Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 includes a new feature named WebReady Document Viewing. WebReady Document Viewing lets users view common file types in the Outlook Web Access Web browser without having the applications associated with those file types installed on the computer they are using. Users can view the following kinds of files by using WebReady Document Viewing:

• .doc
  
  
• .pdf
  
  
• .ppt
  
  
• .xls
  
  

Additionally, the supported MIME types are as follows:

• application/pdf
  
  
• application/vnd.ms-excel
  
  
• application/vnd.ms-powerpoint
  
  
• application/word
  
  
• application/x-mspowerpoint
  
  
• application/x-msexcel
  
  

For more information about how to manage WebReady Document Viewing for users, see How to Manage WebReady Document Viewing.

Exchange 2007 SP1 adds WebReady Document Viewing support for the 2007 Microsoft Office system Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents.

In addition to file access within Outlook Web Access, you can also configure how users interact with files by using the Allow, Block, or Force Save options for direct file access in the Exchange Management Console. This means that you can specify the types of files that users can access. More important, you can directly specify which types of files are prohibited. For more information about how to manage public and private computer file access, see How to Manage Public and Private Computer File Access.

Note:
Some files are always blocked by Outlook Web Access. They include .mht files and non-XML file types that contain XML content. This behavior is not configurable.

Using Outlook Web Access, you can access remote files that are stored on both Windows SharePoint Services (WSS) and Windows file share (also known as UNC) servers. You can configure how users interact with files on these servers by using the Allow and Block options in the Exchange Management Console. This means that you can specify which servers your users can access. You can also specify the behavior for WSS and Windows file share servers that have not been specifically allowed or blocked when users try to access them using Outlook Web Access. For more information about how to manage data access for Outlook Web Access, see Configuring Windows SharePoint Services and Windows File Share Integration for Outlook Web Access.

For more information about how to manage Outlook Web Access on the computer that is running Microsoft Exchange Server 2007, see Managing Outlook Web Access.