CHAPTER 1 What’s New in Outlook 2007 M icrosoft® Offi ce Outlook® 2007 sports a lot of new features that improve usability and add functionality. What’s more, many of the familiar features in earlier versions have been revamped or fi ne-tuned in Offi ce Outlook 2007. All of these changes come together to make Outlook 2007 an outstanding tool for communication, time and information management, and collaboration. If you are an experienced Microsoft Outlook user, one of your fi rst questions is no doubt, “What’s new in Outlook 2007, and how do I fi nd all of these new features?” That’s what this chapter is all about. While we don’t cover every little change or nuance of the new Outlook 2007 interface or new and improved features here, we offer a broad overview of the new features in Outlook 2007 to help you get up to speed quickly. Let’s start with the most obvious—the user interface. A New Interface Certainly the most obvious difference in all of the 2007 Microsoft Offi ce system applications is their new interfaces. Like the other Microsoft Offi ce system applications, Outlook 2007 sports a new interface. In some ways, however, the differences in Outlook 2007 are not as pronounced as they are in some of the other applications, such as Microsoft Offi ce Word 2007. Outlook 2007 blends some new interface components with improvements to its existing components to achieve a new look and feel. Fortunately, you should be able to become comfortable with this new look and feel in a short time. Once you’ve made that transition, you’ll come to really appreciate the new interface. Let’s take a look at the biggest difference from earlier versions—the Ribbon. The Ribbon Unlike some of the other Microsoft Offi ce system applications, the main Outlook 2007 window uses a familiar menu bar and toolbar combination to give you access to commands, options, and tools in Outlook 2007. These other applications, such as A New Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 Instant Search. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 Calendar Changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9 E-Mail Changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Color Categories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Collaboration and Sharing Improvements . . . . . . . . . . . 12 3 Offi ce Word 2007, use a new feature called the Ribbon to give you quick access to commonly used features. Outlook 2007 does make use of the Ribbon, however, as you can see in Figure 1-1. The new message form is one of the many forms in Outlook 2007 that sports a Ribbon rather than the more familiar menu bar/toolbar combination. Figure 1-1. The Ribbon makes commands and features easily discoverable. The Ribbon is something of a paradigm shift. Rather than provide a linear menu list of commands, the Ribbon divides features onto individual tabs, each of which comprises tools with related functions. For example, all of the tools that relate to inserting items into a new message are located together on the Insert tab of the new message form. Each Ribbon tab is divided into groups, and each group organizes the features for a specifi c function. On the Message tab of the new message form, for example, the Basic Text group organizes the tools you use to format text in the message. Is the new Ribbon design good or bad? After you spend the time to become familiar with it, you’ll probably come to the conclusion that the Ribbon is an improvement over the “old” interface. The Ribbon helps expose some useful and powerful features that many people never used because they weren’t aware they existed or they didn’t take the time to dig through the menus to fi nd them. The Navigation Pane The Navigation Pane was fi rst introduced in Microsoft Outlook 2002 as part of Microsoft Offi ce XP and took the place of the Outlook Bar. The Navigation Pane gives you quick access to all of your Outlook 2007 folders (Inbox, Calendar, and so on) and adapts depending on which folder you are using. For example, when you open the Calendar folder, the objects offered in the Navigation Pane change to refl ect features available in the calendar, such as views. The Outlook 2007 Navigation Pane looks at fi rst blush to be much like the Navigation Pane in Outlook 2002 and Outlook 2003. The main difference in Outlook 2007 is the capability to show the Navigation Pane in a collapsed state, as shown in Figure 1-2. Chapter 1 4 Chapter 1 What’s New in Outlook 2007? Figure 1-2. You can collapse, or autominimize, the Navigation Pane. Essentially, the Navigation Pane, when collapsed, acts a little like the Microsoft Windows® taskbar in autohide mode. The Navigation Pane sits at the left edge of the Outlook 2007 window as a narrow vertical toolbar. You can click items in the Navigation Pane to expand them for use. For example, click the Navigation Pane section to display the Favorite Folders and folder list or views for the current folder. After you click a folder in the list to select it, the pane is hidden again. Using the Navigation Pane in collapsed mode makes more space available for displaying the contents of a folder (such as your monthly calendar) while still keeping the Navigation Pane’s features readily available. The To-Do Bar The To-Do Bar, shown in Figure 1-3, is another new feature in Outlook 2007 that brings together information from different Outlook 2007 sources and makes it readily available. It combines the Date Navigator, appointments for the day, and current tasks in one pane. As with the Navigation Pane, you can confi gure the To-Do Bar to automatically hide after you use it. In this mode, the To-Do Bar sits at the right edge of the Outlook 2007 window as a vertical toolbar. When you click the To-Do Bar, it expands to display its contents. You can then click a date to view its appointments in the Calendar window, work with tasks, and so on. When you click again in the main Outlook 2007 window, the To-Do Bar collapses back to a vertical toolbar. 