You Should Seriously Consider Outlook 2003

[Ed Hansberry]

<a href="http://www.microsoft.com/office/outlook/prodinfo/overview.mspx">http://www.microsoft.com/office/outlook/prodinfo/overview.mspx</a><br /><br />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.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/hansberry/2003/20031014-outlook2003lg.gif"><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/hansberry/2003/20031014-outlook2003sm.gif" /></a><br /><br />• 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.<br />• The new preview window on the right may look a bit strange at first, but it really works great.<br />• 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.<br />• 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.<br /><br />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. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0000AZJVF/jasondunn-20">Amazon US has it for just $88</a>. <i>(affiliate link)</i> You can also find out more about the product at <a href="http://www.microsoft.com/office/outlook/prodinfo/overview.mspx">Microsoft's Outlook 2003 page</a>.

[Mike Temporale]

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.

[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'.

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.

[AndrewLubinus89]

Yeah, it is really a good upgrade, my Dad bought it recently and I must admit that the spam filter is quite nice.

[Mike Temporale]

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'.

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:

[jersey_tom]

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

[Sedwo]

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.

[Icekilled]

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 !

[aroma]

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

[blang]

How will this work with Office 97. I am currently using Outlook 2002 with no problems on a windows 2000 machine.

[beq]

A major thing is all the new XML trappings. I haven't read up on it though, what exactly can we do with it?

I'm just now getting to know Altova's Authenticate (I just love XMLSpy and how it integrates into VS.NET).


P.S. For those who's only interested in Outlook, won't the new batch of PPCs soon come w/ Outlook 2k3 bundled? :)

BTW it's unrelated, but I just heard about Yahoo's new spam features: AddressGuard (500 disposable addresses), SpamGuard Plus (personally trained bayesian filtering to complement the existing centralized SpamGuard bayes DB), 100% automatic server-side virus-scanning, etc. And of course their webmail already blocks email remote graphics...
http://antispam.yahoo.com/whatsnewplus
http://antispam.yahoo.com/tools

[petvas]

Office 2003 is certainly worth the upgrade. Outlook 2003 is by far the best Collaboration Tool in the market today!!! Use it with Exchange 2003 also and then it is perfect...

[Stake]

For the business folk, Outlook (and PocketPCs) can sync over any internet connection to their Exchange server without opening a VPN session if the company is setup for it. I think it's called RPC over http. It's pretty nice if you need to sync often and have some kind of active connection through Wi-Fi or a GPRS enabled PDAphone. No more Mobile Information Server required for synching the PPC.

For those who use Outlook Web Access, the web client is just about identical to the full client with more added features including junkmail blocking just like the one found in the client.

Any by the way, whoever posted that link for the Office launch registration, thank you! I went to it yesterday in NY and though it was been a little boring, but it was a nice overview of Office in general. They were giving away some nice prizes but the most coveted one was the free Acer Tablet PC. I didn't win anything though everyone who attended the entire session got a voucher for a free full version of Office Professional and a copy of OneNote by mail and the ubiquitous T-shirt.

Overall, it was nice and I had a day off from work! That was what really made my day.

[Ed Hansberry]

For the business folk, Outlook (and PocketPCs) can sync over any internet connection to their Exchange server without opening a VPN session if the company is setup for it. I think it's called RPC over http.You have to have Exchange 2003 for that, and E2003 opens up lots of possiblities, including Server Activesync.

[Foo Fighter]

I just upgraded yesterday. Got the Standard edition upgrade for a little over $200. It's worth it just to get Outlook 2003 alone. Spam controls ROCK!!! Even the new User Interface is dramatic improvement over previous generations. Microsoft finally gets it right, in a big way. Thumbs up to Microsoft! :rock on dude!:

[Deslock]

I prefer Outlook Express to Outlook (though I haven't tried v2003 yet).

I tried using Outlook for email for a while, but it was slow, didn't support Hotmail, and stored everything in one big-ass file (which is less flexible when you keep all your email archived... Outlook Express stores individual local folders as separate files). Outlook's PIM functionality (v2002) is a bit buggy too.

Has Outlook's performance improved? How about reliability? Does Outlook still store everything in one file?

