Mac?
• How Do I Access Exchange 2007 Email From a Unix/Linux Computer?
• What Are the Key Differences Between Outlook 2007 on Windows and Entourage on a Macintosh?
• What Are the Key Differences Between Outlook 2007 on Windows and Outlook Web Access Using Firefox on Unix/Linux?
• Can We Use Oracle Connector to Pull Oracle Data into Exchange?

Who Can Use UW Exchange?

Microsoft Exchange is available to UW faculty and staff.

What Are the Benefits of Outlook and Exchange?

With Outlook, you have the convenience of using the same full-featured graphical user interface for both email and calendar. You can access Outlook from Web browsers and mobile devices, so you can check email and calendar away from your desk. Exchange offers integration of email and calendaring with Microsoft applications. For example, if you are reading your email remotely through a Web browser, you can view an attachment such as a PowerPoint presentation, even if you don't have PowerPoint installed on the computer that you are using.

These benefits will be available to with the initial UW Exchange offering. A later project will deliver Live Communications Server, which offers integration of email, calendaring, and instant messaging with Microsoft applications. For example, if you are working on an Excel spreadsheet and you realize that you need to contact a colleague with a question about it, you can send an instant message or email to that person without leaving the Excel application.

When Will UW Exchange Be Available?

Release 1 of UW Exchange is available to early adopters now.

How Much Does UW Exchange Cost?

The UW Exchange service will be funded on a fee-based, cost-recovery basis. The fees for Exchange are:

• $8 per user mailbox per month. Mailbox size is 1 Gbyte standard, with 2 Gbytes available on request (mailbox sizes are still under review).
• $3 per resource account per month. Resource accounts are for conference rooms, projectors, and other resources. Resource accounts allow the resources to be scheduled using the Exchange calendar.
• Blackberry users will have to pay an additional fee to UW Technology (Blackberry fees are still under review).

These amounts may be refined over the next several months as costs and economies of scale are identified. However, it is expected that the $8 per mailbox per month fee will be in place until at least June of 2009. Depending on the level of service required by your department, additional fees might apply for migration and support. Also, certain licensing costs might apply.

These fees apply for non-Nebula subscribers. If your department subscribes through Nebula, Nebula fees apply. Nebula fees are published on the Nebula site.

How Do It Get a UW Exchange Account?

Contact your departmental IT support staff.

What Is the Difference Between Exchange, Outlook, and Outlook Express?

Exchange Server 2007 is Microsoft's server software that provides calendar, scheduling, and messaging features (including email) in a secure, scalable environment. Outlook is client software for email and scheduling, which means it is the application on your computer that allows you to take advantage of the many benefits offered by an Exchange Server environment. Other clients can also be used with Exchange, for example, there are clients for mobile devices and Macintosh computers. Outlook is part of the Microsoft Office product suite. Do not confuse Outlook with Outlook Express. Outlook Express is an email-only client that comes with the Windows operating system.

Can I Use UW Exchange With a Mac?

Yes. Entourage is Microsoft's Exchange client software program for Macintosh computers. You can also use Outlook Web Access. For more information, see Client Software Choices.

How Do I Access Exchange 2007 From a Unix/Linux Box?

While not recommended, you can use Outlook Web Access with Firefox 2.x.  

What Are the Key Differences Between Outlook 2007 on Windows and Entourage on a Macintosh?

The following are different in Entourage:

• Recovering deleted items, connecting to other mailboxes, connecting to email stored in .pst files, and creating message rules are not available.
• Opening and editing Microsoft Office format 1997-2003 attachments is possible only if you have Office 2004 installed on your Macintosh.
• Opening and editing Microsoft Office format 2007 attachments will not be possible until Office 2008 for the Macintosh is released.

What Are the Key Differences Between Outlook 2007 on Windows and Outlook Web Access Using Firefox?

Both Firefox and Safari run a light version of the Outlook Web Access client, which accounts for many of the differences cited here. Internet Explorer is required to run the premium version. However, a Firefox extension called IE Tab is available. IE Tab can embed an Internet Explorer instance within a Firefox tab, so you can get the full client experience without launching IE.

The following are different in Firefox:

• Recovering deleted items, connecting to other mailboxes, connecting to email stored in .pst files, creating message rules, spell checking, task management, and rich-text formatting are not available.
• No reading pane.
• No drag-and-drop of email messages into folders. Mail can be moved to a folder using menus.
• No weekly or monthly calendar views.
• On Unix, opening and editing Microsoft Office format 2007 attachments will not be possible until a third-party application that is compatible with Office 2007 is released.

Can We Use Oracle Connector to Pull Oracle Data into Exchange?

Yes, this is possible. One strategy might be to use Oracle Connector to import data to a separate calendar, then export that calendar to a .PST file. Then, one can remove the Oracle Connector, import the .PST data, and continue from there.

Note that Oracle does not support the use of the Oracle Connector for Outlook with Outlook 2007.