Choosing an Email Editor

Outlook has two email editors to choose from, with Word set as the default email editor. The Outlook editor, which is included with Outlook, offers basic editing and word processing capabilities. The Word Editor, which has all the editing features of Word, including grammar and spell check as you type, and signatures that automatically change with the account type.

To select an email editor, choose T ools, O ptions, Mail Format (see Figure 5.1). To make Outlook your email editor, clear the check box labeled Use Microsoft Office Word 2003 to Edit Email Messages.

Figure 5.1. Choose your email editor and message format using the T ools, O ptions, Mail Format dialog.

With the exception of features found only in Word, such as spell checking as you type, the Outlook Editor and Word have the same basic features, although they're often found on different menus .

One example is Options. In Word, the O p tion button includes options for E-mail Signature, Stationery, and Show/Hide the From and BCC headers. Using the Outlook editor, these options are on the V iew menu (headers) and the I nsert menu (signatures). A second example is message format. Using Word, you can choose between HTML, RTF, and plain text from a toolbar button and can quickly change formats on the fly (see Figure 5.2). With the Outlook editor, you have to use the F ormat menu and switch to Plain T ext when switching between H TML and R ich Text options.

Figure 5.2. Although there are many minor differences between Outlook's editor and Word's interfaces and the location of menus and options, there are many similarities as well.

Using Outlook's Email Editor

Outlook's editor is generally believed to be faster and to use fewer resources, although most people won't notice any difference in speed. This editor has limited spelling and AutoCorrect capabilities. You have to check your spelling using F7 or configure Outlook to spell check before sending; it doesn't spell check as you type. AutoCorrect works only with plain text and RTF, not HTML-formatted messages.

The Outlook editor provides basic email signatures, including the ability to assign different signatures to different email accounts, but it doesn't automatically change the signature when you select a new sending account.

You have to use the Outlook editor when designing custom forms.