[sub_tex]

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.

Yeesh. I've been away from single inbox email clients for so long I forgot what a pain it was to get seperate folders all set up in email software.

Luckily Thunderbird makes each account it's own folder with inbox, trash, spam, etc. automatically. :D

Unless you need the Datebook PIM stuff, I don't see how people can put up with how Outlook handles email. And the security risks! 8O

[Hau Wei]

Outlook 2003 IS the definitive collaboration tool, best I've ever seen and the 2003 version has come a long way from Beta 1 to RTM.

I alsmost bought a Mac until I realised that I'm going to miss all the features in 2003 which made life a lot easier...looks like I'm going to be stuck to the PC for some time to come if Microsoft continues on this way! :D

[brianchris]

Couldn't agree more: Outlook 2003 is a masterpiece. All the features mentioned so far are indeed, awsome, and worth the price of admission. However, one of the best features has yet gone unmentioned in this thread: you can set *reminders* on each email in your inbox!!!! I don't know about you, but I use my inbox as a to do list.....I don't delete it until whatever the email was about has been dealt with, and being able to assign reminders to the emails (ala Appoitments or Tasks) is a small, but powerful addition!!

A couple points about things previously mentioned in this thread:
-As far as the multiple email accounts / one inbox issue: have you considered the IMAP4 protocol? Perhaps your ISP(s) don't support that, or perhaps its not your cup of tea, but, in Outlook, it maintains a seperate inbox for each email account (unlike POP3), no rules necessary.
- One Note, I have heard a *lot* of good buzz about this app, but never could get my head around what it did exactly. Yesterday, attendad a Microsoft TouchPoint conference where the demoed OneNote (first time I'd actually seen it in action), and I have to admit, I still don't understand what the big deal is about. I specifically asked the presenter what the specific differences were between OneNote and Word (which seems to be able to do 89% of what OneNote could do), and his answer was lackluster / non-specific. Anyone care to sell me on it?......may be an easy sale, as I want to be sold on it :) One hot bit of news regarding One Note....according to the MS rep at the MS ouchPoint conference yesterday, there is supposed to be a OneNote version for the PocketPC in 60 days!



Again, Outlook 2003 is amazing.

-Brian

[peterawest]

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.


Sedwo, when you setup new e-mail accounts in Outlook 2003, one of the options is to select the destination for the e-mail.

Look at the field with the heading "Deliver new e-mail to the following location". If you don't want it to go to the same place as the rest, it allows you to create a new folder, just like what you describe for Hotmail. Enjoy.

Peter

[Mark from Canada]

However, one of the best features has yet gone unmentioned in this thread: you can set *reminders* on each email in your inbox!!!! I don't know about you, but I use my inbox as a to do list.....I don't delete it until whatever the email was about has been dealt with, and being able to assign reminders to the emails (ala Appoitments or Tasks) is a small, but powerful addition!!


I'm doing that with Outlook 2000. Right-Click the e-mail in the list, select "Flag for Follow Up" and set your date...

Mark

[bjornkeizers]

I ordered my copy of Office 2003 through school yesterday. Being a student, I get a hefty discount - A full copy of Office 2003 only costs me 18,75 euro 8O

See the kind of shafting regular consumers get? Pff, glad I'm not one of the poor guys who have to buy their own upgrade..

[brianchris]

However, one of the best features has yet gone unmentioned in this thread: you can set *reminders* on each email in your inbox!!!! I don't know about you, but I use my inbox as a to do list.....I don't delete it until whatever the email was about has been dealt with, and being able to assign reminders to the emails (ala Appoitments or Tasks) is a small, but powerful addition!!


I'm doing that with Outlook 2000. Right-Click the e-mail in the list, select "Flag for Follow Up" and set your date...

Mark

:oops: Sorry.....was told by a the MS speaker yesterday that was a new feature to 2003......obviously that was wrong. But, there are indeed lots of great features that are truly new to Outlook 2003.

