10-24-2003, 01:30 PM
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Contributing Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 8,228
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You Should Seriously Consider Outlook 2003
http://www.microsoft.com/office/outlook/prodinfo/overview.mspx
Most of us use Outlook with our Pocket PCs and Smartphones. Outlook has received minor upgrades with each release going back to Outlook 97 through Outlook XP/2002. Outlook 2003 though got a total overhaul. Users of older versions will still feel right at home though with the new interface, but the improvements go way beyond the UI.
� Superior spam protection - By default, Outlook 2003 won't download images in HTML emails. Did you know that if the HTML is coded right, spammers can tell when you open an HTML email that pulls the images from their server? That means they have verified your address and you can look forward to even more spam! Well, Outlook 2003 prevents that. You can add anyone or even a full domain to your "Safe Senders" list so images open for you automatically, or you can pull down images on an email by email basis. Junk filters are also improved.
� The new preview window on the right may look a bit strange at first, but it really works great.
� Exchange users, rejoice! Especially those of you connecting remotely via a modem or DSL/Cable VPN connection. Outlook 2003's new "Caching" mode means 100% of your interactions with Outlook are local on your computer and changes are synchronized with Exchange in the background. No more locked up screens waiting for your changes to be processed. Ever tried to ActiveSync in a hotel room with Outlook connected to Exchange over a modem? It is no longer a chore. For those of you lucky enough to have Exchange 2003, Outlook 2003 makes remote email even more of a joy with header retrieval and other bandwith saving features.
� Email triage is excellent. It groups all unread messages into a single virtual folder so you can quickly take care of them. Rapid "mark for follow up" commands allow you to save important message for later when you have more time without having to open the email or leave it in an unread state.
There are tons of other features and this is the first upgrade of Outlook that I can honestly say is unquestionably worth the price. The rest of Office 2003 is ok with each app getting some tweaks here and there, but honestly, if you already have Office 2000 or Office 2002/XP, you might save yourself some bucks and just get Outlook 2003. Amazon US has it for just $88. (affiliate link) You can also find out more about the product at Microsoft's Outlook 2003 page.
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10-24-2003, 02:05 PM
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Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 10,981
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I was using the final beta for a while, and I have to say I loved it. Simply the best upgrade I have seen from the Office team in a while.
One of my favourite new features is the ability to have a different sig based on the email account.
__________________
"I have no special talents, I am only passionately curious" - Albert Einstein |
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10-24-2003, 02:06 PM
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Pupil
Join Date: Aug 2002
Posts: 31
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Multiple email accounts...
I've been thinking about going to Outlook 2003 from my XP version but...
I have hacked my XP version to display multiple email accounts and folders (each with their own inbox and stuff), BUT.... Only one inbox (the main account) still receives all of the emails from the other accounts over POP3 and so I needed to setup a crap load of "Rules" that disperses the proper emails to their correct designated folder inboxs'.
Eg.
Main account: sedwo
other email accounts: support, sales, www
Outlook XP focuses only on a single account (sedwo) and receives all of the email from every other email account into this inbox. The Rules then process each email with that inbox and move it to its proper inbox under the other accounts. Support emails should go to Support Inbox, Sales emails should go to Sales Inbox, etc.
There IS one exception though, and that is the Hotmail account. XP wonderfully (and automatically) creates a seperate full Hotmail folder heiarchy with its own inbox and seperately collects email into the Hotmail Inbox, WITHOUT going through the main account and requiring a Rule to move it.
I don't run an exchange server, just a small business. And this single feature would make a world of difference, and make me switch to 2003. Otherwise, there's no point.
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10-24-2003, 02:07 PM
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Ponderer
Join Date: Nov 2002
Posts: 67
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Yeah, it is really a good upgrade, my Dad bought it recently and I must admit that the spam filter is quite nice.
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10-24-2003, 02:14 PM
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Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 10,981
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Re: Multiple email accounts...
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Sedwo
I've been thinking about going to Outlook 2003 from my XP version but...
I have hacked my XP version to display multiple email accounts and folders (each with their own inbox and stuff), BUT.... Only one inbox (the main account) still receives all of the emails from the other accounts over POP3 and so I needed to setup a crap load of "Rules" that disperses the proper emails to their correct designated folder inboxs'.
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If you already have all the rules setup, why not just export them and import them into the new version? On the rules wizard, click options in the lower right, then export. On the new version, click import, and your done. However you don't even have to do that if you install over top. With the beta, it automatically found and updated my rules. At least I think it did... That was a while ago. :wink:
__________________
"I have no special talents, I am only passionately curious" - Albert Einstein |
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10-24-2003, 02:16 PM
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Neophyte
Join Date: May 2003
Posts: 4
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Outlook 2003, gives you a better, well, a better outlook on mail ;-)
it's nice. I have been using it for a few months now [from Beta up] and she seems to work very well, ActiveSync can be a bit funny with it sometimes but thats about it. I use exchange a lot so it's nice that if I loose my IP (swapping between LAN & WLAN say) it just waits...doesn't complain tooo much.
ps - OneNote, now that it a good app!
boy...I must work for Gates right? nooooo!
tom
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10-24-2003, 02:21 PM
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Pupil
Join Date: Aug 2002
Posts: 31
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BlueRocket,
I would rather move away from the Rules as they are limiting and don't always perform *exactly* the way I want them to. And I can't seem to make my own custom rules easily.
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10-24-2003, 02:24 PM
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Pupil
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 25
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I concur
I concur
I have used Outlook Express since 1998, before that I had a MS-DOS based email system. I got this email in 1999, have not changed the adress yet, I still have my emails since 2000 in my inbox, I exported my mail to outlook a couple times but with a negative effect: outlook became much slower...
This time outlook crunched all the email with no delays at all.
One thing: filters have been made "too easy", (think of what they did to "search" on xp ) to the point i get confused. I still have not figured out how to filter the emails by the Name of the sender instead of the the "Address of the sender ?! Anyone knows?
I don't get any spam, haven't had a chance to use the spam thingy.
p.s: And I "DO" have bussiness cards with my email on them !
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10-24-2003, 02:28 PM
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Thinker
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 450
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Yes, Outlook 2003 is a HUGE improvment. I really like the new style and controls for the new message popup window. There are just way to many improvements in this release to explain. You just have to try it for yourself. And not to go too off-topic here, but if you haven't tried OneNote yet either, that is another great program, IMHO. I just can't wait for sync capabilities!  I was reading an article the other day talking about how Office 2003 was going to flop because the upgrade just wasn't justifiable (don't they say that with every Office update?), but I have to dissagree. I have been very impressed with the 2003 updates to all of the office apps, from Word to Outlook to Visio. The IRM features are going to be huge for my company.
- Aaron
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10-24-2003, 02:32 PM
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Intellectual
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 126
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How will this work with Office 97. I am currently using Outlook 2002 with no problems on a windows 2000 machine.
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Linear Mode
