Although Outlook 2003 is packed with many changes, updates and new features, I'm going to examine some that improve your user experience. I will look at a few of the new ways that Outlook 2003 lets you look at your Inbox as well as other folders.
Improved reading pane
Traditionally, we've been stuck reading our messages in the Preview Pane of Outlook. In Outlook 2003, the Preview Pane is gone and has been replaced by the more appropriately named Reading Pane. No longer are you forced into reading your messages in an oddly shaped box at the bottom of your Outlook window. Now you can read them as they would appear on paper in the Reading Pane.
The secret to this change is that the messages list is now vertical instead of horizontal as in previous versions of Outlook. This provides a large space for the Reading Pane on the right-hand side of your Outlook window. Since these are the default settings, you can customize your Outlook 2003 Reading Pane to suit your needs.
The Reading Pane options can be accessed from the Tools menu by clicking Tools, Options, Other tab and then clicking the Reading Pane button. Options include moving the Reading Pane back to the bottom (as in previous versions of Outlook) and hiding or showing message headers in the Reading Pane.
Multi-line message view, grouping and smart dates
The new vertical default message view also lets you make several improvements in the way that messages are displayed. The most dramatic along these lines is that multiple, different colored lines of text can be displayed to quickly indicate from whom the message was sent, the date it was sent and several other user configurable items.
Additionally, Smart Dates change the date and time displayed on messages dynamically to make it faster and easier to locate what you need. For example, a message received today at 12:25 p.m. would only display 12:25 p.m. A message received during the current week would display the day and time, such as Monday, 12:56 p.m. A message received past this time would display only the date, such as 2/1/2004, making it easier to quickly locate messages without displaying too much information. Outlook also uses dynamic date grouping headers, which makes finding messages even easier. For example, all messages received today will be located under the "Today" header. Messages received yesterday will be found under the "Yesterday" header. Older messages will also be grouped by week and/or month, depending on their age.
You can change the multi-line message view and grouping options to suit your needs. Go to the View menu to change the multi-line message view and click View, Arrange By, Custom and then click Other Settings. You can change the grouping options from the View menu as well by clicking View, Arrange By and then selecting the desired option such as Conversation, Subject or E-mail account. Note that the Conversation option is particularly well suited for creating a threaded group of messages in a particular conversation and behaves similarly to how NNTP newsgroup messages do.
Quick flags
One of my greatest frustrations with previous versions of Outlook was the lack of multi-colored flags. No matter why I flagged a message, the result was still the same: a standard red flag. Outlook 2003 corrects this oversight with the introduction of colored quick flags. Now you have six different flag colors available to you for better orgnaization of important or follow-up items. To change the color of the flag to something more meaningful to you, first flag it as normal. After the message is flagged, right-click on the flag icon and choose the desired option. Now you'll be able to work smarter by assigning different color flags to different types of follow-up items.
Will Schmied, BSET, MCSE, MCSA, is president of Area 51 Partners,
Inc., a provider of wired and wireless consulting and authoring
services. As a freelance writer, Will has written for Microsoft,
Pearson, Sybex, Syngress, TechTarget, CNET, msexchange.org and several
other organizations. Will has also worked with Microsoft in the MCSE
exam-development process. You can visit Will at his MCSE certification
portal, www.mcseworld.com or at www.area51partners.com.
