RIP ExchangeLabs, Hello Outlook Live!

So this is pretty big news for the hosting community in several ways.  First it shows that Microsoft is committed to students having access to way cooler email experiences than everyone else!  It is also a heads up to some new and exciting features in the next version of Exchange.

 The previously labelled Exchange Labs provided free mailboxes on Exchange 14 to students.  This was a great way for Microsoft to make sure that Exchange 14 will scale to very large numbers as well as test other scenarios and new features of Exchange.  So whats new?  To start, this program has been renamed to Outlook Live.  In addition to just students being able to sign up for these services, this is now open to faculty as well. 

 In addition Microsoft is providing a new browser experience in a few ways, I cant put it as well as KC Lemson, so here are her words:

"One of the biggest features we're announcing today is multi-browser support for the premium version of Outlook Web Access (OWA). With Exchange 14, you can access the premium version of OWA or Outlook Live with Firefox, Safari, and Internet Explorer. We’ve always supported all browsers with what we call “OWA Light”, a simpler version of OWA. The difference now is that you can get the full rich experience with drag ‘n drop & the rest of that AJAX-y goodness in all three browsers."

In addition to that great announcement, there will also be Instant messaging integrated right into the OWA browser!! 

Check out the neat video demo here  https://msexchangeteam.com/archive/2009/02/12/450639.aspx

Stay tuned to this Blog for more info on Exchange 14 and the impending beta program!

Marcel Messing

Hosting Technology Specialist