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Application: Microsoft Outlook

On its simplest level, Microsoft Outlook is an email client, which means it can send and receive emails but without the features to manage them that is found in an email server. An email client is a fairly simple program by itself, so Microsoft has bundled a range of other features into Outlook that are associated with daily individual organization. These include an Address Book and Contacts list, a detailed Calender, a Task list and a Journal. Outlook is often criticized for being unnecessarily large and complex, and there is more than some justification in these claims. However, when used simply, the additional features are presented as an integrated package with Outlook and therefore are often more functional than separate, unrelated, entries. Microsoft Outlook and Outlook Express beyond version 4 use proprietary formats that other email clients can neither read nor import.

This section is written with Outlook 2002 (also known as Outlook 10) in mind. New features in Outlook 2002 include the Office-wide XP style, smart tags and task panes. Further, in Outlook 2002, MS-Word is the default message editor and messages are sent in HTML. Finally, Outlook also now offers integrated support for Microsoft's Hotmail. Unlike other applications, there is very little trouble in integrating Outlook 2002 with previous versions. Messages, Address Books and Contact folders can easily be imported and exported to different versions.

Outlook is opened from Start -> Programs -> Outlook. The screen consists of a Title Bar, a Menu bar, a Folder banner, an Information Viewer, a Preview Pane and usually a Standard toolbar and Outlook bar. It is preferable to turn off the Outlook bar (View -> Outlook bar) and turn on the Folder List (View -> Folder List). If this is done, the first folder displayed (Outlook Today), will list on the left hand column the folder list and in the centre and right, a calendar, task and messages summary. The folder list displays a list for Calender, Contacts, Deleted Items, Drafts, Inbox, Journals, Notes, Outbox, Sent Items and Tasks. The menu bar provides options for File, Edit, View, Favorites, Tools, Actions, and Help.

File -> New provides a submenu with the range of Outlook tasks. These include Mail Message, Appointment, Contact, Journal entries, Tasks, Distribution List and so forth. An Outlook data files stores all information and is backwards compatible with earlier versions of Outlook (Outlook 97, Outlook 98, Outlook 2000). From File -> Open, Outlook can open data files, other user folders and, if on an Outlook folder, selected items. New subfolders can be created via New -> Folder. This is useful if the user finds the need to organize existing folders into sub-categories, for example, types of mail.

Despite the range of tasks available through Outlook, most people still just use it for email. From starting an email at File -> New -> Mail Message a new window opens. This is, by default, a Microsoft Word message, so for all comments concerning layout, formatting and inserting pictures and diagrams see the section on Microsoft Word. The email specific commands are who the message is being sent to, who it is being cced, what the subject is and who is actually sending it (from which account). Clicking on the 'to' or 'cc' buttons brings up the contact list of email addresses, which includes the option for 'bcc' (blind carbon copy). To send the message, simply click on the 'send' button.

File -> Import and Export opens a Wizard for easy file transfers to and from other applications. The most common is importing Internet mail and addresses, and Outlook can import from Eudora (Pro and Light) versions 2 to 4, Netscape mail versions 2 and 3, Microsoft Internet Mail version 3, Outlook Express 4 and 5 and Netscape Messanger 4. Unless application specific manipulations are planned, exported files should be saved as comma separated values (DOS).

The standard data manipulation options are available under the Edit menu (Undo, Cut, Copy, Paste). According to the specific Outlook folder being accessed this menu will increase to include Clear, Select All, Delete, Mark as Read, Move to Folder, Copy to Folder and so forth. All of these are self-explanatory. The View menu is somewhat more complex. Under the Outlook today folder, the option exists to move to other folders (View -> Go to). When a user is used to this method they should turn off their Folder view, thus freeing up the entire space of the screen to the task at hand. One of the options is Goto -> News, which refers to the Internet's public newsgroup system, Usenet. You have to be able to connect to a nntp (network news transfer protocol) to access this system. Another option exists to display various toolbars (Standard, Formatting, Task Pane, Web). Unlike other applications, it is recommended that all except the Task Pane are used. The other Toolbars are useful and space efficient, albeit, like everything else, it is much better learning practise and more efficient to learn the keystrokes instead of relying on the Toolbars.

