Exchange Messaging Outlook Volume 11, Number 5

If you are interested in trying Office 2007, it's now available for anyone to download. All you need is a passport account and a machine to install it on.

We do not recommend installing it on a 'production' machine at this time and if you choose to do so, use Ghost or True Image to copy your hard disk should you need to reformat. It's better to install it on a test computer or in a virtual machine - either Virtual PC from Microsoft or VMWare's workstation. Both have free trials available.

Important note: While Office 2007 is very stable, if you are unwilling or unable to deal with buggy software, do not install it. If you rely on Office for your work, do not install it.

Based on problems seen in the public newsgroups, many people are not heeding the warning not to install it on their main machine. This can lead to problems down the road, especially if they choose not to upgrade when the beta expires in February. If you require features or add-ins used in Outlook 2003, do not install the beta as the features or add-ins may not work. This includes third party connectors for MSN Outlook Live and other mail servers.

Along with Office 2007 applications, you can also download the Office server applications, including SharePoint server so you can see for yourself if SharePoint will replace some of the features found in Exchange. Note that Exchange 2007 is not part of the office server family and is not available yet. If you don't have spare computers to install these on, you can use the virtual server software from Microsoft or VMWare.

Is Outlook 2007 stable enough to use? Yes, most of the things that caused Beta 1 to crash are now fixed. That's not to say it won't crash or cause problems, but it is stable enough to use every day.

First and foremost, Office 2007 is still very much a beta. This release is certainly much improved over the beta 1 releases, but it's still a beta and you will run into problems. Always keep this in mind should you decide to install it. I can't emphasis this enough: if you are unwilling or unable to deal with buggy software, do not install it.

At this stage, we are aware of several problems. One of the most noticeable is with Instant Search in Outlook and OneNote.

Instant Search requires the Windows Desktop Search (WDS) version 3 beta. Yes, that's right, you need to install another beta to use Instant Search. If you use WDS v2, it will be removed when you install WDS v3 and since it's still a work in progress, the UI is missing, assuming it will even install for you. If you receive the dreading "access denied" error, you'll need to muck around in the registry to fix the problem.

The instructions should be published to the following KB article, Error message when you try to install Windows Desktop Search 3.0 Beta Engine Preview: "Access is denied" in the near future.
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=919163 

Description of Windows Desktop Search 3.0 Beta Engine Preview
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=917013

Windows Desktop Search beta download
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=36e38453-6e20-4cf7-8bfc-1cac7f35da49&displaylang=en

If you choose not to install WDS v3 beta, you'll see a yellow warning at the top of your message list, along with a warning every time you open Outlook or OneNote, that you need WDS installed. You can disable this prompt using Outlook's Tools, Options, Other, Advance Options dialog box if WDS is not installed. If the checkbox is missing from the dialog you can edit the registry to disable it.

The registry key is:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Outlook\Search

DWORD: DisableSearchDownloadPrompt
Values: 1 = The WDS installation prompt and yellow bar are not displayed
0 (or missing DWORD) The WDS installation prompt is displayed

You may need to restart Outlook to remove the yellow bar from the view.

As one of those who have the installer error, I disabled the prompt rather than edit the registry to change the permissions. The time I save with the instant search won't make up for the time needed to enable it. I'll wait for an updated version of WDS that works.

For best results, don't install Office 2007 over an existing installation of any version of Office. Uninstall Office and reboot, then install Office 2007. You'll have fewer problems.

For best results, especially if your previous version of Outlook was 2000 or older, make a new profile.

If Outlook crashes often, disable add-ins, especially the Adobe acrobat add-in. Add-ins (along with all security-related options) were moved from the Options dialog to the Trust Center.

If your received messages are blank, disable your anti-virus email scanner module. Better yet, just disable it. It's not necessary to scan outgoing email and of limited use to scan incoming email, especially if your email provider is scanning it too.

If your Outlook Today screen doesn't display correctly, disable your anti-virus scanner to see if it helps. If so, check the script blocking settings in anti-virus scanner options and re-enable the scanner.

