Next time someone sends you an attachment, instead of double-clicking, try single-clicking on it. Outlook 2007 has a great new feature that previews an attachment when you single-click on it: Outlook can preview many common types of files. Images work great, as do files created in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Visio. If you are using Windows Vista you can also preview audio and video files. With Adobe Reader 8.1 installed, you can even preview PDF files. Many previewers allow you to interact with...

One of the powerful things that Outlook can do is help you arrange your data in interesting ways. Outlook's Field Chooser is a great tool that helps you to add any Outlook field to your view, which you can then use to sort your data. Here’s an example involving contacts.  Suppose you meet a new friend and add them to your Outlook contacts. A week later, you are throwing a party and you want to invite them, but you can’t remember their name! But since you know you just added them...

Outlook.com left preview a few weeks ago, and as part of that, we shared that we'd start to upgrade the hundreds of millions of people using Hotmail to the new, modern Outlook.com experience. We had done multiple pilots during the preview period and learned a ton. Overall, the upgrade has been going very well - people have upgraded much faster than we had expected. The vast majority of people using our services have had a smooth experience during this time and are enjoying the new Outlook.com experience. That said, we had an issue yesterday and wanted to provide you with a deeper look at what happened.

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Last week, as I was shopping on the Internet, I saw a shirt that I thought would be really great for my Dad’s birthday. Before ordering the shirt, I ran it by my Mom, just in case she had any other recommendations. So how did I get my Mom’s feedback? Usually, I just send her a link to the Web site and ask her to take a look. Recently, instead of sending her a link, I have been using the new Screenshot feature in Outlook 2010. When I’m writing my e-mail message to my Mom, I go to the Insert tab, click...

The Mail control panel is a useful tool for configuring Outlook profiles, e-mail accounts, and data files: The Office Online article “ Add or remove an e-mail account ” is a great resource for learning how to use and configure e-mail accounts in Outlook using the Mail control panel. In 32-bit Vista and Windows XP, you can find the Mail control panel in the following places: 1. By searching for “ mail ” in the Control Panel search box: 2. Or, by right-clicking on the Microsoft Office Outlook entry...

This post is the first in a multi-part series dedicated to Information Rights Management (IRM) in Outlook 2007. While IRM has been a part of Microsoft Office and Outlook since the 2003 release, we often receive questions regarding the deployment of the system and its practical uses. To address these questions we will be writing an IRM specific blog series that will cover the following topics: What is IRM in Outlook? What IRM infrastructure do I need? What are IRM Templates and how do I use them?...

Hello, Office 2010 Beta users! A couple of months ago, Michael discussed the new Conversations arrangement in Microsoft Outlook 2010. We hope you’re enjoying using Conversations. Since the Conversations arrangement offers new capabilities for your Inbox , we want to share some videos to help you better understand how Conversations make your Inbox easier to manage. Feel free to comment, and let us know what you think. These videos are best viewed in full screen mode.     Jenny Liu and Josh...

Our latest update for the Outlook Hotmail Connector--which connects your Hotmail with Outlook--includes support for HTTPS protocol, a standard for sensitive content. HTTPS helps keep your private information private, which is why it's commonly used for example by banks, merchants, certificate verification processes, etc.).

To start to use HTTPS with your Hotmail account, install the latest version of Outlook Hotmail Connector. No other changes are required in Outlook or on the Windows Live site. Keep reading for the details, links, and install how-to's.

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  We’re happy to announce the Beta release of Microsoft Outlook Hotmail Connector 14.0 (previously called Outlook Connector) in parallel with the Outlook 2010 Beta. Why use the Outlook Hotmail Connector? If you have been using Outlook Connector 12.1, you already know you can manage your Windows Live Hotmail e-mail, calendar, and contacts from within Outlook. Outlook Hotmail Connector 14.0 Beta is compatible with Outlook 2003 and 2007, and will replace Outlook Connector 12.1 upon release and...

I’m happy to announce that a new member has joined the Outlook platform family. The new arrival has a long and formal name known as Microsoft Outlook Social Connector Provider Extensibility, but the name shouldn’t stop you from getting acquainted with this exciting new extensibility feature for Outlook 2010! What is an Outlook Social Connector (OSC) provider? The Microsoft Outlook Social Connector is an add-in that surfaces social network data including friends, profiles, activities, and status information...