Exchange Messaging Outlook 27 Mar 2002

Outlook Issues
Exchange Server
Utilities and Add-ins
Video Tutorials
Product Reviews

Exchange Messaging Outlook
Volume 6, Number 24

Greetings! Welcome to Vol. 6, No. 24, 27 Mar 2002, of Exchange Messaging Outlook, a biweekly newsletter about Microsoft Exchange and Microsoft Outlook.

Today's highlights:

UNIX clients for Exchange 2000
Your favorite Outlook or Exchange utility
Suppressing Outlook 2002's connection delay message

Regular features:

New utilities
Updated utilities
Other new resources

UNIX clients for Exchange 2000

It looks a lot like Outlook, and it connects to Exchange 2000, but it's not Outlook. It's Ximian Evolution (http://www.ximian.com), a personal information manager for Linux and UNIX. With this week's release of Ximian Connector, users of this PIM can now connect to Exchange mailboxes and do group scheduling and at least some other collaboration with Windows and Macintosh Exchange users. The biggest limitation is that Ximian does not provide access to Exchange Server public folders.

Meanwhile, Bynari's InsightClient (http://www.bynari.net) for Unix and Exchange has added server-side calendaring and meeting management.

Your favorite Outlook or Exchange utility

Do you have an Outlook or Exchange utility that you just can't live without? Tell us about it, and we'll feature your add-in on our page at http://www.slipstick.com/addins/. Just click the link below to send us a message:

mailto:webmaster@slipstick.com?subject=My favorite tool

Suppressing Outlook 2002's connection delay message

In Outlook 2000 and earlier versions, if Outlook encountered a delay in retrieving from Exchange Server, Outlook would just appear to hang. Microsoft has added a dialog in Outlook 2002 that tells the user that there is a delay and offers a choice of canceling the operation or minimizing the message until Outlook completes it.

I've seen several cases where this message came up repeatedly. Therefore, as I was working on some Outlook deployment issues last week, I was delighted to find that the policy file for Outlook 2002 includes options to disable this feature or make Outlook wait longer before displaying the dialog. Microsoft provides details in a KB article:

OL2002: Changing Outlook Cancelable RPC Progress Dialog Behavior
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;Q293650

We'd enjoy hearing about your experiences in deploying Outlook 2002: What works well? What could be better? Drop us a line at emo@slipstick.com.

New Utilities

ADDRESS MAGIC ENTERPRISE EDITION
http://www.connectedsw.com/EnterpriseEdition.html
Bulk conversion of addresses to and from Netscape 3.x and 4.x; Exchange GAL ; Outlook contacts; Eudora Light/Pro 4 and 5; Windows Address Book; Personal Address Book; GroupWise; LDIF; Opera 6; Pine; American Online 4, 5, and 7 ; Lotus Notes 4.6.4 or later and R5.

ALTAVISTA DESKTOP SEARCH
http://solutions.altavista.com/en/products/avdesktop.shtml
Search email, Microsoft Office files, and 200+ other file types for a unified view of all your data. For enterprises only; not available to individual users.

ANNOTIS MAIL
http://www.annotis.com/pages/annotis_mail_present.php
Annotation tool for adding highlights, comments, stamps, and handwritten notes and signatures to HTML mail messages. Does not require recipient to have Annotis to read annotations, but If both parties to an email conversation have it, they can track each other's annotations. Requires user to be logged in as administrator and apparently has some problems with Windows XP/Outlook 2002. [No longer available as of 10/2003]

BXAUTOZIP
http://www.baxbex.com/bxautozip.html
Automatically compresses attachments in outgoing mail messages.

EMAIL NOT HTML
http://www.zzee.com/enh/
POP mail download program that removes HTML content and embedded files from a message before Outlook opens it. Also zips any attachments that aren't already zipped.

ESAFE MAIL
http://www.esafe.com/esafe/mail/index.asp?cf=tl
Anti-virus, spam, and other content checking for Exchange 5.5 and 2000, including inspection of HTML mail messages.

FOOTPRINTS FOR EXCHANGE
http://www.unipress.com/footprints/exchange.html
Web-based help desk and customer relationship management software that integrates with the Exchange 5.5 Global Address List or, for Exchange 2000, Active Directory. Uses SQL Server, MSDE, or Access databases. Includes custom forms for Outlook users to submit new issues. Adding fields and other customization of web pages requires no programming.

GENIDOCS
http://www.omtool.com/products/genidocs.cfm
Works with Exchange 5.5 or 2000 to provide confidential, secure delivery of messages and document attachments over the Internet, with delivery notification. Documents are packaged on the server and can be digitally signed and time-stamped. Custom Outlook forms are used to set delivery options. Recipients can open messages only after obtaining a password-protected access code from a web page generated by the Genidocs server.

INBOXDOCTOR
http://www.inboxdoctor.com/
Checks your Internet mailbox for junk mail before Outlook does, removing suspect messages from the mailbox to a separate viewer, so you can review them if you want. Filters and signatures for catching junk are updated automatically.

