Office 2010 - Changes in Microsoft Outlook 2010

This article lists changes in Microsoft Outlook 2010 since Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 and migration considerations. If you are upgrading from Office Outlook 2003, see also Changes in Outlook 2007 and Migration considerations for Outlook 2007.

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Changes in Outlook 2010 - What’s new

This section highlights new features in Outlook 2010.

64-bit editions

  • Starting with Microsoft Office 2010, Outlook is available as a 32-bit application and a 64-bit application. The version (bitness) of Outlook that you choose depends on the edition of the Windows operating system (32-bit or 64-bit) and the edition of Office 2010 (32-bit or 64-bit) that is installed on the computer, if Office is already installed on that computer. The bitness of an installed version of Outlook is always the same as the bitness of Office 2010, if Office is installed on the same computer. For more information, see 64-bit editions of Office 2010.

If you have a MAPI application in your environment, that the bitness of the MAPI application must be the same as the installed version of Outlook 2010. For more information, see Considerations for MAPI applications for Outlook in 64-bit editions of Office 2010.

Bitness registry key

When Outlook 2010 is installed, it sets the new registry key named Bitness, which indicates whether the Outlook 2010 installation is a 32-bit or 64-bit version. This can be useful to administrators who want to audit computers to determine the installed versions of Outlook 2010 in their organizations.

  • Registry path: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Office\14.0\Outlook
  • Registry key: Bitness
  • Value: either x86 or x64

For more information about Microsoft Office 2010 in 64-bit, see 64-bit editions of Office 2010.

Calendar Preview in meeting requests

  • Microsoft Outlook shows a preview of your calendar in meeting requests. The Calendar Preview feature shows where the meeting appears in your Calendar together with any conflicting and adjacent meetings. When you view a meeting request for a recurring meeting, you can use the Calendar Preview feature to navigate between meeting instances in the series.

Conversation actions

  • Outlook 2010 contains several new features to help users manage their Inboxes more effectively, including the Ignore and Clean Up commands. The Ignore button on the ribbon moves all of a conversation and any future replies to that conversation directly to the Deleted Items folder. The Clean Up button moves older, redundant messages in the conversation to the Deleted Items folder but keeps the most recent message.

Quick Steps

  • Quick Steps are one-click buttons that can perform multiple actions at the same time. Users can create their own Quick Steps to manage their e-mail with a single click.

Multiple Exchange accounts

  • Outlook 2010 can connect to multiple Exchange accounts at the same time. The Exchange accounts can be in the same or different domains or servers.

Roaming AutoComplete list

  • Recipient AutoComplete lists are now stored on the Exchange Server. A user’s recipient AutoComplete list is now available to any computer on which Outlook 2010 runs that is connected to the same Exchange account. Names can be easily removed from the list by using the new inline Delete function.

The ribbon

  • The ribbon, part of the Microsoft Office Fluent user interface (UI), replaces the menus and toolbars of the Outlook main window. Ribbon tabs can be customized or replaced with tabs that you create. Through the Options menu on the File tab, you can create new tabs that bring together your favorite commands and groups. Existing tabs can also be customized to meet the organization’s needs.

Features available with Office Communicator 2007 R2, Office Communicator Server 2007 R2, or later versions

  • With richer integration of Microsoft Communicator than in earlier versions, you can start live conversations from Outlook 2010. Hover over a name, see a person’s availability and then easily start a conversation directly through instant messaging, voice call, or video.

Features available with Microsoft Exchange Server 2010

The following features are available with Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 and Outlook 2010.

  • Calendar features - An organization can now establish a federated trust relationship with an external partner and share availability (free/busy) information, calendar, or contacts. Federation provides the underlying trust infrastructure to enable easy and secure sharing of information across Exchange organizations and in cross-premises organizations. You can also use the new Group Schedule view in Outlook Calendar to see multiple calendars vertically, instead of side by side, or save frequently used groups of calendars together from one location. The Group Schedule view is optimized for viewing a schedule for a group and scheduling a meeting for a group.
  • Call answering and routing rules - Unified Messaging in Exchange Server 2010 enables you to create call answering and routing rules for individuals or groups of callers based on Caller ID and contact information.
  • Centralized rights management - You can set up rules to automatically apply Information Rights Management policies to outgoing e-mails based on content or recipients.
  • Integrated e-mail archive - The Personal Archive feature is available with Outlook 2010 and Exchange Server 2010 and lets you regain control of the organization's messaging data by eliminating the need for Personal Folder files (.pst). Like .pst files, the Personal Archive feature does not affect the user’s primary mailbox size. However, unlike .pst files, the e-mail archive folders are stored online so that users can access the archived files by using Microsoft Outlook Web App or from a secondary computer by using Outlook 2010. By using either of these client applications, users can view an archive mailbox and move or copy messages between their primary mailboxes and the archive.
  • MailTips - This feature is a configurable warning system to help prevent common e-mail mistakes. Extra information is presented to users when they compose e-mail messages. The MailTips are displayed in an InfoBar, similar to the banner that says "This message has not been sent”. MailTips do not prevent sending an e-mail message. But they reveal things that might be unexpected about the delivery or audience of the message, such as recipient validity, whether the recipient is external to the organization or is out of the office, if the distribution list is unusually large, or if a message might not be delivered.
  • Protected Voice Mail - This feature enables encrypted voice mail to be sent to a user’s mailbox. Protected voice messages can be marked as Private to prevent them from being forwarded.
  • Text messaging through Exchange ActiveSync - Windows Mobile 6.5 (or a later version) telephones or browser-enabled cellular telephones can access text messages by using Exchange ActiveSync, a synchronization protocol that is optimized to work together with high-latency and low-bandwidth networks.
  • Voice Mail Preview - Microsoft speech technology converts voice mail messages into text that users receive in an e-mail or text message.

