Track Your Items In Outlook With Categories
Do you struggle locating items in Outlook? Do you spend too much time searching through your various folders in Outlook trying to find specific items? If so, you might want to consider using Categories.
A category is a specific word or phrase that you can use to group your Outlook items so you can easily find them later on. I should say ‘logically’ group items because they can be stored in different folders. For example, if you are working on a business project, you can assign all related items (e-mails, notes, contacts, and so on), to the same category (such as business). When you want to bring up items related to your business project, you can do so using the category you assigned the items to.
When it comes to using Categories, Outlook includes a Master Category List. You can group your items using the predefined categories or you can create your own. Both of these processes are described below.
Once you have Outlook open, select the item/items you want to assign to a specific category. An item can include e-mails, contacts, tasks, journal entries, notes, appointments, and so on. You can select more than one item by holding down the CTRL key as you select them. From the Edit menu, click the Categories option. From the list of Available Categories, select the category you want to assign to the items. Keep in mind that you can assign an item to more then one category.
Alternatively, using a few simple steps, you can create your own custom categories. For example, if you are working on a specific project, you may want to create a category using the project name. You can then assign this category to all the items that relate to that particular project.
Creating a new category is very easy to do. Once you have Outlook open, select the item or items you want to assign a new category to. From the Edit menu, click the Categories option. From the Categories dialog box, click the Master Category List button. Type in a name for the new category that you want to create in the New category field and click the Add button. You can repeat this step for any additional categories that you want to create. Click OK to close the Master Category List dialog box and click OK to close the Categories dialog box.
If you want to search for items based on a category, click the Advanced Find button from the Tools menu. Select the More Choices tab and type in the name of the category or click the Categories button to select the appropriate one. Click Find Now and all the items assigned to the category will be displayed.
Interview With Michael Manos: How Microsoft Does Data Centers
We recently conducted an interview with Michael Manos, Senior Director of Data Center Services at Microsoft, on RunAs Radio. Microsoft’s been working on a substantial set of data center build-outs, and so Richard and I figured there’s a lot we can all learn from someone like Michael. Not many people have to think as carefully or in such a large scale about how to best tackle the data center design and build issues.
Microsoft has been doubling its data center capacity each year, and it has to think about maximizing efficiencies, “greening” the data center, locations, power — you name it.
If you’re in any way associated with data center design, architecture, or operations, this show’s for you.
Freedom Of Choice
While OpenOffice has made some significant strides over the years, it is simply not doing as well as many users need it to. This leads some people to break down and buy the costly Microsoft Office product instead. I can certainly understand this, it is a simple matter of the tool that fits the job.
Thankfully, from within the closed source world there is still a freedom of choice, both Web-based and localized.
Now many people to this day have the belief that if Java is powering the application, then it is slow, difficult to use, and generally feels like something from the 1990s. To be blunt, you would be generalizing based on your poor experience with one or two poorly written applications. The truth is that there are many applications that are built on Java technology that do indeed, blow the doors off of other similar applications from the price point to the overall user experience. This said, I think the trend with Thinkfree, Google, Microsoft, Zoho, and others to provide Ajax alternatives is a good idea as it provides even more choices.
As for those who point out that most of these options lack Outlook, I would point out that when I was still bound to that PIM on Windows XP, I chose to purchase the standalone CD, rather than the entire office suite. Later on, it turned out that I did not need that specific PIM any longer anyway. But the point remains, you can mix and match for your own needs. One office suite here, then use whichever PIM you desire with a little searching.
So what is your favorite office suite? Are you partial to older versions of MS Office, alternatives like OpenOffice, or perhaps the shiny MS Office being sold today with its new ‘layout?’ Speaking for myself, while I own a copy of Office 2007, it is the archaic menus and new layout that tend to drive me back to an older version of OpenOffice myself, as it is free to use. But this is just what meets with my own needs. To each their own.
Windows Home Server Power Pack 1 - Do You Want It Now Or Later?
When the Windows Home Server data corruption bug surfaced a couple months ago (updated information is available here), the Home Server team at Microsoft focused their efforts on squashing it. As a result, the Home Server Power Pack 1 release was delayed as a lower priority (and understandably so at the time).
image Microsoft has recently announced that they plan to get the data corruption issue fix out to the market in June this year, but Home Server Product Manager Todd Headrick posted a query on the Microsoft Home Server forums asking people if they’d like to get Power Pack 1 sooner, or if we’d prefer to wait for the corruption fix and take it all at once.
