Exchange and Outlook UPDATE, Outlook Edition, January 21, 2003

Exchange and Outlook UPDATE, Outlook Edition—brought to you by Exchange & Outlook Administrator, a print newsletter from Windows & .NET Magazine that contains practical advice, how-to articles, tips, and techniques to help you do your job today.
http://www.exchangeadmin.com

THIS ISSUE SPONSORED BY

FREE EXCHANGE GUIDE from NetIQ

PacWest Security Road Show
(Below COMMENTARY)

SPONSOR: FREE EXCHANGE GUIDE FROM NETIQ

Is your e-mail traffic growing? What routes are messages taking? Do you experience delays in e-mail delivery? Get answers now with NetIQ's free guide, "The Top Reports Every Exchange Administrator Lives For." This free guide explores ten critical indicators that leading Exchange Administrators are monitoring and explains how to put this valuable data to work.

January 21, 2003—In this issue:

1. COMMENTARY

2. ANNOUNCEMENTS

3. HOT RELEASE (ADVERTISEMENT)

4. RESOURCE

5. NEW AND IMPROVED

6. CONTACT US
See this section for a list of ways to contact us.

1. COMMENTARY
(contributed by Sue Mosher, News Editor, [email protected])

OWA 2003 ADDS OUTLOOK FEATURES
The release of Exchange Server 2003 beta 2 as a public beta earlier this month opens the door for many more organizations to experience the improvements planned for Outlook Web Access (OWA) and the next desktop version of Outlook, currently code-named Outlook 11. Client enhancements were one of the main product goals for Exchange 2003. Microsoft has done a lot of work to make OWA more like desktop Outlook than ever before—a significant feat given all the changes in Outlook 11.

OWA 2003 actually comes in two versions: a "rich" version for users with Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE) 5.0 or higher and a basic version for other users. Microsoft recommends the basic version for dial-up users and others with slow network connections.

In the rich version, OWA 2003 users will first notice the changes in the opening view. Like Outlook 11's new interface, OWA 2003's opening view is more colorful than in previous versions and shows a reading pane on the right-hand side, not at the bottom. You should be able to read almost all your messages in the reading pane. With the reading pane displayed, the default view shows each item in the message list in a two-line display, leaving room for a new follow-up column. Click once in this column to mark a message with a red flag for later action. Right-click in the flag column to see a choice of six flag colors.

Security issues are important in Exchange 2003, and OWA has its share of improvements. OWA 2003 adds support for sending and receiving encrypted and digitally signed messages with Secure MIME (S/MIME). As in Outlook 11, the reading pane automatically blocks images, sounds, and other external content in email messages. This feature not only conserves bandwidth but also thwarts spammers who use so-called Web beacons—invisible images—to confirm valid email addresses. If the message contains a picture that you do need to see, you can click the "Click here to unblock content" link in the reading pane.

To meet another key security need, administrators can block OWA access to attachments. One server setting prevents users logging on from external machines from opening any attachments, a feature designed to prevent sensitive company documents from leaking out. Administrators will also be able to match Outlook 11's attachment-blocking feature, preventing access to certain types of files that could contain dangerous content.

Although OWA 2003 doesn't support creation of Outlook journal items, it does add support for tasks. The task entry window looks much like desktop Outlook's task form, and the tasks folders let you use the folder view to mark an item complete.

Spell check is another feature that OWA users have wanted for years. Up until now, it has been available only through third-party tools. OWA 2003 includes a spelling button on the message toolbar. The first time you click that button, OWA asks what language you want to use. (You can also click the Options button at the bottom of the new navigation pane on the left side of the main OWA window to set the language.) On replies and forwarded messages, the spelling feature checks only your text, not the text of the original message.

Another long-desired feature is the ability to resolve names first against the mailbox Contacts folder instead of the Global Address List (GAL). Like the spelling language, you can change this setting in the Options display. The Find Names dialog box that you see when you click the To button on a new message also lets you search Contacts as well as the GAL.

