Microsoft releases Exchange Server 2010 SP2

Microsoft has rolled out the second service pack for Exchange Server 2010, adding new features such as a lightweight Outlook web app and a configuration tool for hybrid on-premise and cloud deployments.

Exchange customer experience manager Kevin Allison announced the release of Exchange Server 2010 SP2 on Monday, in a blog post. "We're delighted to continually add value to Exchange as part of our ongoing release rhythm and the enhancements in this Service Park are largely due to your feedback," he wrote.

The lightweight mail application is called Outlook Web App (OWA) Mini. Designed for mobile devices with low resolution, the text-based interface can run on low bandwidth and gives access to email, calendar, contacts, tasks and global address lists.

OWA Mini lets users compose, reply to and forward emails, respond to meeting requests, and create and edit calendar entries.

SP2 also aims to address the needs of companies that have Exchange deployed both on-premise and in Microsoft's Office 365 cloud suite. A hybrid configuration wizard lets administrators set up a unified look and feel for the company's deployment, while also providing a streamlined way to perform tasks such as moving mailboxes between in-house servers and the cloud.

The service pack removes the need for manual configuration of the web.config file on each Client Access server, for those who want to move mailboxes from on-premise servers to Outlook.com. It also makes it impossible to remove or disable a mailbox that has been placed on hold for legal reasons.

The pack also lets administrators turn off the auto-mapping feature that Exchange 2010 SP1 used so Outlook clients could automatically map to any mailbox for which the user has full access permissions.

When a user was granted full access to another user's mailbox, this feature automatically loaded all the relevant mailboxes, and very large numbers of mailboxes caused "performance issues" when starting Outlook, Microsoft explained in release notes.

Allison reiterated that those installing Exchange 2010 SP2 would need to update their Active Directory schema, as Microsoft encouraged them to do earlier this year in preparation for the service pack's release.