I’ve voted for the “Power Pack now” option, and will be glad to take a data corruption fix later. As long as there’s no dependencies on the bug fix (and it sounds like there’s not), and as long as additional risk is not being generated, releasing the power pack earlier is certainly the best option, as long as it’s ready. Here are a few reasons why:
- 64-bit client support, so users of Vista 64-bit can use the home server as it is meant to be used (this appears to be a broader-reaching and more-common issue than many thought it would)
- Ability to back up the home server folders to external drives
- Usability and UI improvements
- Other fixes
- Opportunity some good news into the channel (it’s a great product with a lot of goodwill in the community that would benefit from some positive karma right now)
As a general rule, big companies (or “enterprise” customers, as we call them) want multiple changes carefully packaged together, with as many problems solved in one patch or update as possible, with low risk. But Home Server is notably not an enterprise product. Instead it is laser focused on a crowd where more frequent feature and fix releases are preferred, encouraged and asked for. So, in the case of Home Server it’s probably best to adopt something closer to an iterative release cycle.
What do you think? Microsoft wants to know!
iPhone And Exchange To Play Nicely Together
Microsoft and Apple have announced that they are working together to make Exchange Server and the iPhone mobile phone work well together. Apple will license Exchange ActiveSync for use on the iPhone, which will in Turn help assure the Exchange Server dominance in the marketplace stays they way it is. It’s really as simple as that.
The fact is that Exchange is a pretty terrific server product for email, calendaring, and a lot more. The iPhone is a pretty terrific mobile device. They don’t integrate too terribly well today: You can sync your calendar and contacts via the USB connection to your computer, and you can get IMAP email from a properly-configured Exchange server (which works, but is not exactly optimal). But it’s far from simple, far from seamless, and far from supportable in the enterprise.
One has to wonder what this means, either directly or indirectly, for the Windows Mobile world. I know the arguments: Different markets, different platforms, different purposes, etc. etc. etc… but with the iPhone SDK availability, that gap will be much narrower. And the fact of the matter is, Apple has the usability nailed with the iPhone. Sure, there’s a few enhancements needed. But those are ones that can (and I’m certain will) be done.
ActiveSync will provide the ability (assuming Apple leverages all the features) to do push email, calendar and contact sync over the air, and task list sync.
Perhaps one of the more important potential benefits from ActiveSync integration with the iPhone is the ability to get enterprise-class security on the device, which to date is lacking and doesn’t meet the needs or standards of most commercial IT departments. Exchange 2007 clients can be set up for enforced enterprise IT “policies” or controls, which would go a long way toward satisfying the security needs. In my mind, that’s the biggest potential win. Without that, pushing email and syncing calendars and contacts is to risky an activity.
From Apple’s press release come details of what they intend to provide - and it looks liek Cisco VPNs are in the package, as well:
Apple has licensed Exchange ActiveSync from Microsoft and is building it right into the iPhone, so that iPhone will connect out-of-the-box to Microsoft Exchange Servers 2003 and 2007 for secure over-the-air push email, contacts, calendars and global address lists. Built-in Exchange ActiveSync support also enables security features such as remote wipe, password policies and auto-discovery. The iPhone 2.0 software supports Cisco IPsec VPN to ensure the highest level of IP-based encryption available for transmission of sensitive corporate data, as well as the ability to authenticate using digital certificates or password-based, multi-factor authentication. The addition of WPA2 Enterprise with 802.1x authentication enables enterprise customers to deploy iPhone and iPod touch with the latest standards for protection of Wi-Fi networks.
The iPhone 2.0 software provides a configuration utility that allows IT administrators to easily and quickly set up many iPhones, including password policies, VPN setting, installing certificates, email server settings and more. Once the configuration is defined it can be easily and securely delivered via web link or email to the user. To install, all the user has to do is authenticate with a user ID or password, download the configuration and tap install. Once installed, the user will have access to all their corporate IT services.
Good move Apple. Good move Microsoft. Looking forward to this one!
This Is Just Sad, But True
As an ex-Windows user, I cannot express in words how gratifying it is to be free from the mess that is Vista. Seriously, I have it, but it is certainly not my primary desktop. Today, I have something very concrete that proves the people at the top of the Microsoft hierarchy are just rolling the dice. This article sheds more light into the anarchy in Redmond than any rant I could put together ever could. And you know something, it will change nothing. The problem is not the people working there, they have some great ideas with fantastic employees. Unfortunately, their management is a total disaster in my humble opinion.
Now there are two things to consider here. One, this is a set of circumstances from the past. And two, we did see this with XP, be it not as bad as with Vista. I distinctly remember trying in vain to get our XP machine to work with our HP printer to no avail as the drivers released at the time would not work. So it is safe to say that some of this type stuff is normal for the Windows platform.
What is disgusting and inexcusable, is how MS has made it crystal clear that they have no interest in the end user experience and it is all about appeasing vendors, even if it means not being totally forthcoming. I have suspected it for years, this solidifies it for me. For those of you still happy with Windows, more power to you, at least you are providing jobs for the good people who worked to create it. Those are the individuals, who end up caught in the middle of PR hassles like this. And I genuinely feel for them.
