Outlook 2000 in a Nutshell

Unsolicited Advice

So which editor should you use? And which message format? We’ll offer our recommendation, developed from many years of email correspondence and far too many hours wrestling with the inner workings of Outlook.

We suggest using Outlook as your default editor, and Plain Text as your default message format. In our opinion, this serves as the best daily working combination, while still leaving numerous options open for those situations that demand the formatting options found in HTML. We do not recommend the use of MS-RTF in anything but a closed Exchange Server environment—it is quirky and has unexpected consequences when used in conjunction with non-Microsoft email programs.

There are several obvious (and a few not quite so obvious) benefits that result from the Outlook editor/Plain Text combination. They are:

• The Outlook editor is more than good enough for everyday correspondence. It demands fewer resources than Word, and is a capable editor.

• Plain Text delivers a smaller message footprint than HTML or MS-RTF, and by using it for daily correspondence alleviates the “Can they read this?” question. When you think about it, very few messages really demand the formatting characteristics of HTML. As an added bonus, most email power-users appreciate the use of Plain Text.

• When circumstances dictate, Outlook’s actions menu allows you to easily compose a message in HTML or MS-RTF (see Figure 5-2). This same menu also allows you to use the Word editor on a per-message basis ...