XWEB: Unable to Open Public Folder Link Through Outlook Web Access (249458)

SYMPTOMS

When you create a new message in a Microsoft Outlook client that includes a link to a public folder, opening the message from Outlook Web Access (OWA) may produce different results than expected. If Outlook is installed on the system that is using OWA, Outlook will be started to try to connect to the public folder. However, if Outlook is not installed on the system that is using OWA, the URL will not be usable.

Because OWA can't use a URL to navigate directly to a public folder, it attempts to resolve the link with Outlook unless the URL does not exist on the system.