INFINITE MOBILE DELIVERY
http://www.infinite.com/captaris/mds.html
Server and Exchange connector providing two-way mobile access Exchange 5.5 and 2000 data from web-enabled phones, PDAs, other wireless devices, and touch-tone telephones.

KYBERPASS SECURE E-MAIL TRUSTPLATFORM
http://www.kyberpass.com/products/secure_email.html
Outlook add-in uses server for real-time validation of digital IDs for encrypting and signing mail. Designed for large enterprises and Identrus member financial institutions.

MAILCONTROL
http://www.addonmail.com/uk/prodAddOn.htm#mailcontrol
Provides warnings and restrictions to prevent a user from exceeding the 2gb storage limit for a Personal Folders .pst file.

MAILSHELL
http://www.mailshell.com/
Service to filter spam from up to three existing Internet accounts by routing mail through a "shell" account. Can also filter mail for an entire domain.

OUTCLOCK
http://www.emn.fr/spiraclock/outclock/
Clock display that shows your upcoming Outlook appointments as a color-coded spiral timeline. Free.

OUTLOOK 2000/XP BACKUP
http://www.genie-soft.com/products/ob2000xp/ob2000xp.html
Backup utility for Outlook 2000 and 2002 handling folder data and key user options, including toolbar and Outlook bar settings, signatures, stationery, and Internet account information for Outlook 2000 Internet Mail Only mode.

RED OXYGEN
http://www.redoxygen.com/
Enables any version of Outlook to send SMS messages to mobile phone numbers listed in Outlook contacts and generate SMS appointment reminders automatically. Can also handle SMS replies back to your Inbox. Product consists of an Outlook addin plus a service to generate the SMS messages. Does not trigger Outlook security prompts.

SOPHOS MAILMONITOR FOR EXCHANGE 2000
http://www.sophos.com/products/software/mailmonitor/mmexchange.html
Scans mailboxes and incoming and outgoing messages for viruses. Requires Exchange 2000 with Service Pack 1 or later.

SYMPREX EXCENTRE FOLDER PERMISSIONS MANAGER
http://www.symprex.com/excentre/index.htm
Centrally manage permissions for mailbox folders in Exchange 5.5 or Exchange 2000. Templates handle updates to multiple mailboxes in one operation.

TASKLINE
http://www.taskline.info/
Scheduler that applies critical path techniques to Outlook task management. Each task gets a recommended start and finish date based on information about the task, your normal working hours, and your current schedule of appointments. Custom form includes a Priority field to order your tasks more precisely. Can also put tasks in your Calendar folder to provide a unified view of all your commitments.

XIMIAN CONNECTOR
http://www.ximian.com/products/connector/
Connects the Ximian Evolution PIM suite for UNIX and Linux to Exchange 2000. Does not support the Notes or Journal folders, out-of-office messages, public folders, or delegation.

Updated utilities

CABOOK, CAPRINT, CAREDIRECT, CASAVEATT, CASAVEMSG, CATRAP
http://www.ornic.com/actions/
Custom actions that work with Outlook Rules Wizard, updated to resolve a problem that kept them from working with Outlook 2002.

EXPRESS MAIL@MATE
http://www.express-soft.com/mailmate/
Version 2.5 of this mail notification program adds a new popup notification box, improves compatibility with Outlook 2002, and fixes some Windows XP compatibility issues.

INSIGHTCLIENT
http://www.bynari.net/downloads.html
Version 2.9 adds server-side calendaring and meeting management to this Unix client for Exchange Server.

POCKETKNIFE
http://www.xintercept.com/whatsnew.htm
Version 2.5 of this Outlook productivity tool that runs in the system tray adds a Pocket Launcher for fast access to your favorite Outlook and other shortcuts.

Other new resources

CONFIGURATION AND SECURITY UPDATE RECOMMENDATIONS FOR EXCHANGE 2000
http://www.microsoft.com/exchange/techinfo/deployment/2000/bestconfig.asp
Operating system, browser, service pack, patch, and other recommended system components for Exchange 2000.

CREATING AN ANTI-VIRUS RULE IN OUTLOOK 2002
http://agricola.myweb.nl/outlook2002.html
Outlook 2002 VBA code that you can run from a rule in Outlook 2002 to remove HTML content from suspicious-looking HTML messages and quarantine them in a separate folder.

UPDATING ACTIVE DIRECTORY FOR THE EXCHANGE 2000 ADMINISTRATOR
http://www.outlookexchange.com/articles/nicolasblank/blank_a2_p1.asp
Using the CSVDE tool and a generic script to perform bulk updates.

More Information

Click here to subscribe to the Exchange Messaging Outlook newsletter.
Exchange Messaging Outlook Newsletter back issues

Updated Apr 07 2008

Exchange Messaging Outlook Volume 6, Number 24