HP Has The Best Support?
I have a real issue with the findings of this article. According to research done by an independent firm, HP lead the way in overall customer support. Now before you double over laughing, you have to understand the metrics used here: website usability, self-service information, along with actually speaking to some one over the phone.
Now I agree that if you are looking for self-service, HP is a leader in this arena. I have often found drivers, manuals and the like without much issue to be had. But to even tie this in with the consumer level customer support and then claim that they are doing well still is laughable. And contrary to popular belief, this is not just an issue of outsource support. I have had plenty of companies here in the US and Canada who have left me gritting my teeth thanks to the most poorly trained reps I have ever had to deal with.
All of this said, I did agree with the point of online chat vs using email for support assistance. In some cases, I have come away less frustrated by light years after dealing with the same company via chat instead of over email/phone. It is difficult to explain, but it seems like there is just less interpretation and confusion when taking this approach. And I also suspect that it is must less stressful for the company reps as well.
As for the point in the study that points to Microsoft, Symantec, and HP being among the top three for being the most responsive to a customer’s issues, I say this is completely false. I have had extensive dealings with all three and with the exception of being an enterprise customer, your problems are not even on their radar. Am I wrong here?
Take A Pro Tour Of Project Professional 2007
Microsoft Office Project 2007 offers the right blend of usability, power, and flexibility to provide robust, easy-to-use project management tool that enables project managers to manage their projects efficiently and effectively.
Test drive Project Professional 2007 today to access valuable information and tools!
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Deployment Technologies For Vista
There are a number of tools and technologies available for deploying Windows Vista. Administrations can use these tools and technologies to deploy Windows Vista is a variety of different environments.
Some of the deployment tools and technologies for Windows Vista are summarized below.
- Windows System Image Manager (Windows SIM) lets you create answer files (Unattend.xml) and network shares or modify the files contained in a configuration set. You use Windows SIM on the technician computer, and then transfer your Unattend.xml file to the master computer before creating your installation image.
- An Answer file is a text file that scripts the answers for a series of graphical user interface (GUI) dialog boxes. The answer file for Windows Setup is usually called the Unattend.xml. You can create and modify this answer file by using Windows System Image Manager (Windows SIM) or the CPI APIs.
- A catalog (.clg) is a binary file that contains the state of the settings and packages in a Windows image.
- Windows Preinstallation Environment (Windows PE) is a minimal 32-bit operating system with limited services, built on the Windows Vista kernel. Windows PE is used only in the preinstallation and deployment of Windows.
- ImageX is a command-line tool that administrators can use to capture, modify, and apply installation images for deployment.
- System Preparation Tool (Sysprep) is used for image creation and prepares an image for deployment to multiple computers.
Choosing The Right View In Word
Word includes different views that change the parts of your document that are displayed on the screen and determines how much of your system’s resources are used. Knowing the purpose of each view will help you to select the correct one.
Word includes the following views:
- Print Layout
- Normal
- Web Layout
- Outline
The Print Layout view shows you exactly how your printed document will look, including non-printing formatting marks. The upside to this view is that you can see the entire layout of your document. The downside is that more system memory is used. Generally this view should be used when working with the page layouts, tables and graphics.
The Normal view displays the body of your document but does not include the page layout. As a result, it uses less system memory than the Print Layout view. So for better system performance, you should use the Normal view when working with text.
The Outline view displays Heading Styles and any additional styles attached to an Outline level. This view is ideal to use when you need to rearrange pages keeping in mind that it does utilize more system memory than the Normal view.
Finally, there is the Web layout view. This view shows you how your document will look when posted on the Web. Obviously, the only time you will want to work within this view is when you are preparing to post your document on the Web.
If you are running Word 2003, you will see two additional views: Reading layout and Thumbnails. The Reading layout view displays text in a large, more readable font. The Thumbnails layout displays each page in your document as a thumbnail image.
Email Questions With Browser Issues
Today, Cam asks:
Like you, I help a lot of people with their computers, mainly seniors as I am well advanced in that population group.
I have a couple of silly problems which have stumped me recently and I hope you might be able to sort me out without too much difficulty.
- I am no longer able to scroll the Lockergnome newsletters by just rolling the wheel on my mouse; it gets very jerky. I use XP Pro and Firefox 2.0, all updated. It works OK on other messages. Am I missing some sort of plug-in or something?
This depends on where the content is being viewed. Sounds to me like you are reading them from your browser, Firefox. So it might be worth checking to see if the following is set. In Firefox, go to Tools, Preferences, then click the advanced tab. Under the General tab from there, make sure mouse smooth scrolling is checked. Also, be mindful of running a lot of extra browser tabs open with Flash running in the background. That can slow things down on some PCs.
