Preparing for Outlook

Outlook is Microsoft's personal information manager and electronic mail (e-mail) software for handling incoming and outgoing e-mail messages.

To use Outlook as your personal information management (PIM) and e-mail tool, you need to be connected to the Internet or a network. Through this connection, you can take full advantage of the e-mail, scheduling, and contact capabilities of Outlook. Before you start Outlook for the first time, you need to know about the different types of connections and e-mail servers you can use with Outlook.

You can use Outlook on a standalone computer or one that is part of a network of computers, also called a local area network ( LAN ) . When you connect your standalone or networked computer to the Internet so you can communicate electronically , your computer becomes part of a worldwide network. You need two things to establish a connection to the Internet: a physical connection and an Internet service provider ( ISP ) .

Options for physical connections include a modem via a phone line (also called a dial-up network connection), a cable broadband modem, or a digital subscriber line ( DSL ) connected directly to your computer or through a LAN. Your options for an ISP, however, are numerous and vary greatly, both in cost and features, and depend upon the type of physical connection you choose. ISPs can include your local telephone or cable company, or a company, such as MSN or AOL (American Online), that provides only Internet access service.

The ISP provides the names of your incoming and outgoing e-mail servers , which collect and store your e-mail until you are ready to retrieve or send it. If you are using a modem, your ISP provides the phone number and modem settings needed to establish an Internet connection.

If you are working on a LAN that uses its own mail server, such as Microsoft Exchange Server, to send and receive e-mail, your network administrator provides all the information that you need for establishing a connection. However, you still need to set up your Outlook Profile with the Exchange mail connector. You will need the Exchange Server name from your system administrator.

Once you establish your connection, you can send and receive e-mail, or you can communicate using instant messaging, participating in a chat room, or subscribing to a newsgroup.

There are several different types of e-mail accounts that you can use with Outlook: POP3, IMAP, and HTTP:

  • Post Office Protocol 3 (POP3) is a common e-mail account type provided by ISPs. Messages are downloaded from the e-mail server and stored on your local computer.

  • Internet Message Access Protocol ( IMAP ) is similar to POP3 except that messages are stored on the e-mail server.

  • Hypertext Transfer Protocol ( HTTP ) is a common type of Web e-mail account. Messages are stored, retrieved, and displayed as individual Web pages. Hotmail is an example of an HTTP e-mail account.



Show Me. Microsoft Office 2003
Show Me Microsoft Office 2003
ISBN: 0789730073
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2002
Pages: 418

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