Outlook 2010 Impressions

In my previous column I wrote about my migration from Windows Mail to Outlook 2010. Now that I've been running the new edition of Outlook for awhile I thought I'd share my impressions.

One of my favorite new features in Outlook 2010 is Quick Steps. This lets you easily create and save tasks that you run frequently. For example, if you often mark certain emails as read and then move them to a specific folder, or you send emails to the same address with the same subject line, you can create quick steps for those actions.

The process for setting up a quick step is very friendly. Simply select the "Create New" button in the Quick Steps tab on your toolbar. Outlook asks you to name your Quick Step and then choose the actions you wish to include in it. You can choose such actions as deleting a message, moving it to a specific folder, replying to a message, or setting up a meeting. You can also choose a specific address to receive an email and include multiple actions in one single step.

On my end I often grab spam messages that get through to my inbox and forward them to my ISP and other spam reporting services. This can be time consuming since I need to forward the spam message as an attachment and address it to four different addresses. In Outlook 2010 I simply created a Quick Step to handle all of those actions in one step. Now what used to take a minute or two takes a couple of seconds.

I have run into one problem creating a Quick Step, however. When I set up an action to point to a specific email address Outlook insists on pointing me to the Global Address List (GAL). The GAL is used more in enterprise settings that use Microsoft (News - Alert) Exchange server. But I run Outlook off a POP3 server and store all of my email addresses in Outlook's local Address Book. When creating a quick step there seems to be no way to force Outlook to look in my Address Book instead. The only workaround I've found is to manually type or copy and paste the address I wish to use.

Another new feature introduced in Outlook 2010 is the ability to group your email messages by conversation thread. If you've ever had trouble tracking down all the emails associated with a particular conversation you should like this option. Though this is not a feature I've turned on by default, it has proven helpful to me in a couple of instances where I needed to review all the emails in a specific thread. You can easily turn this option on and off for all folders or just for individual folders.

In addition to viewing your messages by conversation you can get rid of redundant messages by conversation. To do this Outlook 2010 looks at the most recent messages in a thread to see if they quote all the prior responses from the people in the conversation. If so, the program keeps only those most recent ones and deletes the older messages.

Another new feature I like in Outlook 2010 and the entire Office 2010 suite is the ability to customize the Ribbon. Microsoft debuted the Ribbon interface and jettisoned the traditional pull-down menus in Office 2007, a move that seemed to tick off many users accustomed to the menus. I grew to like the Ribbon but felt restrained since I couldn't customize it.

In Office 2010 Microsoft has added the ability to change the various groups in the Ribbon. To do this, right-click on the ribbon and choose the "Customize the Ribbon" command. On the right side you'll see the menu structure for your Ribbon; on the left side you'll see all the available commands you can add to the Ribbon. You can then delete, move, and add new commands to the Ribbon to display the tasks you use most frequently.

Finally, the feature I most appreciate in the new edition of Outlook is the smooth way it lets me juggle multiple accounts. I store both personal and business accounts in Outlook and need to keep them separate. In previous version of Outlook this was clumsy to set up and didn't always work well. But Outlook 2010 makes it very simple to add a second or third email account, either from an Exchange server or a POP3 server. I can even maintain separate address lists, Quick Steps, and other features for each different account.

So far, I'm impressed with Outlook 2010. I find myself working a lot quicker than I did in past versions of Outlook or in other email clients. If you're looking for a new email client for yourself or the users at your company, I highly recommend you take Outlook 2010 for a spin.