Other options from the View menu vary according to the folder being accessed. For example, in the Inbox and Drafts folder, messages can be viewed in a variety of ways (e.g., sort by name, unread messages, sent message etc) through the command View -> Current View. In the Calendar folder, the View options include Day/Week/Month, Events, Appointments and forth. The Day/Week/Month method is most common and its display can be varied according to Day, Work Week (Monday to Friday), Week or Month. This choice really depends on the nature of the users work. For example, if one has the sort of position where there are a number of small, diverse tasks and numerous meetings, then the Daily method may be the most appropriate. On the other hand, if the nature of the work is project-based with few interruptions to the routine, then the Monthly version is appropriate.

The Favorites Menu item is the same across all folders. It is identical to, and derives its information from, the Favorurites Menu in Internet Explorer. Items are added to the list through Favorites -> Add and the list can be organized by Favorites -> Organize (creating folders, renaming locations, deleting locations etc).

The Tools menu is very important to Microsoft Outlook. It is here that one establishes email accounts, organizes their address book, and establishes rules for content, customize Outlook, and set various options. Email accounts are established through Tools -> Email Accounts, where the user's account name, email address, logon information and the IP numbers or addresses for the POP3 (incoming mail) and SMPT (outgoing mail) mail servers can be entered. When establishing a new account is highly recommended that the settings are tested. Two related useful commands from the Tools menu is Tools -> Send/Receive. This causes the email client to contact the server right away to send and receive email and Advanced Find, which searches through Outlook folders for a particular phrase, sender etc.

Address books are accessed through Tools -> Address Book. These are organized into contacts or distribution lists. Rules (Tools -> Rules Wizard) apply to a particular folder, and refer to actions to particular messages based on sender, content and so forth. They are a useful method of notifying others when, for example, you are on holiday by automating a response message to anything received. Options are available through Tools -> Options. This includes a variety of preferences for Outlooks folders, mail management, spelling and security. The preferences are mostly trivial, such a colour schemes and so forth. However the email options do offer some important choices. For example, on replies and forwards, Outlook's default is include and indent. This is different to the most email systems and the generally accepted standard of prefixing each line, as often people reply on a line-by-line basis rather than the message as a whole. Under tracking options, read and delivery receipts are a means to ensure that people have actually received and read a particular email.

Spelling options are up to the individual user. Previous warnings about the default use of U.S. English have already been expressed under the MS-Word section and there is no need to repeat them here. Whilst Microsoft uses the same method of security as PGP, also described in this chapter, the particular implementation is peculiar to MS email clients. As such, it is not recommended. The other commands from the Tools Menu (customize, create form, organize) are of very limited utility, with the exception of Organize, which can be a useful tool to undertake large scale changes to a folder (e.g., moving items to a subfolder).

The default Action menu only consists of New Mail Message, New Mail Message Using and Send Webpage by Email. Under the Inbox and Drafts folder, this range increases to include junk mail (which includes a subcategory for "Adult Content Senders"), replies and forwards. Under the Calendar folder, the Action menu allows for the insertion of new appointments, all day events, meeting requests (i.e., an email), group schedules, recurring appointments and meetings, and forwarding a calendar event as email. Under Contacts, the Action menu consist of making new contacts, new distribution lists, new email messages, new letters, meeting requests, appointments, tasks and even the option to telephone the contact. Finally, the Task Action Menu consists of new tasks, new task requests, forwarding tasks and saving a task order.

The final item (Help) is the same as other MS-Office applications. The Help option (Help -> Outlook Help) provides the standard three methods of access, Contents, Answer Wizard and Index. As usual it is recommended that the Office Assistant is not activated. One final comment: although Microsoft Outlook is a popular and integrated email and organizational application, it is perhaps the application targetted more than anything else by computer viruses (invariably written in Microsoft's Visual Basic), which are often attached to seemingly harmless messages. Merely selecting an attachment can activate some viruses. Because of this extra caution is recommended when using Outlook Express.