-Brian

[Mark from Canada]

Has Outlook 2003 the NetFolders of Outlook 2000 again? I never upgraded to 2002 (even though I have it - came with a PPC) because they removed this feature and I need to share folders with other Outlook users - but not enough to warrant Exchange.
If they didn't include this (or a similar) feature it's again a no-go for me.

Mark

[alienplantlife]

I've gone back and forth between Outlook and Outlook Express since Office 97. I've currently settled on using both but am looking forward to see if Outlook 2003 will pass my test. You see, the reason why I stick with OE for email is because it does such a nice and simple job of organizing emails. The tree structure for emails in any given folder is perfect for me and helps keep track of a conversation. I know Outlook has "view by conversation", but it's ugly and not nearly as effective as the little + button next to an email in OE.

Does anyone know is Outlook 2003 has finally caught up to OE in this aspect?

Cheers.

[bdegroodt]

I really like the upgrade to the UI, but I'm really bumbed that MSFT continues to turn their nose up at RSS feed support in Outlook. Newsfeeds are the number one reason why I continue to use Ximian Evolution as my favorite PIM/email client.

I'll make the upgrade, but I sure do wish MSFT would support this natively in Outlook. So much potential for RSS if MSFT throws their hat into the ring with this product. They seem to single handedly be inhibiting the adoption of it...Kind of like a monoploy. :twisted:

[racerx]

Does anyone else have problem with Outlook 2003 and Active Sync? I am running into a situation where I whenever I drop my iPAQ into the cradle to sync, I get the message that tells me that an application is accessing my email address, and do I want to allow it. I chose 10 minutes and everything is fine. But is seriously messes up my wireless syncing as I'm not there to allow. I've even tried unselecting Contacts from ActiveSync so it wouldn't sync but that doesn't help either.

Anyone else having the problem? BTW, I'm running the latest version of everything, just in case you were going to ask.

TIA.

[seatec]

Thank you very much to the person who posted on the on the Office 2003 System Launch. I went in San Francisco yesterday and it was very good. It really helped that they gave out a 120 day preview of Office System Enterprise with server and exchange server. plus Office pro. and one full copy of Office Pro and One note (which is a great new product) I was very impressed with Outlook 2003's improvments along with the business contact manager addin. The spam control and new automation for outlook make it a must upgrade.
If you can make it to a System Launch it is worth the time.

[Ed Hansberry]

I really like the upgrade to the UI, but I'm really bumbed that MSFT continues to turn their nose up at RSS feed support in Outlook. Newsfeeds are the number one reason why I continue to use Ximian Evolution as my favorite PIM/email client.

I'll make the upgrade, but I sure do wish MSFT would support this natively in Outlook. So much potential for RSS if MSFT throws their hat into the ring with this product. They seem to single handedly be inhibiting the adoption of it...Kind of like a monoploy. :twisted:
I haven't tried this yet, but you can use NewsGator inside of Outlook 2003 - http://radio.weblogs.com/0001011/2003/10/18.html#a5107

Scoble is an MS employee.

[bdegroodt]

I haven't tried this yet, but you can use NewsGator inside of Outlook 2003 - http://radio.weblogs.com/0001011/2003/10/18.html#a5107

Scoble is an MS employee.

Thanks Ed. I've seen/used it and I like. I'm being a little selfish in that I'm looking for a major software company with reach into home and business markets (Read MSFT) to help really push RSS to the next level. If Outlook 03 supported it, I really think it could do a lot of good for the Web 2.0.

On a similar note (XML), I got to sit with the PM for MSFT that is doing work on some of the Infopath/Sharepoint Accelerators and it's some pretty slick stuff. In their first attempt to produce some templates for business users, they really did a good job. Arguably as powerful as some "enterprise" applications dedicated to the same transactional processes. I really think MSFT is on a good path to swim upstream to compete with some of the larger enterprise application software.

[cmorris]

- I specifically asked the presenter what the specific differences were between OneNote and Word (which seems to be able to do 89% of what OneNote could do), and his answer was lackluster / non-specific. Anyone care to sell me on it?......may be an easy sale, as I want to be sold on it :)

I think you are right about Word doing 89% of what OneNote does - however you might be surprised at how important that 11% is! I was in the same boat about the app until I finally started using it regularly. Now having all my notes in one place instead of creating and hunting through documents actually encourages me to take more notes.

