One of the first things you'll notice after making the transition from Outlook 2003 to Outlook 2007 is that it's got a whole new look. Just like when a car company releases a new model, there are a lot of cosmetic changes, but it's still that great machine underneath, albeit a much improved one. The same goes for Microsoft Office Outlook 2007. It may look different, but now it's much simpler, as well as having some neat new features Like Word and Excel, the main difference is the new Ribbon feature. This makes things much easier for the user.

Time-saving features in Outlook 2007

Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 has a lot of new features, and also puts a new perspective on existing features. One existing feature that has been improved is dragging individual emails to different parts of Outlook, like the Calendar or Contacts section. If you drag an email to the Calendar and drop it there it will open up a new Event Invitation to that person, allowing you to easily arrange a meeting. Once you fill in the necessary additional information, press send and the meeting will be immediately added to your Calendar, meaning you have no excuse for forgetting that all-important appointment

Similarly, you can drag an email to the Tasks section. The new Task will have the same subject line as the email, but you can simply change this into something which may make more sense to you down the line when you have to actually do. Also, dragging an email to the Contacts section, creates a listing for that person in your address book. You can also add their addresses, phone numbers, and other information.

The To-Do Bar and Flagging Emails

A really useful feature of Outlook 2007 is the all-new To-Do Bar. By default, it appears on the right of the screen and shows your Calendar, upcoming events, and any email you have flagged as important. The To-Do Bar means you'll never forget to do anything important ever again! The To-Do Bar lists Flagged emails according to their immediacy. Therefore the ones you have to do today are always listed at the top.

Flagging emails couldn't be easier. If you have an important email that needs a response, you can simply flag it for "Today" by clicking the clear flag picture after the Date and Size in the email folder. Once you've completed the task, click on the flag and it will be marked with as complete: √

You can also flag emails for completion later in the week. Right-click on the email and select "Follow Up" or else right-click on the flag symbol. You can select options such as "Today", "Tomorrow", "This Week", "Next Week", or else select a date of your choice. If you incorrectly flag an email, you can also right-click and select "Clear Flag". Once flagged, emails will appear in the To-Do Bar along with any Tasks that need to be completed.

Once a flagged item is marked as complete, it will appear crossed out in the To-Do Bar, making you feel good about yourself. And at the end of the day, you can see everything you have completed so far. This is especially handy when working on projects and in a group. Do not delete items from the To-Do Bar. If you do so, they will also be deleted from your inbox.

Did you know that you can combine the dragging emails system with the To-Do Bar to create an appointment? Yes, just like dragging an email to the Calendar section, if you drag it to a specific date on the To-Do Bar, a meeting is automatically created for that date.

Organizing your Inbox

When you get a lot of emails each day, it sometimes becomes difficult to find which one you're looking for. To make this easier, you can create folders and sub-folders to neatly arrange your emails into. To create a folder, right-click on Personal Folders in the left Email window. Select "New Folder" and give it a distinct title such as "Science Project" or "Family Members".

If you wish to create a subfolder within this folder, follow the same process. Right-click on the folder you want to create the subfolder in i.e. "Family Members", and then create a new folder within e.g. "Emails from John".

Once your folders are created, you can drag and drop emails into them. Alternatively, you can create a rule to move all emails (and future emails) from a certain address "john@example.zz" to a folder "Emails from John". To do this, right-click on an email from John and select "Create Rule". Tick the box beside John's name at the top, and then choose "Move the item to folder". You'll need to pick the destination folder, and then click OK. Once done, you can even get Outlook to automatically move emails already in your inbox to that folder.

Once you have a few folders in use, you can choose "Favourite Folders". These are located at the top left above the regular folder list. To add a folder to your favourites, right click on it and select "Add to Favourites" or else you can simply drag it to the Favourites section.

Categorize your emails

If, like me, you have emails for certain different categories, you can create folders to arrange them. However, sometimes this may cause you to lose track of certain emails i.e. once it's gone from your inbox, you seem to forget about it. Well, not any more. Now you can create custom coloured categories for your emails, turning your inbox into a rainbow-coloured filing system! If an email falls into more than one category, you can also choose extra coloured categories for it. In Outlook 2003, you could give emails particular colours, but Outlook 2007 goes one further - now you can name your categories. There will be no more questions like "What were red emails again?"

To categorize an email, right-click on the email and select "Categorize". Alternatively, you can right-click in the Categories column, and select the colour you want. The first time you use a particular colour, you will be given the option of naming it. You can give categories any name you like.

Removing categories is just as easy, follow the same steps you went through when adding a category, and when you click on the colour again, it will be removed.

Renaming Categories is also a pain-free process, right click and select "All Categories", then you can simply rename any or all categories. You can create a total of 25 different coloured categories, meaning you'll never lose track of an email again.

Now you know how to sort and arrange your Inbox into categories and folders, you'll never lose an email again!
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