Outlook 2007 icon in system tray

[DWalker]

WHY in the world does Outlook 2007 show an icon in the "system tray"
(Raymond Chen says this is not the official name...) OK, the "system
notification" area? I don't mind the envelope that tells me that there is
a new message; that is really a NOTIFICATION of something.

But the program itself doesn't need an icon in the system notification
area.

I don't WANT running programs that also appear in the taskbar to have an
icon in the system tray. (And I don't have ANY systray icons hidden; I
only have 5 icons there in total. Hiding the Outlook 2007 icon would make
the circle with the < show up, and that takes up room and adds clutter.)

I know that Outlook 2007 thinks it's fancy to be able to minimize itself
*TO* the system tray (and not appear in the taskbar); I think this is
completely backwards. I don't think regular programs that (can) appear on
the taskbar should have a non-removeable icon in the system tray (even
though it's hackily hideable.)

Since my taskbar is 2 rows high, I have lots of room for real taskbar
icons. And that's the only place where Outlook 2007 should appear.

What's next? Explorer, Excel, Word, SQL Server Enterprise Manager, etc.
will ALL force themselves into the system tray? Bleah.

I hope this broken behavior gets fixed eventually.

David Walker

 

[Roady [MVP]]

No need to vent here, leave that for your personal blog.

The Outlook icon is a notification icon in that it can display pop-up
balloons on for instance your connectivity. Minimize to the Notification
Area is just an extra added option since the Notification icon was there
anyway.

If you want to leave a suggestion to have it configurable (to display or
not) I would suggest that you post it as a suggestion by using the Microsoft
Community features or contact Microsoft directly.

 

[DWalker]

No need to vent here, leave that for your personal blog.

The Outlook icon is a notification icon in that it can display pop-up
balloons on for instance your connectivity. Minimize to the
Notification Area is just an extra added option since the Notification
icon was there anyway.

If you want to leave a suggestion to have it configurable (to display
or not) I would suggest that you post it as a suggestion by using the
Microsoft Community features or contact Microsoft directly.

People who are likely to know the reasoning behind the reason won't read my
personal blog (since I don't have one). Hence my post here. (What? Users
aren't allowed to vent or complain in newsgroups???)

That explanation does make some sense (but, does a program HAVE to have a
notification area icon in order to pop up a balloon?). I will make a
suggestion to the right places.

Thanks.

David Walker

 

[Roady [MVP]]

What? Users aren't allowed to vent or complain in newsgroups???
Sure you can if it is the purpose of the newsgroup. This is a peer-to-peer
support newsgroup so the venting doesn't add anything to people who are
trying to help you. In fact it might scare them away; it takes the focus of
your issue and makes the post longer to read.

Those are just some of the reasons I would recommend not to vent. It's
better to vent to the people who can make a difference to the software :-D
(ok, just to be clear; I wasn't too serious on that final statement)

--
Robert Sparnaaij [MVP-Outlook]
Coauthor, Configuring Microsoft Outlook 2003


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