5 Chapter 1 A New Interface Figure 1-3. The To-Do Bar combines tasks, appointments, and the Date Navigator in one location. Other Interface Changes The Outlook 2007 interface is signifi cantly changed in other ways in addition to the Ribbon, Navigation Pane, and To-Do Bar. For example, the Calendar window has been given a visual and functional overhaul. See the sections titled “Calendar Changes” and “E-Mail Changes” later in this chapter for details. Additional interface features are explored in other chapters where appropriate. Instant Search Outlook 2007 introduces its own Instant Search feature. For example, in the Inbox folder, you can click in the Search box and type a word or phrase, and Outlook 2007 quickly (but not quite instantly) displays the results of the search. You can work with the results of the search before the search is complete, so when you fi nd the item you need, you can simply double-click it to open it—you don’t have to wait for the search to complete. Search is also improved in other ways in Outlook 2007. You can click the arrow next to the Search box to open the Query Builder, as shown in the upper-left corner of Figure 1-4, where you can specify additional search parameters to locate items. The contents of the Query Builder change according to the folder in which you are working. For example, the search criteria in the Inbox pane are different from the criteria in the Calendar pane. Chapter 1 6 Chapter 1 What’s New in Outlook 2007? Figure 1-4. Use the Query Builder to perform advanced searches. To learn more about these and the other added search features in Outlook 2007, see Chapter 33, “Finding and Organizing Outlook Data.” Calendar Changes The Calendar folder has received some new interface changes and added features in Outlook 2007. For example, the calendar’s appearance has been improved with additional color and visual elements. On the functional side, the calendar includes a Daily Task List pane at the bottom of the window, as shown in Figure 1-5. The Daily Task List shows the tasks that are due on the current date, such as tasks with that day as a due date or e-mail messages with a follow-up date of that day. You can use the Daily Task List to open tasks and the other items it displays (such as messages), add new tasks, mark tasks as complete, assign tasks, print tasks, and perform other actions on the items. Tasks that you do not complete roll over to the next day, so they are not forgotten. 7 Chapter 1 Calendar Changes Figure 1-5. Use the Daily Task List in the Calendar folder to view your current tasks. Note The appearance of the Week view is another change in the Calendar folder. No longer a two-column day-planner view, the Week view is more like the Work Week view in earlier versions. Scheduling also sees improvement in Outlook 2007. When Outlook 2007 is used in concert with Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 for scheduling meetings, attendee schedules are automatically reviewed and a time is then proposed for the meeting. Naturally, you can select a different time if needed. Figure 1-6 shows the Scheduling Assistant, which helps you choose a meeting time that works for the majority of attendees. In addition, when you make a change to a meeting time, location, or agenda, the attendees receive an informational update rather than a request to accept the meeting changes. Note The appearance of the Week view is another change in the Calendar folder. No longer a two-column day-planner view, the Week view is more like the Work Week view in earlier versions. Chapter 1 8 Chapter 1 What’s New in Outlook 2007? Figure 1-6. Use the Scheduling Assistant to easily schedule meetings. Another useful improvement for scheduling is calendar overlay. In earlier versions of Microsoft Outlook, you could open another Calendar folder in a new window to view the appointments in that calendar. As in Outlook 2003, Outlook 2007 also lets you view calendars side by side. Even better, Outlook 2007 lets you overlay calendars, as shown in Figure 1-7. For example, if you keep personal appointments separate from business appointments, you can overlay the two calendars for a complete, overall, view. Figure 1-7. Use calendar overlay to view multiple calendars in a combined view. 9 Chapter 1 Calendar Changes Calendar overlay extends to Microsoft Offi ce SharePoint® sites. You can view calendars stored on a SharePoint site and even overlay them with your own calendar, all right within Outlook 2007. For example, you could overlay your team calendar over your personal calendar to identify scheduling confl icts. There are many additional changes and improvements in the Outlook 2007 calendar and scheduling features. See Part 4, “Managing Your Time and Tasks,” to learn more about scheduling