S/MIME Benefits in OWA 2003

Some benefits of using the S/MIME control in OWA 2003
Outlook Web Access (OWA) in Exchange Server 2003 has many fine features that make you feel like you were using the full-featured Outlook client. With that said, note that you can improve the user’s experience by opting to install the S/MIME control on your machine.
The S/MIME control is used to allow the user to read encrypted emails sent to him (providing he or she has the private key used to decrypt the messages), and to send encrypted and digitally signed messages to other users. Read more about it on the Configure Message Security in OWA 2003 article.
Besides that ability, by installing this control you also get additional useful features to enhance your OWA experience:

• Drag and Drop messages – You will be able to drag and drop existing messages into new messages that you are currently composing, and by doing so you will see those messages added as .eml attachments.

• Drag and Drop attachments – You will be able to drag and drop files from an open Windows Explorer window directly into new messages you are composing, and the file attachment tool is much easier to use than having to browse with the old way.

Before:

After:

• Enhanced Fonts – Instead of having just 5 default fonts to choose from, you now have access to all the installed fonts on your system.

Before:

After:

• Solves issues with Hebrew and Arabic fonts – The problem and solution is described in the Hebrew Subject Problems in OWA 2003 article.

Use OWA’s Options screen to install the S/MIME control:

Note that the S/MIME control needs to be installed separately on any machine you use to work with OWA, but the installation can be automated by usage of GPO.
BTW, there’s an issue with IE 7 and the S/MIME control found in Exchange 2003. Read more about it and how to fix it in Internet Explorer 7 Crashes when Posting Messages in OWA 2003.

Related articles

You may find these related articles of interest to you:

• Configuring Forms-Based Authentication in OWA and Exchange 2003
• Configure ISA to Publish OWA
• Configure Message Security in Exchange 2003
• Configure Message Security in Outlook 2003
• Configure Message Security in OWA 2003
• Configure OMA in Exchange 2003
• Configure OWA 2003 Attachment Blocking
• Configure SSL on OMA
• Configure SSL on OWA
• Configure SSL on Your Website with IIS
• Configure Web Access to Newsgroups Hosted on Exchange 2000/2003
• Disable Spell Checking in OWA 2003
• Enable Password Changing through OWA in Exchange 2003
• Hebrew Subject Problems in OWA 2003
• How to Synchronize a Pocket PC with Exchange 2003?
• Internet Explorer 7 Crashes when Posting Messages in OWA 2003
• Problems with Forms-Based Authentication and SSL in ActiveSync
• Removing S/MIME Control in OWA 2003
• Reset OWA 2000/2003 Language
• Test OMA in Exchange 2003
• Web Access to Alternate PF