Exchange Messaging Outlook 11 Jul 2001

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Exchange Messaging Outlook
Volume 6, Number 6

Greetings! Welcome to Vol. 6, No. 6, of Exchange Messaging Outlook, a biweekly newsletter about Microsoft Exchange and Microsoft Outlook.

The next issue of EMO will appear 4 weeks from today, on August 8, as we take a break from our usual biweekly schedule.

Today's highlights:

Outlook 2002 hidden features
MSDN and TechNet updates
Office Developer connections conference
MEC registration open

Regular features:

New utilities
Updated utilities
Other new resources

Outlook 2002 Hidden Features

Even after months of using Outlook 2002, I'm still finding little gems. Here's my latest crop:

Random color-coding of responses in WordMail

If you use Word as your e-mail editor, for responses to HTML and rich-text messages, Outlook can use a different color each time you reply. When replies go back and forth several times on a given topic, this helps me figure out what I said in my first response and distinguish that from my latest response. You can turn this feature off or on in Word. Choose Tools | Options | General | E-mail Options. On the Personal Stationery tab, check the box for Pick a new color when replying or forwarding.

View in Internet Zone

Outlook 2002 runs all e-mail messages in the more secure Restricted Sites zone, where script doesn't run and some ActiveX controls don't work. If you receive a rich HTML message with components that Outlook blocks, you can open the message and use the View | View in Internet Zone command (at your own risk) to get the full effect.

Work offline

I connect to various SMTP servers via a broadband connection to the Internet, but often find myself wanting to change an outgoing message just after I send it. So, I really don't want messages to be sent immediately. With the File | Work Offline option checked, messages destined for an SMTP server stay in the Outbox until I use Tools | Send/Receive or the automatic scheduling for my send/receive groups kicks in.

Office on the Web

Go straight to Microsoft's main web page for Office updates by choosing Help | Office on the Web. This is where you'll find tips, templates, critical updates and other downloads.

AutoCorrect options

Even if you're not using Word as your e-mail editor in Outlook, you can take advantage of AutoCorrect. It's not just for fixing spelling mistakes. You can also use AutoCorrect to enter frequently used text with just a few keystrokes. To add new AutoCorrect entries, choose Tools | Options | Spelling | AutoCorrect Options. Type your shorthand characters in the Replace box and the text you want AutoCorrect to insert in the With box. For example, I created an AutoCorrect entry that replaces "oxp" with "Office XP." [NOTE: AutoCorrect in the regular editor does not work on HTML messages, only plain text and rich text.]

Change AutoArchive settings for all folders

If you want to switch to a new archive file, you don't need to open the Properties dialog for every folder. Choose Tools | Options | Other, then click AutoArchive. On the AutoArchive dialog, you'll see a button for Apply these settings to all folders now.

MSDN and TechNet updates

I have spent a lot of time during the past couple of weeks with the content managers of Microsoft's MSDN and TechNet sites, trying to recover all the URLs broken when the sites were reconfigured. Some pages, including part of the MAPI documentation and the Exchange Applications Farm sample downloads, are still missing, but we hope to see them available soon.

One thing I learned is that MSDN is going to be reaching out more to Outlook developers, which is great news. Already, they have a feedback address you can use to send your ideas to the content managers. For example, if you think MSDN needs an article for developers on how to adapt existing applications to the new Outlook security environment, you can send that comment to ODCWISH@Microsoft.com. They're interested in ideas from both novice and experienced developers.

The recent content shuffle at the Microsoft Office web site left the order page for Office 2000 Developer 1.5 in limbo for a few days. It's back at http://www.microsoft.com/office/previous/developer/sr1.htm, and you have until Dec. 30, 2001, to place your order. Version 1.5 includes Office 2000 Premium SR-1 and Office Developer 2000 SR-1, plus the Workflow Designer for Exchange 2000 and other tools. It's free to all registered Office 2000 Developer users.

Office Developer Connections Conference

I will be speaking on Outlook development at the Office Developer Connections conference Oct. 4-5 in Scottsdale, Arizona -- covering Outlook security, Outlook reports, and what's new for developers in Outlook 2002. One of the sample applications that I'll be showing adds "merge to HTML e-mail" capability to Office XP, without raising the Outlook security prompts. The registration page should be available soon at http://www.msofficeconnections.com.

MEC registration open

Registration is now open for MEC 2001 in Orlando, Florida, Sept. 30 - Oct. 4. Exhibits open Sept. 30, with conference sessions beginning Oct. 1. Microsoft is now billing MEC as the "premier Exchange, Windows, and .NET Enterprise Servers event." Register at http://www.microsoft.com/MSCorp/corpevents/mec2001/reg.asp by August 24 to get a discount.

MEC Europe will take place in Nice, France, Nov. 6-9. The web site at http://www.microsoft.com/europe/mec/ is expected to have registration details at the end of June.

MEC Japan will be in Tokyo, Oct. 29-30 (a change from the August date that Microsoft gave earlier). No registration site yet.

New Utilities

EPICENTER
http://www.connectedsw.com/Epicenter.html
Provides a way to distribute up-to-date address books from a central server via e-mail or the Web. For Exchange environments, it can help make the GAL available to non-MAPI clients. In non-Exchange environments, it gives you a centrally maintained address book compatible with Outlook and other mail clients. BETA.

RIGHTFROM
http://victori.hypermart.net/rightfrom.html
COM add-in for Outlook 2000 or 2002 that automatically fills in the correct From address when the user is responding to a message in another user's Exchange mailbox.

Updated utilities

ENTERPRISE CALENDAR
http://www.slipstick.com/files/entcal2000.zip
Update to the Exchange 2000 version of this sample application by Tom Howe that shows how to synchronize data from users' folders to a central public folder automatically. The included Office Calendar Read Me.doc paper explains the application in detail.

EXCHANGE ARCHIVE SOLUTION
http://www.educom.on.ca/prd_eas.htm
Version 2.1 of this archiving tool for Exchange 2000 expands support to more than 20 languages.

MSNBC PERSONAL UPDATE
http://www.msnbc.com/tools/newstools/d/personal_update.asp
Patch available to allow the MSNBC digital dashboard to work with Outlook 2002.

PERSONAL FOLDERS BACKUP
http://office.microsoft.com/downloads/2002/pfbackup.aspx
Free backup utility from Microsoft, updated to work with Outlook 2002, as well as Outlook 2000.

Other new resources

DEPLOYING MICROSOFT EXCHANGE 2000 SERVER CLUSTERS WITH SP1
http://www.microsoft.com/Exchange/techinfo/deployment/2000/e2ksp1_cluster.asp
White paper on planning, setting up and maintaining Exchange 2000 SP1 Enterprise Server on two-node clusters with Windows 2000 Advanced Server and four-node clusters with Windows 2000 Datacenter Server.

WHAT'S NEW FOR MICROSOFT OUTLOOK 2002 DEVELOPERS
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/en-us/vbaol10/html/olWhatsNew.asp
New objects, properties, methods and events.

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Exchange Messaging Outlook Volume 6, Number 6