We think the time is right to reimagine personal email. So today, we're introducing a preview of Outlook.com - modern email for the next billion mailboxes. We realized that we needed to take a bold step, break from the past and build you a brand new service from the ground up. You already know Outlook via the Outlook desktop application-for PCs and Macs-as the world's most popular application for reading email, managing a calendar, and connecting to people. And you may have used the Outlook Web App connected to Exchange Server in your organization. Now, in addition to a desktop application and a service for businesses, we're offering Outlook as a personal email service - Outlook.com.

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This morning we became aware of a Twitter campaign run from the website http://fixoutlook.org . This campaign is intended to provide Microsoft with feedback about our decision to continue to use Microsoft Word for composing and displaying e-mail in the upcoming release of Microsoft Outlook 2010. The Email Standards Project , which developed the website that promotes the current Twitter campaign, is backed by the maker of “email marketing campaign” software . First, while we don’t yet have a broadly...

Since we launched the Outlook.com preview a few days ago, we've been humbled and amazed by the reception and by the number of people who have upgraded. In fact, in just the first few days alone, we've seen several million people upgrade to Outlook.com. Over the next week we'll write a series of posts covering upgrading and using Outlook.com, starting with this post covering upgrading from Hotmail, and then followed by posts discussing upgrading from Gmail, Yahoo, and other services. These are all written by Dick Craddock, who runs the Program Management Team for Outlook.com.

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Yesterday we were alerted to an issue in Excel 2007 (and Excel Services 2007) involving calculation of numbers around 65,535. The Excel team would like to provide a description of the issue and explain what we're doing about it. Background Yesterday evening we were alerted to an issue in Excel 2007 (and Excel Services 2007) involving calculation of numbers around 65,535. The first example that we heard about was =77.1*850, but it became clear from our testing as well as additional reports that this...

When designing Outlook 2010, we worked hard to ensure that the colors, shapes, and text used within the product provide a pleasant experience and make it easy for you to get work done. We have done this by redesigning parts of the user interface to give Outlook a clean, crisp, high-quality look that is free from distracting visual elements. By simplifying many parts of the user interface, we’ve allowed your e-mail messages and meetings to shine in the foreground better than ever before! Let’s...

Update: We have heard that some Microsoft Outlook 2010 Beta users are experiencing crashes when trying to use the new Outlook Social Connector (OSC) Beta (February Update) that was released today along with the LinkedIn Provider for Outlook. The OSC that was included with the Outlook 2010 Beta must be uninstalled before installing the new OSC Beta (February Update). After the February OSC update is installed, the LinkedIn Provider for Outlook can then be installed. This information is included on...

Hello Blog Readers, Do you have questions about Microsoft Office 2010 or Windows 7? For the first time ever MVPs from both Windows and Office have come together for a special live chat . Two of our very own Microsoft Outlook MVPs - Diane Poremsky and Ken Slovak - will be on hand to share their expertise of how to make the most of Outlook! This event is a great opportunity to tap into the vast knowledge of these industry professionals who are regarded as the best in their field. All levels of experience...

Today we reached an important milestone in the development of the new Office.  Moments ago, the Office engineering team signed off on the Release to Manufacturing (RTM) build. This milestone means the coding and testing phase of the project is complete and we are now focused on releasing the new Office via multiple distribution channels to our consumer and business customers.

This is the most ambitious release of Office we've ever done. It spans the full family of Office applications, servers and cloud services. The new Office has a fresh, touch friendly design that works beautifully on Windows 8 and unlocks modern scenarios in social, reading, note-taking, meetings and communications. We are proud to achieve this milestone and are eager to deliver this exciting release to our customers.

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The installation of Outlook Social Connector is different from most downloads. Besides downloading Outlook Social Connector (for Outlook 2007 and Outlook 2003; it’s included in Outlook 2010), you must download provider files for each social network you want to connect to. Watch this short video to see how, and see the important links plus an overview of the Outlook Social Connector below.

Note: To use Facebook in the Outlook Social Connector, you must allow a third party application (which is the default setting). If you have edited these settings in Facebook, you may need to edit them again. On your Facebook home page, click Account, and then click Application Settings.

For more help, ask questions at Microsoft Answers.

--Doug Thomas

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Starting today,  you can plug Facebook and Windows Live right into Microsoft Outlook through the Outlook Social Connector. You can view your social network as you look through your email  to stay connected with your friends, family, and colleagues. Check out the video, and then read further to see key links for what Outlook users can do starting today:

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