| There
are several neat features of Outlook XP that are enticing to users. While
most of the time users find upgrades to be just bells and whistles and bloated
codes, this release of Outlook offers some nifty improvements for everyday
use.
If you just want
a straight comparison of Office 2000 vs. Office XP, you may find the link
at the end of this article, otherwise we will be focusing on Outlook XP's
new features (which a typical user may find useful) here. Most importantly,
these features save time and tread of the mouse!
"Exchange
Server is Currently Busy" dialog box
- I found this feature to be particularly useful as I see it all the time
<wink>. While users of Outlook 2000 frown at the monitor trying
to tell whether the application has frozen or just being very busy communicating
with the server, users of Outlook XP are blessed with this pop-up box
equipped with a status bar (and option to end that particular request).
The status bar tells users that although Outlook is not responding to
any more keyboard inputs, it is not frozen. This feature helps ensure
that users of any skill level will not panic and terminate the program
(or place that frantic tech support call right away). While this is going
on, they can still work on other applications without noticeable performance
drop.
Address
completion
- It remembers! In addition to looking up the name from your personal
address book, contacts or Global Address List of your organization, it
will give you a list of recipients whom you've emailed before while you're
still filling in the To: field. So if you've previously emailed Smith,
Bob and now you're typing in Smi... chances are by then the list will
have been generated and by hitting TAB, Smith, Bob will be filled out
and underlined (address matched) for you. If the first item on the list
isn't what you want, hitting the up/down cursor will do it. Imagine how
much time is saved when writing those group emails with a massive cc list?
Integrated
Reminder List
- How annoying can it be when you come into the office in the morning
only to see 10+ reminder messages cascading all over your screen? Outlook
XP has just 1 nag screen with option to postpone any or all reminders.
To dismiss all of them, it's just 1 click of a button.
Mailbox
Cleanup Tool -
Are you always maxing out of your mailbox quota? This tool is useful for
people who have too much email. You can check the size of the space taken
by your mailbox, find items by date/size, initiate AutoArchive or empty
your trash from 1 main screen. No more fumbling to move your email when
the Exchange Administrator nags you about how bloated your mailbox is!
Windows
CE transfer -
For users of CE, Outlook XP has a drop down menu for you. Not a user?
Or user of a different camp? Turn this feature off from the Add-In Manager
within Tools | Options | Other | Advanced Options.
Smart
Tag - In XP,
you'll find a small icon appearing next to your text each time you paste.
That gives you the option of formatting your text according to the source
or to match the destination. Saves a few clicks when you paste email contents
from different sources. In case you hate this option, you can still turn
it off by going to Tools | Options | Other | Advanced Options | Show Paste
Options Buttons.
AutoCorrect
- Most users
of previous Office releases are used to this functionality. Outlook XP
also has that feature for you when composing mail. In addition to common
misspelled words, your i's will be automatically turned into I's but you
won't see misspelled words underlined.
More Office 2000
vs. Office XP comparisons can be found at Microsoft's official site -
Office
Version Comparison
Did you find this
article useful? Do you want to see more of this kind or something else?
I would really appreciate your comments, feel free to email
me!
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