Sharing Information with Microsoft Exchange Client

Microsoft Office Outlook 2003 recognizes all Microsoft Exchange Client message properties. However, although Outlook users can share information with Microsoft Exchange Client users, Microsoft Exchange Client users might not be able to view or use portions of Outlook 2003 messaging information.

When you install and run Outlook for the first time, it recognizes and opens all the Exchange Client e-mail folders defined in the mail profile. Outlook 2003 also creates the Outlook-specific folders—Calendar, Contacts, Journal, Notes, and Tasks.

Outlook 2003 can recognize and maintain folder views in Exchange Client, including custom views. While Outlook can create more advanced custom views than Exchange Client, Outlook and Exchange Client can share public folders that might include custom views.

Limitations when exchanging messages

In a mixed environment, Outlook users should be aware that their coworkers who use Microsoft Exchange Client cannot take full advantage of many Outlook 2003 messaging features. The following items are examples of these features:

• Enhanced standard message form Advanced features such as Information Rights Management message protection and message expiration might not be viewable to Microsoft Exchange Client users.

• Voting buttons and other extended message properties When a Microsoft Exchange Client user opens an Outlook 2003 message, extended Outlook message properties, such as voting buttons, are ignored because they are not recognized by Microsoft Exchange Client. In this scenario, Microsoft Exchange Client users receive only the text of the Subject line and the body of the voting message. No voting buttons are displayed.

• Private items Microsoft Exchange Client users can view e-mail messages or calendar items marked private if they have been granted folder access privileges for the folder where the item is stored.

• Non-table views Microsoft Exchange Client cannot display Outlook non-table views (such as the day, week, and month views in the calendar), or card, icon, and timeline views.

• Preview pane Outlook 2003 has a built-in preview pane called the Reading Pane. The Microsoft Exchange Client preview pane is not compatible with Outlook.

• Saved views Outlook 2003 and Microsoft Exchange Client use different formats to create saved views. Outlook supports both formats, so Outlook users can use any Microsoft Exchange Client view. By contrast, Microsoft Exchange Client does not support the Outlook format, so Microsoft Exchange Client cannot use Outlook views.

• Attachments Outlook users can attach Outlook items that are not messages (such as a contact) to a message. However, Microsoft Exchange Client users receive these items as text-only attachments.

Limitations with other collaboration features

There are other interoperability differences between Outlook 2003 and Microsoft Exchange Client features in addition to those relating to exchanging e-mail messages and using public folders. The following items are examples of these limitations:

• Rules Microsoft Exchange Client users use the Inbox Assistant to manage rules. By contrast, Outlook 2003 includes a Rules and Alerts feature that allows users to manage Inbox Assistant rules (server-side rules) in addition to their Outlook rules (client-side rules).

• Forms Forms created by using the Outlook 2003 forms design environment can be used only by Outlook users. However, if you have custom solutions that depend on Electronic Forms Designer, note that Electronic Forms Designer is no longer supported in Outlook 2003.

• Task delegation When an Outlook 2003 user delegates a task to a user who is running Microsoft Exchange Client, the recipient receives only an e-mail message that lists the description of the task, start and end dates, and other information as text in the body of the message.

On the Resource Kit CD

The Microsoft Office Resource Kit for Office 97/98 provides additional file sharing information for Microsoft Exchange Client, including information about using public folders, converting rules to use with the Rules Wizard, and exchanging forms. For more information, see Microsoft Office Resource Kit for Office 97/98 at http://microsoft.com/office/ork/home.htm.