Here is a good review that might help you out a bit too: http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/office2003_onenote_preview.asp

Great news about the PPC version!!

[Ed Hansberry]

Great news about the PPC version!! :confused totally:

[Newsboy]

I have been using the Beta since last spring, and I have to say, I totally echo the comments here. The spam filter is great, but the new message notification is the real treat. Lots of small touches that make Outlook 2003 incredibly easy to use.

[cmorris]

Great news about the PPC version!! :confused totally:

From brianchris's post:

"One hot bit of news regarding One Note....according to the MS rep at the MS ouchPoint conference yesterday, there is supposed to be a OneNote version for the PocketPC in 60 days!"

News to me too...

[Hugh Nano]

Can anyone with an older OS and older version of Office comment on how well (or not) Outlook 2003 works as a "stand-alone" app in conjunction with their older software? I have one computer running Windows 98SE and another running Windows ME, and have Office 2000 on both, so I'm wondering how well it would work to use Outlook 2003 with those systems—especially in light of Amazon.com reviews like the one below...

This is a terrible product, October 23, 2003
Reviewer: A software user from Tucson, AZ United States
I ordered Outlook 2003 with great confidence. However, I was unable to load it on my Dell running Windows 2000 with 256 MB of ram, even after reinstalling it several times. Worse, when I removed it and tried to reinstall Outlook 2002 (from the Office XP suite), that would no longer work. After spending several hours with technical support over several days and being bumped up to a supervisor, I was finally able to revert to my older Outlook. The supervisor told me that other staff had told him that Outlook 2003 had problems as a stand-alone product because it shares code with Word 2003. Now they tell us..... I'm sure it's a great product if it can be made to work, but I was unable to make it work.

Any comments?

[mashtim]

I vaguely recall reading somewhere that MS really strengthened Outlook's CRM functionality, as well. I find it odd that no one has commented on it yet, though.
Does anyone who has Outlook 2003 and has used Act!/Goldmine/etc care to comment?

[bdegroodt]

I vaguely recall reading somewhere that MS really strengthened Outlook's CRM functionality, as well. I find it odd that no one has commented on it yet, though.
Does anyone who has Outlook 2003 and has used Act!/Goldmine/etc care to comment?

I've used Act!/Goldmine (big fan of Goldmine). In reading the MSFT docs on this function, it doesn't look to be a replacement for either just yet. It looks like it's lightweight function (probably good enough for 75% of most small business needs) with a clear path to upgraded functionality in their more robust/expensive mid-market CRM products. You can read the detailed sell sheet here (http://download.microsoft.com/download/4/2/8/428a7ac4-06db-4472-bf40-7d6e7f6c49f8/bcmguide.doc)

I do like the fact that it's integrated into Outlook and I'm happy to see MSFT start to leverage the fact that most of us sit down at our desk each day and while we may not open any other application, we're very likely to open Outlook each day.

[Ed Hansberry]

From brianchris's post:

"One hot bit of news regarding One Note....according to the MS rep at the MS ouchPoint conference yesterday, there is supposed to be a OneNote version for the PocketPC in 60 days!"

News to me too...
:clap:

[Ed Hansberry]

Can anyone with an older OS and older version of Office comment on how well (or not) Outlook 2003 works as a "stand-alone" app in conjunction with their older software? I have one computer running Windows 98SE and another running Windows ME, and have Office 2000 on both, so I'm wondering how well it would work to use Outlook 2003 with those systems
Given Outlook 2003 requires Windows 2000 or XP, you won't even get it installed on those boxes.

[ctmagnus]

From brianchris's post:

"One hot bit of news regarding One Note....according to the MS rep at the MS ouchPoint conference yesterday, there is supposed to be a OneNote version for the PocketPC in 60 days!"

News to me too...

:rock on dude!:

[lonesniper]

Has Outlook 2003 the NetFolders of Outlook 2000 again? I never upgraded to 2002 because they removed this feature
I did not upgrade in our office either. I use Outlook 2002 at home, but had to keep 2000 at work for the Netfolders. It is an extremely handy feature when there are only 4 of you and you need to share a calender.