Outlook 2007 Beta 2 will not work with current versions of Notes connector or MSN Outlook Live connector. If you require either, you shouldn't install Office 2007. The newest version of the MSN connector may work if the MSN connector account is not your default account or delivery location.

If Active Sync doesn't work right after installing Outlook 2007, reinstall ActiveSync.

It can take a long time for the Windows Desktop Search to index your mailbox. Until it's completed Instant Searches won't be instant or accurate. You may notice the computer is sluggish until it's finished indexing Outlook.

In a departure from past versions of Outlook and Exchange, where unsupported meant Microsoft would not assist you if you used them together and something didn't work but the products remained usable, Outlook 2007 Beta 2 will not work with Exchange 5.5. While there is the potential for many things to go wrong if you are using Outlook 2007 and Exchange 5.5, there is no reason to disable connectivity.

At this time I'm not aware of any hack that will make the two work together as the registry hack needed for Beta 1 no longer works. This means if you use an Exchange 5.5 server, don't bother trying Beta 2, unless you plan to use IMAP or POP3 to access your mailbox. Keep in mind that IMAP and POP3 don't support Outlook's special folders and you wont be able to access to your calendar, tasks or contacts.

Unless complaints cause a change of heart or someone figures out how to hack it, sites using Exchange 5.5 will need to upgrade to Exchange 2003 or 2007 in order to use Outlook 2007. While this isn't a bad thing - Exchange 5.5 lacks a lot of features and upgrading is well worth it and there is the potential for problems when you use Outlook 2007 against an Exchange 5.5 server, I'm not a fan of forced upgrades. There are legitimate reasons why a company has newer versions of Outlook but an ancient Exchange 5.5 server and judging from the number of complaints in just the first day and a half of availability, a lot of people want to use Outlook 2007 against their Exchange 5.5 server.

Will it install it on Windows 2000?
No, Windows XP SP2 is required. Type winver in the Start menu, Run box to see what version you are using.

Will it install on Windows XP Media Center Edition SP2?
Well, it has an XP and Sp2 in the OS name:
(Yes, someone really asked that question after reading it wouldn't install on Windows 2000.)

Where is the Add-ins dialog?
All security related options were moved to the Trust Center (on the Tools menu), including Read as plain text, Add-ins, Digital signatures, and blocked download content settings.

I don't want Word as my editor. How do I disable it?
There is only one email editor now and it's Word.

How do I send email from Word?
The "Office envelope" feature which allowed you to compose a document then click a button to show the email header fields and send the document in the body of an email message was removed from the toolbars but the command still exists. Look for it in Word or Excel's Tools, Customize and add it to their Quick Access toolbar.

How can I change Outlook's colors?
From the Office icon in the upper left corner of Word (replacing the File menu), choose Word Options, Personalize and switch color schemes. At this time there are only two colors to choose from - Windows XP blue and Vista slate gray.

Help! RSS feeds are in my Unread search folder.
If you don't want RSS feeds in the Unread search folder, make a custom search folder and choose only the folders you want to search.

Why doesn't Outlook have the ribbon interface?
The main Outlook interface doesn't have the ribbon because it's so complex and they apparently didn't have enough time. The forms do use the ribbon, in part because they are built on Word. For a better explanation, read Jenson's blog about it: http://blogs.msdn.com/jensenh/archive/2006/01/18/514300.aspx

Where do I set up RSS feeds?
All settings for all "accounts", including RSS feeds and Internet Calendars are in Tools, Account Settings.

How do I move the RSS folder from my Exchange mailbox to a pst?
You can relocate the folder RSS feeds go into, but need to do it one at a time as you create the RSS feed. See the Tools, Accounts, RSS tab.

How do I set up newsgroups in Outlook 2007?
Open Outlook Express.

Does the beta expire?
Yes, but not until February 2007.

Additional FAQs and tips on using Outlook 2007 will be at http://www.slipstick.com/ol2007/  and http://www.outlook-tips.net/archives