Outlook 97 Not user friendly to me. Need some advise on Address B

[I want it to be easy]

I recently dumped my AOL and got Roadrunner which I am happy about, but now I
am using Outlook 97 from my Office 97 PE and am not happy with the whole
email package. Everything in the AOL email was very user friendly and all
set up to use (good to go). However, you have to be a computer guru to
understand all the set up procedures and lingo to use Outlook 97? Here are
some of my questions:

1. What is the latest version of Outlook that will work with Windows 2000
available?

2. If I buy that will it be alot more user friendly and allow me to avoid
the headaches of trying to resolve my following issues? (how much does the
new Outlook cost)?

3. I manually set up frequently used email addresses in "my personal address
book", but nothing shows up in "contacts" or in "Outlook Address Book". Is
that right?

4. I can't find a way to set up groups of email addresses, like "family",
"friends", co-workers", "good-dates", "softball team", etc.

5. Is there a way to make Outlook 97 automatically send mail when you hit
the "send" button, or do you always have to manually go to "Tools" and hit
the "retrieve mail" button?

6. Is there a way to make Outlook 97 automatically go to my Roadrunner
server say, every 5-minutes to look for new mail, or again, do I have to
manually go to "Tools" and hit the "retrieve mail" button?

7. I found "Outlook Express" much more user friendly than "Outlook 97", It
had many of the features I'm looking for and can't find in "Outlook 97. Is
that because my Outlook Express came with the Windows 2000 and has been
developed more user friendly since the now non-MS-servicable issue of
"Outlook 97, Version 8.02.4212"?

8. Is this discussion group considered a news group? (I don't really even
know what a news group is either). But I've seen some info regarding the
topic of "news groups". If this is a news group, is there an easy way to set
up a news group in Outlook 97 to track this topic and replies I may get
concerning my questions and/or similar discussion questions, etc.?

9. That's enough questions for now. I will appreciate your feedback, Thank
you, Thank you very much...

 

[Ben M. Schorr, MVP]

1. What is the latest version of Outlook that will work with Windows 2000
available?

Assuming you have SP4 for Windows 2000 installed, you can use Outlook 2003
with it.

2. If I buy that will it be alot more user friendly and allow me to avoid
the headaches of trying to resolve my following issues? (how much does
the
new Outlook cost)?

I have no idea what it costs and "user friendly" depends a lot upon the
individual user. It is, in my opinion, an order of magnitude better than
Outlook 97. But that's just my opinion.

3. I manually set up frequently used email addresses in "my personal
address
book", but nothing shows up in "contacts" or in "Outlook Address Book".
Is
that right?

That's normal. Your "Personal Address Book" is a .PAB file on the hard
drive. That's different from the Contacts or Outlook Address Book. You
should be able to import from the .PAB to the Contacts folder though.

4. I can't find a way to set up groups of email addresses, like "family",
"friends", co-workers", "good-dates", "softball team", etc.

Distribution lists. I don't remember if they were available in Outlook 97
but they certainly are in Outlook 2003.

5. Is there a way to make Outlook 97 automatically send mail when you hit
the "send" button, or do you always have to manually go to "Tools" and
hit
the "retrieve mail" button?

It's been a LONG time since I've used Outlook 97 but if I recall correctly
if you set your connection type to LAN then it will send immediately.

6. Is there a way to make Outlook 97 automatically go to my Roadrunner
server say, every 5-minutes to look for new mail, or again, do I have to
manually go to "Tools" and hit the "retrieve mail" button?

Same as above - it's been a while but I think your Internet Mail Account
properties should include a setting for timed checking of messages.

7. I found "Outlook Express" much more user friendly than "Outlook 97",
It
had many of the features I'm looking for and can't find in "Outlook 97.
Is
that because my Outlook Express came with the Windows 2000 and has been
developed more user friendly since the now non-MS-servicable issue of
"Outlook 97, Version 8.02.4212"?

Different folks have different preferences. I don't think Outlook Express
has changed an awful lot over the years. If OE does what you need then
you're probably better off using that. Outlook has features like Calendar
and Tasks which Outlook Express doesn't have.

8. Is this discussion group considered a news group?
Yes.

topic of "news groups". If this is a news group, is there an easy way
to set
up a news group in Outlook 97 to track this topic and replies I may get
concerning my questions and/or similar discussion questions, etc.?

No. Outlook 97 doesn't read newsgroups (at least not natively). Use
Outlook Express for that if you wish.

9. That's enough questions for now. I will appreciate your feedback,
Thank
you, Thank you very much...

You're welcome.

--
-Ben-
Ben M. Schorr, MVP-OneNote/Outlook
Operations Coordinator
Stockholm/KSG - Honolulu
http://www.scgab.com

 

[Judy Gleeson MVP Outlook]

An added suggestion re: 4

If you think you may ever want to (merge) print labels or do an email merge
to your groups of people, avoid Distribution lists and set up categories for
each type of person. See my PS below as well!

--

Judy Gleeson [MVP Outlook]
Acorn Training and Consulting
www.acorntraining.com.au

Everyone - turn on your Advanced Toolbars and learn how to use the Field
Chooser and Group by Box!!

 

[DL]

In addition
6) Do not set to check for mail to less than 10 mins, any less can cause
problems

8) No version of Outlook can access newsgroups natively. They all use
outlook express newsreader.
You can create a desktop shortcut to open the newsreader, directly
eg target is; "%ProgramFiles%\Outlook Express\msimn.exe" /outnews
You may have to modify if OE is not installed in default place.

An added suggestion re: 4

If you think you may ever want to (merge) print labels or do an email merge
to your groups of people, avoid Distribution lists and set up categories for
each type of person. See my PS below as well!

--

Judy Gleeson [MVP Outlook]
Acorn Training and Consulting
www.acorntraining.com.au

Everyone - turn on your Advanced Toolbars and learn how to use the Field
Chooser and Group by Box!!

Assuming you have SP4 for Windows 2000 installed, you can use Outlook 2003
with it.


I have no idea what it costs and "user friendly" depends a lot upon the
individual user. It is, in my opinion, an order of magnitude better than
Outlook 97. But that's just my opinion.


That's normal. Your "Personal Address Book" is a .PAB file on the hard
drive. That's different from the Contacts or Outlook Address Book. You
should be able to import from the .PAB to the Contacts folder though.


Distribution lists. I don't remember if they were available in Outlook 97
but they certainly are in Outlook 2003.


It's been a LONG time since I've used Outlook 97 but if I recall correctly
if you set your connection type to LAN then it will send immediately.


Same as above - it's been a while but I think your Internet Mail Account
properties should include a setting for timed checking of messages.


Different folks have different preferences. I don't think Outlook Express
has changed an awful lot over the years. If OE does what you need then
you're probably better off using that. Outlook has features like Calendar
and Tasks which Outlook Express doesn't have.


No. Outlook 97 doesn't read newsgroups (at least not natively). Use
Outlook Express for that if you wish.



You're welcome.

--
-Ben-
Ben M. Schorr, MVP-OneNote/Outlook
Operations Coordinator
Stockholm/KSG - Honolulu
http://www.scgab.com