I was at the Office System TechNet Roadshow in London yesterday and Outlook 2003, Exchange 2003 with OWA and WMA, Infopath and OneNote all are great app's and services.
Seems to me this update is not about more revenue for MS but is more about features for the users. Well done MS.

[beq]

^ But in regards to IMAP support Outlook 2003 is still somewhat lackluster (maybe seen as a threat to Exchange support) :( Compared to say Thunderbird, or heck, even the abandoned Outlook Express...

[Ed Hansberry]

^ But in regards to IMAP support Outlook 2003 is still somewhat lackluster (maybe seen as a threat to Exchange support) :( Compared to say Thunderbird, or heck, even the abandoned Outlook Express...
IMAP is a threat to Exchange like the search features in XP's Windows Explorer are a threat to Google.

[SassKwatch]

IMAP is a threat to Exchange like the search features in XP's Windows Explorer are a threat to Google.
LOL!

If there was a "Quote of the Month" feature here at PPCThoughts, that line would win for the next year! :D

[CME2C]

Sorry if this is a duplicate post , I quickly read through the posts. both Compusa and office max here in the U.S. are offering great deals on the office software. They have the software for a reasonable price and are offering significant mail in rebates with other products, including digital cameras, printers, cordless phones etc. Just check out the front page of their websites.

[SassKwatch]

http://chris.pirillo.com/archives/2003_10.html#007586

Chris Pirillo, who I'd always taken for being *THE* Microsoftie's Microsoftie, clearly has a different opinion of Outlook 2003 than the majority here seem to express.

[beq]

IMAP is a threat to Exchange like the search features in XP's Windows Explorer are a threat to Google.
:mrgreen:

I was referring to possibly Microsoft's point of view. I was discussing IMAP in the context of an alternative of POP3 for your personal email, not as a competitive solution in the corporate space. I think Outlook should've grown beyond just an Exchange client to be your all-in-one email client...?

[ctmagnus]

Hmmm... (http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=827310) It appears OL2k3 already has a bug.

[Hugh Nano]

Given Outlook 2003 requires Windows 2000 or XP, you won't even get it installed on those boxes.

Figures... :razz:

[Kati Compton]

Hmmm... (http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=827310)
For those of you that don't want to click random links, it's talking about how Outlook 2003 can stop responding if the window is left open for a long time. ct - please add a short description of the link when possible... Thanks!

[ctmagnus]

ct - please add a short description of the link when possible... Thanks!

:oops:

Done and done!

[Ed Hansberry]

Hmmm... (http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=827310) It appears OL2k3 already has a bug.
Sort of a lame KB article. It doesn't specify how long "long" is or how much RAM a "large amount" is.

I've had Outlook 2003 running on two machines for several months, both that run it 8-12 hrs a day and one with 256MB, one with 512MB. Never seen the problems in the KB article, so either they are talking about 1GB+ machines or they are talking about people that launch Outlook on Monday and don't log back off again for days.

[SofaTater]

Okay, y'all have convinced me -- I placed my order with Amazon.com...

I had been debating purchasing the upgrade to Office ... er, System 2003 :rofl: , but based on everyone's comments, I think I'll keep my Office 2000 and just upgrade the Outlook client...

[qmrq]

I just upgraded yesterday. Got the Standard edition upgrade for a little over $200. It's worth it just to get Outlook 2003 alone. Spam controls ROCK!!! Even the new User Interface is dramatic improvement over previous generations. Microsoft finally gets it right, in a big way. Thumbs up to Microsoft! :rock on dude!:
You paid $200 for a mail client? http://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/thunderbird/releases/0.3/thunderbird-0.3-win32.zip

[qmrq]

I ordered my copy of Office 2003 through school yesterday. Being a student, I get a hefty discount - A full copy of Office 2003 only costs me 18,75 euro 8O

See the kind of shafting regular consumers get? Pff, glad I'm not one of the poor guys who have to buy their own upgrade..
If I could get Office that cheap I might actually think about toying with it. :) Until then, Koffice and OpenOffice (http://www.openoffice.org/).

