NEWS AND NOTES — Time Through E-mail and Calendar S— (NAPSA)—In today’s nearpaperless workplace, needless hours may be spent sifting through e-mail messages to evaluate which are urgent, which can be read later, and which are junk and can be deleted. Managing a daily calendar also is challenging, with work and personal appointments that must be juggled each day. Microsoft’s latest version of the Outlook messaging andcollaboration client, Outlook 2002, provides new ways to help you work smarter by reducing the time you 2 Microsoft = Office’ * Standard version 2002 spend on these often tedious tasks. 1. Get in Touch With Instant Messaging. Outlook 2002 seamlessly inteerates with MSN MessengerService, allowing you to send and receive instant messages while working. Simply open a contact card or e-mail message to find out if a registered user is available to chat. 2. Manage AIl Your E-Mail Accounts in One Place. Now you can send andreceiveemail messages from your work and personal accounts, even Web-based e-mail accounts such as Hotmail, without leaving Outlook. Receiving all your e-mail in one Inbox spares you the task ofjuggling different email accounts. Just use the E-mail Accounts commandfrom the Tools menuto define each account. Outlook 2002 also lets you send e-mail from different accounts. When you create a new message, click Accounts to choose the e-mail account from which you want to send the message. 3. Fill in the Blanks. As you type previously used email addresses, Outlook 2002 rec- ognizes them and completes the address, eliminating the need to look them up or memorize them. 4. Blaze Through Your Inbox. The improved Preview Pane lets you follow a hyperlink, respond to meeting requests and display properties of an e-mail address — all without opening the message. 5. Make Sense of Your Calendar Reminders. Outlook 2002 employs a single reminder window to help you bet- New software may take care of some of the hard tasks involved in staying organized. ter manage your appointments and tasks. This integrated to-do list allows you to dismiss, “snooze, or open one or all reminders simultaneously. 6. Make Key Appointments Stand Out. Outlook 2002 allows you to apply color to individual or recur- ring appointments. Just create a new appointment and select the color you want from the Label drop-down control, click on the Calendar Coloring button on the toolbar, and select Automatic For- matting to automatically color appointments. That way, you can identify important items ata glance. Outlook 2002 also provides features for managing your Inbox using colors and rules. To assign colors to e-mail messages from certain senders, go to Tools on the Outlook menu andclick on E-mail Options. To organize your e-mail using folders, choose Folder List from the View option on the Outlook bar. You can easily create new folders and subfolders by choosing New Folder from the File option on the Outlook menu. Microsoft’s Office Web site (http://www.microsoft.com/office/) contains additional information to help you use these or other great time-saving features of Outlook 2002. Outlook 2002 can be acquired as part of the Office XP suite, or as an individual application.
