Connections and Caching

One of the common complaints about previous versions of Outlook was performance. If you were on a slow network, it was painful watching Outlook connect to and synchronize with Exchange, and you were frequently left waiting while a task in the background was being completed. Likewise, if your Exchange server was not available, you were left with no way to continue working. With the new connection and caching modes in Outlook 2003, the majority of these type of connection problems are resolved.

If you are working on a network that is prone to connection drop-outs or if you are working over a connection that has a smaller bandwidth, you will appreciate the fact that Outlook now has two connection modes.

If you are on a LAN connection, Outlook can work in a Fast connection mode, where a direct connection to your Exchange server is maintained. If you are on a WAN connection or a dial-up, you can work in a Slow connection mode. Outlook is set to automatically determine which type of connection you have.

DETERMINING CONNECTION STATUS

When Outlook is running, you can see your connection mode in the bottom-right corner in the status bar. It will show either Online/Fast or Online/Slow whenever you are connected to your Exchange server.

To manually set this option, select File, Exchange Connection and select either a Fast or Slow connection mode, or use the option to Automatically Detect if you would like Outlook to do the work for you.

When you are using a Fast connection, Outlook copies the email message in its entirety, including the header, body, and any attachments. For a Slow connection, only the message headers are retrieved. This means that your Mailbox is much more responsive and new messages are not downloaded until you request them.

Outlook 2003 also uses caching to improve performance. After the initial copy of a user's Mailbox and the Address Book are downloaded, Outlook can work in cached mode, where a constant connection to an Exchange server is not required.

Should your Exchange server not be available, the cached information allows you to continue working in Outlook until a connection is available.

OUTLOOK 2003 CACHING

Caching is turned on by default with new installations of Outlook 2003. If you have upgraded from a previous version of Outlook, you need to turn this option on manually.

WEB RESOURCE

For a tutorial on upgrading from previous versions of Outlook, go to the Delta Guide series Web site (http://www.deltaguideseries.com) and enter article ID A030901.