and using the calendar. E-Mail Changes Many people spend a majority of their time working in the mail folders in Outlook 2007. So Microsoft has improved mail features in Outlook 2007 in a number of ways, both visual and functional. For example, Outlook 2007 now can automatically set up e-mail accounts for you based on a small amount of information you provide, such as your e-mail address and name. Outlook 2007 will attempt to determine the appropriate mail server and other settings based on that information, simplifying account setup. If Outlook 2007 is unable to set up the account, you can specify settings manually. Here’s a list of the most notable mail-related feature improvements in Outlook 2007:  Attachment Previewing You can preview certain types of documents right in the Reading Pane without having to open the attachment or the message containing it. You simply click the item to preview it in the Reading Pane. Outlook 2007 sup- ports previewing of Outlook 2007 items, images and text fi les, and documents created by Microsoft Offi ce Word, Offi ce PowerPoint®, Offi ce Excel®, and Offi ce Visio®. This feature is extensible, enabling third-party developers to build preview capability for other attachment types.  Out Of Offi ce Assistant In earlier versions, Microsoft Outlook displayed a notifi cation dialog box when you started Outlook with the Out Of Offi ce Assistant turned on. In Outlook 2007, the notice appears on the status bar. A more important change to the Out Of Offi ce Assistant is that you can now schedule the Out Of Offi ce Assistant ahead of time, turning it on at the speci- fi ed time. So a week or so before you will be out of the offi ce, you can set it and forget it. The Out Of Offi ce Assistant will turn on at the specifi ed time all by itself and turn off at the set time, as well. In addition, you can specify different Out Of Offi ce messages for recipients in your organization and those outside it. These last two features require Exchange Server 2007.  Unifi ed Messaging When Outlook 2007 is used with Exchange Server 2007, you can have your voice messages and faxes delivered to your Inbox along with your e-mail. Chapter 1 10 Chapter 1 What’s New in Outlook 2007?  International Domain Names Outlook 2007 supports internationalized domain names in e-mail messages, enabling people to specify addresses in their own lan- guages in addition to English.  E-Mail Postmarks Outlook 2007 stamps each message with a uniquely generated electronic postmark. This postmark serves two purposes. First, it helps reduce spamming by imposing a small processing load on the computer. This load is negligible when sending an average number of e-mail messages, but it imposes an unacceptable load on spammers trying to send messages to a large number of recipients. In addition, Outlook 2007 recognizes the postmark on messages that it receives, helping it to determine whether a message is not junk mail.  Junk Filter And Phishing Protection Another improvement in Outlook 2007 is its enhanced junk fi ltering. Outlook 2007 also adds a phishing fi lter to help guard against phishing attacks in which offi cial-looking but false messages attempt to direct you to malicious sites or obtain personal information such as credit card or banking information.  Managed Folders This feature works in conjunction with Exchange Server 2007 to provide a means for archiving messages to meet legal requirements, such as Sarbanes-Oxley and HIPAA, and corporate policy requirements. Managed folders look and function like other message folders (such as the Inbox folder). However, the policies assigned to managed folders determine retention and other policy- based behavior. In addition, the user cannot move, rename, or delete managed folders. These restrictions ensure that the users cannot bypass retention policies. Microsoft has introduced a handful of additional changes to improve e-mail features in Outlook 2007. These additional features are covered in Part 2, “E-Mail and Other Messaging.” Color Categories You are no doubt familiar with categories in Outlook 2007. Categories in Outlook 2007 are like tags that you associate with Outlook 2007 items (such as messages, appointments, and tasks). In earlier versions of Microsoft Outlook, categories were defi ned using text only. You could choose from existing categories as well as create your own categories. You can organize Outlook 2007 items based on category—for example, grouping items in a folder based on their category assignments. Outlook 2007 introduces color categories to make categories more visible and more useful, as shown in Figure 1-8. By associating a color with a category, you make it easier to quickly identify items that have a specifi c assigned category. This is particularly true when you are using a list view that is not grouped by category. For example, you might assign the Blue category to all e-mail messages from a certain sender. You can then identify at a glance when looking at the Inbox the messages from that sender. 11 Chapter 1 Color Categories . The Outlook 2007 Navigation Pane looks at fi rst blush to be much like the Navigation Pane in Outlook 2002 and Outlook 2003. The main difference in Outlook. folders in Outlook 2007. So Microsoft has improved mail features in Outlook 2007 in a number of ways, both visual and functional. For example, Outlook 2007 now