In Outlook Web Access (OWA), what are the "Premium" and "Light" interfaces?
Outlook Web Access (OWA) provides two distinctly different interfaces, Premium or Light, depending on the combination of browser and operating system you use to access it.
On this page:
- Premium interface
- Requirements for Premium interface
- Light interface
- Requirements for Light interface
- Features missing in Light interface
Premium interface
Screenshot of the OWA Premium interface
The Premium interface comes closest to replicating the actual Microsoft Office Outlook experience, with some right-click functionality and access to the full feature set.
Requirements for the Premium interface
You receive the Premium interface when you are using one of the following combinations of operating system and browser:
| Version of Windows | Supported versions of Internet Explorer (IE) |
|
|---|---|---|
|
| ||
| Vista | 7 or later | |
| Server 2003 | 6 or later | |
| XP (all versions) | 6 or later | |
| 2000 Server | 6 or later | |
| Millennium Edition | 6 or later | |
Light interface
Screenshot of the OWA Light interface
The Light interface is faster and is available on a wide variety of browsers and operating systems.
Requirements for the Light interface
You receive the Light interface when you are using one of the following combinations of operating system and browser:
| Operating system | Supported browsers | |
|---|---|---|
| Windows Vista | Mozilla Firefox 1.8, Opera 7.54 | |
| Windows Server 2003 | Mozilla Firefox 1.8, Opera 7.54 | |
| Windows XP (all versions) | Mozilla Firefox 1.8, Opera 7.54 | |
| Windows 2000 Server | Internet Explorer 5.01, 5.5 | |
| Windows Millennium Edition | Internet Explorer 5.5 | |
| Windows 98 | Internet Explorer 5.01, 5.5 | |
| Mac OS 9 | Internet Explorer 5.01, Netscape Navigator 7.1 | |
| Mac OS X 10.3 or later | Safari 1.2 or later | |
| Solaris 9, x86 | Mozilla Firefox 1.8, Netscape Navigator 7.1 | |
| Linux Red Hat Desktop (RHEL3) | Mozilla Firefox 1.8, Netscape Navigator 7.1 | |
| HP/UX 11i | Mozilla Firefox 1.8, Netscape Navigator 7.1 | |
The information in the above tables comes from Educating information workers about Outlook Web Access.
Features missing in Light interface
The following features of OWA Premium are not present in Light:
- The Tasks module
- Task specific properties: Only the text of the task items can be read through OWA Light.
- Search for mail items: OWA Light users can search only Contacts and Address Book.
- Reminders
- HTML composing of messages: OWA Light users get only plain text textboxes with no editing or formatting options.
- Flags and Categories
- Weekly view in Calendar: OWA Light shows the daily view only.
- Free/Busy grid in Appointment/Meeting Scheduling Assistant: OWA Light users get only "Suggested Times".
- Spell Check
- Conversation View
- Account Quota information
- Recover Deleted Items
- Calendar month view
- Add/edit distribution lists
- Public Folder access
- S/MIME features
- Add/edit rules
The information above is taken from the Microsoft Exchange team blog: Microsoft Outlook Web Access Light 2007.
Last modified on August 13, 2008.
