UMail was retired in early 2020 as it reached end-of-life, and is no longer supported. Faculty and staff using UMail received additional information about migrations to Google Mail and Microsoft Exchange.

This chart compares the features of Google Workspace: Google Mail & Calendar, Microsoft Exchange email & calendaring, and UMail as of April 11, 2019.

Google Workspace (formerly G Suite and Apps at UMass Amherst) is a customized version of Google’s popular suite of online collaboration tools designed especially for educational institutions. Apps include email, calendaring, and contacts. Information is hosted ‘in the cloud,’ on Google servers. Microsoft Exchange is a platform that provides integrated email, calendaring, and contacts on premise, at this time (all information is hosted on university servers).

All platforms offer the following features:

Ability to import/export contacts Ability to send mass email Access for mobile devices Centralized address book Email search function File backups & data recovery Folders IMAP access (ability to set up account using email software)

Linux, Mac OS X, and Windows compatibility for email Out of office/vacation reply Spam filtering Subsidiary accounts (secondary accounts for projects, collaborations, student workers) User Services support and online documentation Web access (ability to access email through a Web browser - compatibility with most Web browsers)

Email

	Google Workspace: Google Mail & Calendar	Microsoft Exchange	UMail (Soon to be retired)	Comments
Account quota size	Unlimited	30 GB	Faculty & staff: 2 GB Graduate students:    1 GB
Attachment size	25 MB (Sending) 50 MB (Receiving)	25 MB	Web interface: 5 MB Email client: 25 MB	Maximum file size for attachments
Chat integration	✓	✗	✗	Ability to chat with others from the email interface
Conversation view	✓	✓	✗
Email Scheduling	✗ (Coming soon)	● (Only works in Windows Microsoft Outlook)	✗
Inbox rules/filters	✓	✓	✗
Message encryption	✗	● (Limitations)	✗	Emails can be encrypted for added security
Tasks	✓	✓	✗

 

 

Calendaring

	Google Workspace: Google Mail & Calendar	Microsoft Exchange	UMail (Soon to be retired)	Comments
Basic calendaring	✓	✓	✗
Calendar delegation	✓	✓	✗	Ability to delegate calendars to others
Calendar invitation via email	✓	✓	✗
Calendar sharing	✓	✓	✗	Ability to share one's calendar with others
Collaboration with UMass Amherst undergraduate students	✓	✗	✗	Ability to share calendars or documents with students who are using Google Mail
Free/Busy	✓	✓	✗	Ability to see others' calendar availability
Integration with other platforms	● (Limitations when sharing a calendar between Exchange & Google)	● (Limitations when sharing a calendar between Exchange & Google)	✗	E.g., sending calendar invitations between the two platforms
Linux compatibility	✓	● (Limitations)	✓
Mac OS X compatibility - Apple Calendar	● (Limitations)	● (Limitations)	✓
Mac OS X compatibility - Microsoft Outlook	✗	✓	✓
Multiple Calendars	✓	✓	✗	Ability to set up multiple calendars per account and share to the Web - e.g., personal calendar & office hours schedule
Resource Calendars	✓	✓	✗	Ability to set up calendars for conference rooms & other resources
Scheduling assistant	● (Partial)	✓	✗
View shared calendars on mobile devices	✓	✓	✗
View multiple calendars in one view	✓	✓	✗
Windows compatibility - Microsoft Outlook	● (Only via Google Sync)	✓	✓