[ignar]

^ But in regards to IMAP support Outlook 2003 is still somewhat lackluster (maybe seen as a threat to Exchange support) :( Compared to say Thunderbird, or heck, even the abandoned Outlook Express...

I have to agree. Outlook always have been weak on IMAP support and this version is not exception. I'm going back to Outlook Express.

[beq]

I'm waiting on what Bynari will have to offer for InsightConnector v3 (their claims are certainly exciting) as an IMAP add-on for Outlook. All because I'd like to continue using Outlook's PIM at home (thanks to Pocket PC/ActiveSync) :mrgreen: Lately I haven't really used Outlook at all though...


P.S. So.. no one wants to discuss the new XML capabilities in Office 2003?

[Ed Hansberry]

I just upgraded yesterday. Got the Standard edition upgrade for a little over $200. It's worth it just to get Outlook 2003 alone. Spam controls ROCK!!! Even the new User Interface is dramatic improvement over previous generations. Microsoft finally gets it right, in a big way. Thumbs up to Microsoft! :rock on dude!:
You paid $200 for a mail client? http://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/thunderbird/releases/0.3/thunderbird-0.3-win32.zipNo, he paid $200 for the Office 2003 Standard upgrade edition.

[qmrq]

Ahh, okie. :)

[petvas]

Great news about the PPC version!! :confused totally:


From brianchris's post:

"One hot bit of news regarding One Note....according to the MS rep at the MS ouchPoint conference yesterday, there is supposed to be a OneNote version for the PocketPC in 60 days!"

News to me too...

I know for sure that there isn't going to be a Pocket-pc version for at least 10 monts. There might be a PPC version next summer and definitely with One Note v2 that will come in 2005...

[petvas]

Another great feature that Outlook 2003 has is the "Search Folders". Search Folders are dynamic views of your mailbox. For example, I have created a custom view (not a subfolder) that shows the messages I receive from PocketPCThoughts. I made it also a favorite, so it displays on the top left corner of Outlook.

Another cool thing that Outlook 2003 is the conversation view. Use it along with the space key and you will quickly go from message to message.
Outlook 2003 is great!

[sparkyewu]

:) I really like the Office 2003 suite actually, i beta tested for it, and i think it runs great. Outlook 2003 rocks. :clap:

[Orange]

I would use it, except for the fact IMAP sucks in outlook.

[cmorris]

I know for sure that there isn't going to be a Pocket-pc version for at least 10 monts. There might be a PPC version next summer and definitely with One Note v2 that will come in 2005...

Ok - that makes sense. I'm sure we would have heard about it if it was that close.

[gregh]

Guys,

where is onenote? I have 2003 installed and running, and can't find it! Do I need to install it off the CD?

regards,


greg

[Ed Hansberry]

Guys,

where is onenote? I have 2003 installed and running, and can't find it! Do I need to install it off the CD?
OneNote is not part of the Office 2003. It is part of the larger "Office System 2003" suite but is sold separately.

[gregh]

Cheers Ed,

Back to MSDN I go.....

[lonesniper]

I am having a problem with the Send/Receive status box. When I manually Send/Recieve the status of sending and recieving is in the bottom right hand corner, like it was in 2002. But when it automatically Send/Recieve's a pop up box appears with the status. I have checked the box to hide while send receiving but it is still there.

Anyone else having a problem like this?

Colin

[bdegroodt]

I know this isn't the Outlook support forum...but since we're on the topic, there is a way to configure a specific signature to each email account (so personal email account and business email account can have signatures that matter to that account). I set mine, but when I select the personal account, the business signature still shows up. It's there from the time I initiate a new email and stays there even after I designate the personal account as the account to send on. Any ideas?

[abamara]

I ordered my copy of Office 2003 through school yesterday. Being a student, I get a hefty discount - A full copy of Office 2003 only costs me 18,75 euro 8O

See the kind of shafting regular consumers get? Pff, glad I'm not one of the poor guys who have to buy their own upgrade..
If I could get Office that cheap I might actually think about toying with it. :) Until then, Koffice and OpenOffice (http://www.openoffice.org/).

One sterling for the media its printed on! :wink: