OL97: Information About Outlook Version 8.01

• Microsoft Outlook 97

SUMMARY

Microsoft Outlook 97 version 8.01 is a version of Outlook that ships with and is optimized for use with Microsoft Exchange Server 5.0. It is not a maintenance release and does not contain new Outlook client features. However, it does enable Outlook to take advantage of Microsoft Exchange Server 5.0 enhancements. The original version of Outlook that ships with Microsoft Office 97 and as a stand-alone program is version 8.0.

MORE INFORMATION

The following topics are described in more detail in this article:

• Differences in Versions 8.0 and 8.01
• Determining If You Have Version 8.01
• Upgrade Decision Information

Differences in Versions 8.0 and 8.01

The differences in version 8.01 fall into two categories: General Changes and Exchange Server 5.0 specific changes.

General Changes:

• Updated MAPI and Microsoft Exchange Server service files. The Outlook client uses these files to communicate with the Microsoft Exchange Server. These files are version 5.0 for the Outlook 8.01 release.
• Automatic sensing of new version availability. When you log in to version 8.01, if a newer version of the Outlook client is available, you will be prompted with an option to upgrade. This AutoUpdate feature enables system administrators to roll out new client versions more easily.
• Different sort method for the "By Conversation Topic" view. This View now sorts by the most recently received message instead of alphabetically. This feature allows for more natural browsing of message threads.
• Changes for the Outlook.prf file. This file is used during Setup to configure a "default" profile if one does not already exist. The 8.0 version of this file created a profile that did not include the Microsoft Exchange Server service and specified that mail was to be delivered to a Personal Folder. The 8.01 version of this file configures a profile that does include the Microsoft Exchange server service and specifies that mail is to be delivered to the server mailbox. This change will only be included in the English version of Outlook 8.01.
• Performance improvement for the viewing of free/busy times. Outlook 8.01 uses a slightly different sort order to speed up the looking up and displaying of free/busy times. In addition, Outlook 8.01 publishes two months of Free/Busy time instead of the three months used in version 8.0.
• Change to allow a greater number of fields (for example, 300+) and actions to be stored in a form.
• Improved handling of attached EFD forms. Using certain editing features (Copy/Paste, Drag and Drop) on an EFD form attached to an Outlook item generates an error message in version 8.0. Version 8.01 allows these editing features to be used successfully.
• Different default for e-mail address separator. The option to 'allow comma as address separator' is off instead of on for version 8.01. This option can be toggled using the Tools, Options, Sending dialog box.
• More Version information in Help About. In the Help-About Microsoft Outlook dialog box, there is now information on the version and internal build number.

Microsoft Exchange Server 5.0 Features

The following features are available with Outlook 8.01 only when connected To Microsoft Exchange Server 5.0:

• Moderated folders. This feature enables folder owners to screen content before it is published in the folder.
• Additional forwarding rule actions. Two new actions are available: the ability to forward a message without changing the content and the ability to forward as an attachment.
• Improved names for favorites. Now when adding a public folder favorite using the Add To Favorites command on the File menu, you can create a "friendly" name for the favorite shortcut.
• Favorites with subfolders. Subfolders can now appear in the Public Folder Favorites list.
• Per-recipient send options. Options like UUencode vs. MIME can now be set on a per-recipient basis instead of only for the entire item.
• Inbox assistant rule-firing termination. Version 8.01 has the ability to specify a rule to be the last rule that is applied on a particular message. Rules that normally would be applied after this rule are not executed.
• Copy rule to Profile. Rules are stored with individual profiles. In earlier versions, if there is a rule that is not stored in the current profile, the rule is unavailable (dimmed) in the Inbox Assistant dialog box. With Microsoft Exchange 5.0, you are able to click with the right mouse button on the rule and choose to move the rule to the current profile.
• View Folder Permissions. There is a new permission choice that enables a folder owner to designate whether people can view a particular folder.
• NNTP Publishing Properties. If you are the owner of a specific folder, and the folder's parent is also a newsgroup, there is now a Newsgroup property page for the folder. This enables you to control whether the folder's contents are visible via NNTP clients.
• Address Book Views. This feature is controlled from the Microsoft Exchange Server and enables administrators to control the format and view of the address book.

Determining If You Have Version 8.01

To determine if you have version 8.01, on the Help Menu, click About Microsoft Outlook. If you have version 8.01, Version 8.01 will be displayed in the dialog box.

Note that version 8.01 will be used in the Outlook PDF file, which is used by Microsoft System Management Server (SMS) for network distributions of software.

Upgrade Decision Information

Microsoft Exchange 5.0 users are not required to upgrade to Outlook version 8.01. Outlook versions 8.0 and 8.01 are completely compatible with Microsoft Exchange Server versions 4.0 and 5.0. You can use Outlook version 8.0 or 8.01 with Microsoft Exchange Server version 4.0, and you can use Outlook version 8.0 or 8.01 With Microsoft Exchange version 5.0. The decision to upgrade should be based on the need for the Microsoft Exchange optimizations listed in the earlier section.