OWA 2003 includes a lot of other small improvements, such as recalling the user's preferred size for item windows, the ability to mark a message in the Inbox as read or unread, a default signature, a command for adding a recipient to the user's Contacts folder, and a simple rules editor for creating server-based rules from existing messages. Keyboard shortcuts such as Ctrl+R for reply and Ctrl+Shift+F for forward help make OWA more like desktop Outlook. Even if you aren't set up to test Exchange 2003, you can download the 277-page Getting Started Guide and begin learning about the new features and capabilities.

Exchange Server 2003 Beta 2
http://www.microsoft.com/exchange/evaluation/ti/beta.asp

SPONSOR: PACWEST SECURITY ROAD SHOW

BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND - DON'T MISS OUR SECURITY ROAD SHOW EVENT!
If you missed last year's popular security Road Show event, now's your chance to catch it again in Portland and Redmond. Learn from experts Mark Minasi and Paul Thurrott about how to shore up your system's security and what desktop security features are planned for .NET and beyond. Registration is free so sign up now!

2. ANNOUNCEMENTS
(brought to you by Windows & .NET Magazine and its partners)

This outstanding seven-city event will help you support your growing mobile workforce. Industry guru Paul Thurrott discusses the coolest mobility hardware solutions around, demonstrates how to increase the productivity of your "road warriors" with the unique features of Windows XP and Office XP, and much more. You could also win an HP iPAQ Pocket PC. There is no charge for these live events, but space is limited, so register today! Sponsored by Microsoft, HP, and Toshiba.

You might not be a programmer, but that doesn't mean you can't learn to create and deploy timesaving, problem-solving scripts. Discover Windows Scripting Solutions, the monthly print publication that helps you tackle common problems and automate everyday tasks with simple tools, tricks, and scripts. Try a sample issue today.

3. HOT RELEASE (ADVERTISEMENT)

Would you like the most Reliable & Lowest TCO Messaging Software in the world that supports Outlook? Visit Samsung at Linuxworld in NYC at Booth # 965 on Jan 22-24 or at http://www.samsungcontact.com

4. RESOURCE
(contributed by Sue Mosher, [email protected])

Q: My company's sales department uses a custom contact form with a drop-down list that lets you mark the contact Customer, Prospect, or Open. How can I configure Outlook to automatically flag the contact when the field's value changes?

A: The simplest solution that I can think of is to add the following code to your custom form:

  Dim m_strType  Function Item_Open()     If Item.Size  0 Then        m_strType = Item.UserProperties("Type")     End If  End Function  Function Item_Write()     If Item.UserProperties("Type")  m_strType Then        Item.BillingInformation = "Old type: " & m_strType     End If  End Function

Change Type to the name of the property bound to the drop-down list, and republish the form with an updated version number.

When the item is opened, this code puts the current value for Type into the module-level variable m_strType. Then, when the user saves the item, the code checks the current value for Type against the original value stored in m_strType. If they're different, the code updates the built-in BillingInformation property with the original value for Type.

To make the most of this information, create a view that filters only the items in which BillingInformation isn't blank. Display the BillingInformation, Modified, and Type fields to quickly see which items were modified and when, along with their original and modified values for the Type property.

See the Exchange & Outlook Administrator Web site for more great tips from Sue Mosher.

5. NEW AND IMPROVED
(contributed by Carolyn Mader, [email protected])

DYS Analytics released Email CONTROL! 4.0, software that optimizes your email infrastructure. Email Investigator, part of the Email CONTROL! suite, automates the measurement, analysis, trend spotting, and reporting of messaging traffic across the enterprise so that you can generate system metrics and usage pattern information. Another module in the suite, Email Reporter, monitors internal and external email flow and alerts you to possible problems, such as network bottlenecks or excessive email volume. Email CONTROL! 4.0 is priced per seat and runs on Exchange Server. Contact DYS Analytics at 781-694-2200.

6. CONTACT US
Here's how to reach us with your comments and questions: