Improvements to Outlook Web Access Top the List of Enhancements In Exchange 2000 Service Pack 2

REDMOND, Wash., Dec. 5, 2001 — Today Microsoft®
Exchange customers worldwide can download Exchange 2000 Service Pack 2 (SP2) from the Web, which delivers better reliability, management and support. There’s something for everyone — new diagnosis, deployment and migration tools for IT administrators help make their Exchange infrastructure more stable, and feature improvements for end users provide better navigation and overall experience.

Mobile Experience More Like Outlook

“We continue to make improvements to Outlook®
Web Access because Exchange customers are increasingly on the go and they are demanding powerful and intelligent tools to make them more productive and efficient,” said Kevin McCuistion, group product manager for Exchange at Microsoft Corp. “The result is a user experience that is so similar to that of the Outlook client, some people will have to double-check to see which client they are using.”

Exchange 2000 SP2 improves the Outlook Web Access calendar experience with a view that displays multiple days, including views of discontinuous days, and new double-click support. For example, double-clicking on a time slot automatically creates a new meeting. The new calendar controls also improve performance as well as offer new functionality.

With SP2, Outlook Web Access now supports meeting reminder pop-up windows, including the popular feature that lists all undismissed reminders in a single window. Outlook Web Access users can also search their mailbox and view and edit distribution lists stored in their Contacts folder. View and browsing enhancements allow users to skip to the next or previous item for reading mail and perform type-down searches.

Because Outlook Web Access is a primary tool for mobile workers to access their e-mail, calendar, contacts and collaborative information from any Internet-connected PC, the new logoff page for kiosk operation is essential so users can officially sign out of an Outlook Web Access session ensuring security. Segmentation is also available to IT administrators to disable portions of Outlook Web Access.

Additional Features in Exchange 2000 SP2

  • Updated Migration Wizard. In SP2, the migration tool has been extended to allow migration of Exchange 2000 mailboxes between Exchange organizations. This capability is important for moving mailboxes because of corporate mergers or other architecture changes.

  • Active Directory (TM) service improvements. Enhancements to the interaction between Exchange Server and Active Directory improve performance, reliability and stability of the system.

  • Improved message tracking. The new, more usable messaging tracking UI has more of an Outlook feel and increased performance.

  • Exchange 2000 Conferencing Server improvements. Administrators can enforce a minimum level on encryption on the Multipoint Control Unit (MCU), providing encrypted audio and video conferences.

Exchange 2000 SP2 is an important component of Microsoft’s commitment to delivering high-quality customer support. While developing SP2, Microsoft relied on feedback from customers and Microsoft Product Support Services (PSS). As a result, SP2 is a collection of fixes that continue to increase the reliability of Exchange 2000 and assure customers that their servers are up to date.

Availability

Exchange 2000 Service Pack 2 is available for customers worldwide to download today at http://www.microsoft.com/exchange/downloads/2000/sp2/default.asp . North American customers also can call (800) 826-8080 to order. SP2 is a cumulative service pack that includes Service Pack 1 functionality and fixes.

About Exchange

Exchange is the leader in messaging and collaboration, with more than 94 million licenses sold. Exchange 2000 is the easy-to-manage messaging and collaboration platform that provides e-mail, calendaring, instant messaging, conferencing and services for custom collaborative applications that bring people and information together. Exchange 2000 delivers enhanced reliability, scalability, manageability and performance with a lower total cost of ownership.

About Microsoft

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and Internet technologies for personal and business computing. The company offers a wide range of products and services designed to empower people through great software — any time, any place and on any device.

Microsoft, Outlook and Active Directory are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries.

The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.

For more information on Exchange 2000:

Visit http://www.microsoft.com/exchange/ .

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