- In Outlook Express 6.0, I am unable to get it to remember my password. Using Tools|Accounts|Properties, every time I enter the Password info it promptly forgets it!
I would really appreciate any hint about what I did, or forgot to do. My memory ain’t what it used to be.
Outlook Express has been largely ignored in the support dept as Microsoft has chosen to move on to other things. This is largely why many users have moved onto other email options such as Thunderbird.
Despite the lack of current support for the app, I did locate this page, which may be of some help. Be aware however, editing your PC’s registry is always done at your own risk and there is always the off chance of hosing it completely. So use this guide at your own risk. A better bet is to migrate to Thunderbird as backing up user data and better support is aplenty.
Thank you. Been reading Lockergnome for years.
Thrilled to hear that, glad we have been able to inform and entertain throughout the years. :)
Do you have an IT-related question? Perhaps you are just burnt out on writing on the walls with crayons? Whatever the comments may be, drop me a line, and you too can “Just Ask Matt!”
Windows And The New Coke Syndrome
Whether we like it or not, Microsoft is going to continue to be just fine. No thanks to Vista, mind you; rather because of what I call the ‘New Coke Syndrome.’ When it comes to offering a new version of your OS — offer one that is so beta, so poorly thought through — that people are ecstatic about the previous release.
Across The Pond, They Want Nothing To Do With It.
Overseas, some citizen groups have balked at the idea of using Vista at all. Some have begun exploring Linux options, while others feel comfortable with sticking to XP. Aside from random blue screens and the lack of drivers, Vista has been charged with a largely overdone UI, as well. So in the end, seeing so much of Europe bucking the idea of the move to the new release is quite understandable.
Reliving Windows 98 All Over Again.
I have heard a number of people state that Windows XP has become the new 98SE due to its persistence and the slow adoption rate for Vista. But unlike the point in time when XP was released and users were still clinging to the speedy Windows 98, this time Microsoft has to compete with the Mac mini and Ubuntu Linux on Dell PCs.
Because Vista left the home user wondering what all the fuss was about and the business owner feeling unsure about compatibility, now more than ever we are seeing a chance for alternative operating systems to grab some of the market share. And even considering Vista’s saturation point, people are beginning to take those funny Mac commercials just a little more seriously. At the same time, more and more PC power users are giving Linux distributions like Ubuntu and PCLinuxOS a very serious consideration — despite any perceived rough edges.
Does this mean trouble for Microsoft? No, not any more than the last time it released a really bad OS (Windows Me). Windows 7 will one day roll out; it will likely be filled with some hard-learned lessons that Vista has taught its developers, despite their ongoing denial.
Saturation + The Enterprise Market = Windows Not Going Anyplace.
As much as it pains me to say it, society will always go with the path of least resistance. So rather than collectively dumping something that all of us are growing sick of, we will continue supporting the Microsoft Windows ecosystem like a battered spouse working to please their significant other. Because even though we could stop this cycle of abuse and break up the monopoly, dependence is a powerful force, even to the point of making us believe we need something that we honestly do not.
This article has been republished with the kind permission of our friends at OSWeekly.com. For more computer news, go give ‘em a look or Subscribe to OSWeekly.com’s RSS Feed!
Related Articles @ OSWeekly.com
Vista’s Security Center
One of the first things you should do after installing Vista is establish a baseline of security for your system. This means making a few configuration changes to make your system more secure. Vista makes this easy to accomplish with the Security Center. The Security Center offers a central location for verifying and configuring essential security options.
The Security Center in Vista lets you view the current security status of your computer and access important security settings. When you first open the Security Center you will immediately notice the four main security essentials: Firewall, Automatic Updating, Malware Protection, and Other Security Settings.
The Firewall component protects your computer from attackers when connected to a network. The Security Center will tell you whether or not the Firewall is enabled and provide you with access to firewall settings. You can quickly access firewall settings by selecting Windows Firewall. The Windows Firewall window will open where you can enable/disable the firewall and create exceptions for programs and services.
Automatic Updates protects your computer by installing security and other updates as they become available. The Security Center will indicate whether or not Automatic Updates settings have been configured on the computer. You can select Windows Update to access the related settings. From here you can manually check for updates and change the settings.
Malware protection includes Windows Defender and anti-virus software. The Security Center will indicate if there is anti-virus software installed on the computer and whether Windows Defender is out of date. You can manually check for new definitions by selecting the Windows Defender link within the Security Center.
Internet Explorer has specific security settings designed to protect your computer. You will notice that these settings are also quickly accessible through the Security Center by selecting the Internet Options link.
Finally, you can change the way that the Security Center alerts you when it detects that your computer may be at risk. It is a good idea to keep the alerts on so you know immediately when your computer may be at risk.
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Information Technology aid for Windows, Linux, and OS X users, solid SysAdmin advice, troubleshooting links, job assistance, and more for technology pros.
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