System Requirements

To run Microsoft Exchange Online you need:

Operating systems

  • Windows 7

  • Windows Vista with Service Pack 2

  • Windows XP with Service Pack 3

  • Windows XP Home Edition is supported, but it will not support federated identity

  • Windows XP Media Center edition is supported, but it will not support federated identity

  • Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard, 10.6 Snow Leopard

System software

  • Microsoft .NET Framework 3.0 (for Windows XP)

  • Java client 1.4.2 (for Macintosh OS X)

Office clients

  • Microsoft Office 2010 or Office 2007 Service Pack 2

  • Office 2008 for Mac and Microsoft Entourage 2008 Web Services Edition

  • Office 2011 for Mac and Outlook 2011 for Mac

  • .NET Framework 2.0 or later

Client applications

  • Services Connector

Browser software—Microsoft Online Portal

  • Internet Explorer 7 or later

  • Mozilla Firefox 3.x

  • Apple Safari 3.x

Browser requirements—Microsoft Outlook Web App

  • Internet Explorer 7 or later

  • Firefox 3 or later

  • Safari 3 or later on Macintosh OS X 10.5

  • Chrome 3 and later versions

  • Outlook Web App also has a light version that supports a reduced set of features on almost any browser


Refer to the Exchange Online Service Description for full details on features and subscription types.

To run Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 you need:

  • Computer—An x64 architecture-based computer with Intel processor that supports Intel Extended Memory 64 Technology (Intel EM64T) or AMD processor that supports the AMD64 platform; Intel Itanium family IA64 processors are not supported.

  • Operating system—Microsoft Windows Server 2008 x64 Standard and Enterprise Edition with Service Pack 2 or Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard and Enterprise Edition.

  • Operating system—for installing management tools?The 64-bit editions Microsoft Windows Vista or Microsoft Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008. Note: Requirements only for management tools installation.

Additional requirements to run Exchange Server 2010

  • Memory—Minimum of 4 gigabytes (GB) of RAM per server plus 5 megabytes (MB) of RAM recommended for each mailbox.

  • Disk space

    • At least 1.2 GB on the drive used for installation.

    • An additional 500 MB of available disk space for each Unified Messaging (UM) language pack that you plan to install.

    • 200 MB of available disk space on the system drive.

  • Drive—DVD-ROM drive, local or network-accessible.

  • File format—Disk partitions formatted as NTFS file systems.

  • Monitor—Screen resolution 800x600 pixels or higher.

Exchange Server 2010 prerequisites

If these prerequisites are not already installed, the Exchange Server 2010 setup process will prompt and provide links to the installation locations; Internet access is required if the prerequisites are not already installed or available on a local network.

  • Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 SP1

  • Windows PowerShell v2.0

Detailed technical requirements

Actual requirements will vary based on system configuration and specific features installed. For more detailed system requirements, please visit the Exchange Server 2010 Technical Documentation Library.

Forefront Protection 2010 for Exchange System Requirements

  • All minimum system memory and disk space requirements for Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 SP1 or Exchange Server 2010 must be met before you can install FPE. Too little available memory or disk space may impact the ability of FPE to scan large files. Also, you cannot install FPE if previous versions of the product are installed.

  • For evaluation purposes, 32-bit operating systems are supported.

  • To protect Exchange server, if both the Exchange server and SharePoint Products and Technologies are installed on the same server, only FPE can be installed.

  • Less memory is required if Intelligent Engine Management (IEM) is not enabled and fewer than 5 engines are selected (approximately 250 MB of memory per engine.) The memory requirement increases by 1.5 GB on multi-role servers.

Forefront Online Protection for Exchange System Requirements

  • Forefront Online Protection for Exchange and Exchange Hosted Encryption work with any e-mail platform.

  • Exchange Hosted Encryption requires Forefront Online Protection for Exchange.

  • The Microsoft Exchange Hosted Services Directory Synchronization tool is optional, and requires:

    • Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2 or later operating system.

    • Active Directory (single-forest topology).

    • Microsoft Exchange Server 2003, Service Pack 2 or Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 and higher(required for the Safe Senders feature).

    • oMicrosoft .NET Framework 3.5.

  • Exchange Hosted Archive requires Microsoft Exchange Server 2000(SP3), 2003(SP1) , 2007 or higher.

  • Web applications are accessible via a Web browser (Internet Explorer 7 or higher; Firefox 3.5 or higher; Safari 3).