Which Outlook 2010 Features Are Hidden Up Its Sleeve?

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Which Outlook 2010 Features Are Hidden Up Its Sleeve?

Now you see it... by SoftwareGuru This week's blog update discusses video clips by Doug Thomas which cover many of the Microsoft Office 2010 applications. Today in the articles section I'd like to focus solely on Microsoft Outlook 2010. Student software customers usually don't receive the box or manual so it's important to try out the free online tutorials from Microsoft.com One of the recent innovations in email is the use of conversational email. This is where messages on the same date from the same contact are grouped together to save on visual clutter. Outlook 2010 has this Gmail-like ability but it is not turned on by default. To do so, click the tab 'View' then click 'Date (conversations). To the left of this, tick the 'Show as conversations' box. Now look at the list of emails. You will know if you are looking at a multi-message conversation if when you click it, you see a little triangle beside the envelope icon. You can click on the triangle to expand the grouped messages. This feature is worth turning on as soon as you launch Outlook 2010 for the first time and make sure you apply the setting to all folders.
	Quick Access Toolbar Microsoft may have come on leaps and bounds in the usability stakes but occasionally they still create unnecessary confusion. You only have to look at the MSN Windows Live Messenger naming farce to see the perils of too many cooks spoiling the broth. If you come across the phrase "Quick Access Toolbar" it's worth knowing that this is not a reference to Microsoft Access 2010. So what is then you might ask? The Quick Access Toolbar is a customisable toolbar that is available across the Office 2010 application suite. Launch an Office program and it is located initially at the top left-hand corner of your screen. It contains a set of commands that are independent of the tab that is currently displayed, such as 'View' or 'Insert'. You can move the Quick Access Toolbar from one of the two possible locations, and you can add buttons that represent commands to the Quick Access Toolbar. Clicking the 'More Commands' link will bring you to a comprehensive menu which will allow you to add links to just about everything imaginable that's installed on your computer. Now you really have no excuse for not knowing where certain icons are located because you can place them here yourself.
Expect More Add-ons Managing large email conversations and building your own Office 2010 toolbar only scratches the surface of what is possible. I've written previously about social media integration through Outlook using LinkedIn, MySpace, Facebook and Twitter. For example, the importing of your MySpace contacts into a special visual contact book (ie. database) is absolutely brilliant and a must-have for students. To remain relevant Outlook must continue to be the Swiss Army Knife of online communications. You have to wonder why Messenger hasn't been incorporated into Outlook yet. Would it not be better to offer that option than to continue solely with MS Business Contact Manager 2010 & MS Office Communicator 2007 R2? In the age of cloud computing, the prerequisite of a server seems ludicrous. That's a lot of MS Office owners using other IM and VoIP methods to communicate online. It's great that the social connector is available to Office 2007 owners but having bought the latest offering I want to know what cool add-ons are on the horizon next year after 2010. Competition from rival office services is helping everyone. From open source solutions to the latest Microsoft innovations, we have come a long way since the days of Microsoft Word's debut in 1983. OfficeLive.com is proof of that. Click on the following link to visit our student software deals.

Which Outlook 2010 Features Are Hidden Up Its Sleeve?

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