New Clothes

Exchange Server 2013 and Sharepoint Server 2013

Companies that use Sharepoint 2013 can use Sharepoint for improved browsing of mailboxes and public folders in Exchange Server 2013. The new Exchange Server uses a completely new search interface to do this. Email messages that users in Sharepoint 2013 find on servers with Exchange Server 2013 can be exported to PST files. Exchange will also integrate with Fast Search Server. The new Exchange version can also connect to domains based on Windows Server 2003; you do not necessarily need Windows Server 2012. Although you can install Exchange Server 2013 on domain controllers, Microsoft does not recommend doing so. After installing Exchange, you cannot, however, promote the server to a domain controller or demote a domain controller once Exchange is in place.

Microsoft has also released Exchange Server 2013 for virtualization [7], which is ideally suited to Hyper-V in Windows Server 2012, but Windows Server 2008 R2 is also supported.

Has-Beens

Outlook 2003 and associated connectors are no longer available in Exchange Server 2013. These can, therefore, no longer be used. If Exchange finds this kind of connection, it sends all email received via a specific Receive Connector to the linked connector, regardless of the other rules. A connection like this always has priority. The connection is handled by the Exchange Management Shell. For linked connectors, other connectors and rules are always disabled. Therefore, before using Exchange Server 2012, you must remove these connectors.

Also, managed folders are no longer available. Their functions are now integrated into the retention policies. If you enable anti-spam filters on mailbox servers, you can only manage them in the Exchange Management Shell. The Hub Transport and Unified Messaging server roles are no longer available. These functions are handled by the Mailbox server and Client Access server. The MMC-based management console is a thing of the past. Management now either takes place via the Exchange Management Shell or the web-based administration console instead.

Microsoft has greatly simplified management of databases, connected smartphones and tablets, and quotas for mailboxes with fewer menus and no nested structures. The new Exchange version no longer supports access to shared mailboxes of other users, moderation of distribution lists, S/MIME, and modifications to the reading pane in the Outlook Web App. Additionally, Microsoft has removed many tools such as the Best Practices Analyzer. The tools only support Exchange Server 2010. Besides the Analyzer, Microsoft has also done away with the Log Viewer and other applications from the toolbox.

Outlook Web App

Microsoft has revamped the Outlook Web App interface for users. It is now oriented on Outlook 2013. Once synchronized, users can work offline with Outlook Web App 2013. Also new is the integration of apps for Outlook Web App (OWA). It lets users extend the interface to include new features. OWA 2013 works best with Firefox as of version 14, Chrome as of Version 18, and Internet Explorer as of Version 10. Microsoft has also optimized the new interface for touch operation (Figure 5). The calendar and contacts views are also improved.

Figure 5: Microsoft has adapted the Outlook Web App to reflect current design strategy.