The OWA team did an amazing job duplicating Outlook 2007's look and feel in OWA, including nearly all of the features and views as found in Outlook 2007.  Exchange 2007's OWA client is about as identical to Outlook 2007's interface as you can expect in a browser based client.
 
This week we'll look at some of the general  improvements in the OWA interface and those that affect email. In coming weeks we'll review changes in other areas of OWA.
 
The improvements to the overall usability of OWA include a smart logon page which remembers your private/public computer selection as well as the username you entered on trusted machines. This means you only have to enter your password each time you log on using your own computer. If you use a Mac or other browsers (besides IE6 and 7), you can choose the light version of OWA and your choice will be remembered. Users with low vision or who use screen readers will find OWA 2007 is more accessible and works better with screen readers.
 
The Outlook features now available in OWA include the following:
 
     *     Email now appears automatically as it arrives in your Inbox
and the unread counts in the folder tree stay up-to-date so you no longer have keep checking for new messages.
     *     You can drag and drop one or more items  from the mail list
into folders and work with them by right clicking and choosing actions from the menus.
     *     When you right-click on a folder, the  context menu includes
options to create new or rename existing folders right in the folder tree list and a Mark All as Read option.  You can also empty the Deleted folder on a right click.
     *     Also new to OWA is the option to empty the deleted folder
when you log off the web site.
     *     Reminders no longer pop up in a separate window, which means
they aren't affected by popup blockers. They drop down from the title area of the folder and are easily hidden, snoozed, or dismissed. 
     *     OWA has its own auto-complete list, making it easy to send
messages to frequently used addresses.
     *      You can view the properties (phone number, email addresses,
etc) of resolved names by right clicking on them.
     *     You can set importance and priority, and request read
receipts from a message options menu.
     *     Use the HTML editor to change fonts, add color or add a
hyperlink to a message.
     *     View message headers for e-mail.
     *     Move the Reading Pane that's shown on the right by default to
the bottom or  turn it off.
     *     You can custom sort when using the Arranged by view in the
message list. Depending on the sort selected, the list supports a "typedown search". This feature jumps you to the matching entry after typing just the first few letters in the From or Subject field.
     *     There is new conversation view that's just as good as the By
Conversation view in Outlook.
 
Microsoft did such a good job at replicating the look and feel of Outlook in the web client that I won't be surprised if users are confused about which client they are using to access their mailboxes.
These improvements should also reduce the complaints from thin clients users who previously used Outlook.

IMAP support in previous versions of Outlook left much to be desired. It was slower than other IMAP clients and lacked many features users came to expect, like automatic purging of deleted items and moving sent items to the IMAP server.
 
While Outlook 2007 still leaves much to be desired when used with IMAP accounts,  you have more choices when it comes to purging deleted items, with options to purge deleted items from all accounts, the current folder, or the current account. You can also configure it to automatically purge folders when you switch folders
 
To configure automatic purging, look on the Edit, Purge menu for Purge Options.
 
Outlook 2007 also includes another popular request: the ability to choose a Sent items folder for each account. This allows you to save your sent items on the IMAP server. Do this from the Folders tab in the More Settings dialog for the IMAP account.

Exchange ActiveSync offers improvements to direct push e-mail, including the ability to synchronize mailbox items on demand, at scheduled times, or have new items automatically delivered as they arrive on the server.
Along with email, you can also sync the calendar, contacts, tasks and the GAL. Unlike the ActiveSync client used with non-Exchange accounts, multiple e-mail folders can be synchronized with the mobile device.
 
Other mobile-friendly features include inline message fetch, which is the ability to download long attachments without reloading the entire message, and information rights management, which allows users with proper authority to view protected messages without being connected to a server.
 
Note that Exchange ActiveSync features are also available in Exchange
2003 SP2.

It never ceases to amaze me when users post feature requests in the Microsoft communities for features already available  in Outlook, in part because it's such a powerful program and it's easy to overlook creative ways of using existing features. 
 
     *      Use Group by to make mass changes to contacts
The quickest way to change Company names and other fields that are often identical across many contacts is by dragging them to a new group. All you need to do is create a view that groups by the field that you want to change. Not all fields can be used for groups, but for those that are groupable, it's a quick way to make changes and is easier than exporting to Excel and using Excel's fill or find and replace to edit the contacts before importing.
             
     *      Use AutoArchive to clean up deleted items and junk email
folders
While it's not much effort to right click on the Deleted items or Junk email folders and choose Empty, it's a few clicks more than you really need. Just set up AutoArchive to run every couple of days and delete items a couple of days old in those folders to keep both folders manageable. While you can go as low as 1 day, I like to set it for up to a week so I have time to look for messages that I may have deleted accidently or were misdirected to the junk email folder.
     
All you need to do is right click on the Deleted Items and Junk Email folders and choose Properties, then the AutoArchive tab. Configure the age of each folder as desired and enable AutoArchiving in Tools, Options, AutoArchive.
 
     *      Use Search folders and Custom views instead of moving
messages to other folders using rules.
On the surface it seems like creating rules and moving incoming messages to new folders is the best way to manage email, in part because it replicates a paper file system everyone is familiar with. Unfortunately, too many rules can be unmanageable, in part because the Rules Wizard interface is clunky and it's the only way to manage rules. In addition, moving messages tends to make it harder to manage email, especially when the folders are deeply nested and it makes it hard to quickly find the messages you need.
 
Fewer folders and rules and more views and search folders will make it easy to find messages.  If you like an empty Inbox, create a couple of folders for sorting mail - such as one for messages you are still working on and one for messages you are finished with and drag the messages to the folders as needed. You can read mail from the unread mail folder (Outlook 2003) or use an Unread view and make use of flags and categories for marking the messages that still need worked on.
 
If you would like to post your own feature requests, visit the Office Communities site at http://www.microsoft.com/office/community/en-us/FlyoutOverview.mspx. A list of the Microsoft newsgroups that are available through the browser interface is at http://www.microsoft.com/communities/products/default.mspx. Vista's newsgroup client also supports community features, including feature requests.
 
Outlook-tiips.net has these and more than 300 other tips that will help you get the most out of Outlook. http://www.outlook-tips.net/archives/

Would you like to see what's new in Office 2007 but don't want to hassle with installing it on your computer? Or do you want to see what the fuss is about before installing it on your computer? No problem, you can test it using just a web browser.
 
The requirements for the test drive are Internet Explorer 6 or later, a browser plug-in (for terminal access), and a broadband Internet connection. You'll have a better experience if you use a screen resolution of 1024 x 768 or greater. These trial versions contain most of the functionality of the regular versions, although saving and printing documents is not enabled.
 
See http://www.microsoft.com/office/preview/beta/testdrive.mspx for more details and to sign up.