Part 14. Getting Started with Outlook

Microsoft Outlook is an email client, an appointment calendar, a journal, and several other tools all rolled into one personal information management (PIM) application. Outlook is similar to a three-ring organizer with folders that you might tote around during your business day.

With Outlook, you can keep track of email, daily appointments, and meetings. Whether you are working on an individual computer or computers linked in workgroups, you can use Outlook to contact people, prioritize your work, and manage your time. You can easily access all these features using the Outlook bar with it, you can see items in your calendar, tasks, contacts list, and even mail folders.

Outlook mail folders let you read, create, and send messages. When you receive a message, it goes in your Inbox. When you create and send a message, it goes in your Outbox until you actually connect to the Internet. After you have connected to the Internet and sent the message, Outlook puts a copy of the message in your Sent Items folder.

To use Outlook's email features, you need to have access to the Internet. You might have an account with an online service (for example, America Online), with a local Internet service provider (ISP), or in a corporate setting where you have to log in to the network to gain Internet access. In any case, you should connect to the Internet to perform the tasks in this part, although to understand the tasks, you don't need to.