Changes in Outlook 2010 - What’s changed

This section summarizes the feature changes in Outlook 2010.

Conversation view

  • The Conversation view in Microsoft Outlook 2010 is changed and is the new default view. The Conversation view provides a threaded view of e-mail messages in an Microsoft Outlook folder, and in Outlook 2010 is accessed by clicking View, Conversation, and then Show Messages in Conversations. The improved Conversation view helps users deal with larger volumes of incoming e-mail, reduces information overload, and increases user productivity in e-mail.

Improved IMAP support

  • IMAP accounts are easier to set up in Outlook 2010 than in earlier versions. When users add a new account in Outlook 2010, the automatic configuration of a Webmail account will set the account type to IMAP by default for IMAP-supported Webmail accounts such as Google Gmail. Note that users can change the account type to POP3 by selecting the Manually configure server settings option in the Add New Account dialog box.
  • The Delete and Send operations for IMAP accounts are also improved in Outlook 2010. IMAP accounts now have a separate Deleted Items folder. Also, Outlook 2010 does not prompt for a Sent Items folder, as Office Outlook 2007 did. This is consistent with Outlook behavior for other e-mail account types.
  • Outlook is more responsive for IMAP users in Outlook 2010 and Office Outlook 2007 SP2. On-demand downloads of messages now occur in the background.

Faster performance

  • Outlook 2010 starts and exits faster than Office Outlook 2007. Outlook 2010 performance is faster overall than Office Outlook 2007.

Menu and commands

  • ALT keyboard shortcuts - With the introduction of the ribbon in Outlook 2010, the ALT keyboard shortcuts have changes. Press ALT to display the command key tips.
  • Copy Folder Design - The Copy Folder Design command is replaced with the ribbon View tab option Apply Current View to Other Mail Folders.
  • Current View and Organize panes - The Current View pane in the navigation pane for Contacts, Tasks, and Notes is removed in Outlook 2010. Also the Organize pane accessed in Office Outlook 2007 by clicking Tools and Organize is removed in Outlook 2010. You can change and format your views by using the features on the ribbon View tab.
  • Go menu   The Go menu option is redundant with the Navigation pane in Office Outlook 2007. The keyboard shortcuts that were shown in the Go menu still work and are now displayed as tooltips on the navigation pane buttons. For example, you can use Ctrl+1 to switch to Mail, Ctrl+2 for Calendar, Ctrl+3 for Contacts, Ctrl+4 for Tasks, and so on.
  • Plan a Meeting - This dialog box accessed in Office Outlook 2007 from the Actions menu in the Calendar view is replaced by the ribbon Home tab Schedule View command in the Calendar view.
  • View Group Schedules - This dialog box accessed in Office Outlook 2007 from the Actions menu in the Calendar view is replaced by the commands in the Manage Calendars section on the ribbon Home tab and in the navigation pane in the Calendar view. From the ribbon Calendar Groups option, you can create a Calendar Group by clicking Create New Calendar Group or save currently displayed calendars by using the Save as New Calendar Group. In the navigation pane, you can select which group calendars to view and right-click on a group to find the Rename Group, Delete Group, and New Calendar Group commands.

Search tools

  • Outlook 2010 enables you to easily find and manage large quantities of e-mail, calendar items and contact files. The Search tab on the new Outlook 2010 ribbon includes search filter options to help quickly narrow your search results. You can quickly change the scope of search by selecting, for example, All Subfolders. You can then refine the search by using search filter buttons such as Subject, Has Attachment, or Unread. You can also run advanced searches and view your recent searches to run them again.

Improved in Outlook 2010 with Exchange Server 2010

The following Outlook 2010 improvements are available through Exchange Server 2010.
  • Greater calendar reliability - Improvements in Outlook 2010 and Exchange Server 2010 logic make calendars more reliable than in Office Outlook 2007. Improvements include conflict resolution in online mode to resolve conflicts when there are different updated versions of an item on the server and on the client. Also, multiple instances of a recurring meeting can now be changed independently of one another.
  • Exchange Server 2010 introduces the Calendar Repair Assistant (CRA). CRA can automatically detect and correct inconsistencies that occur for single and recurring meeting items for mailboxes that are on an Exchange Server 2010 mailbox on which the Microsoft Exchange Mailbox Assistants service runs.
  • Improved retention and compliance functionality - Users can apply retention policy to a message or a folder. IT can enforce policies on built-in folders (Inbox, sent items, and so on). Also, an online archive provides separate, online-only folders for long-term retention and archiving.
  • Simplified administration - By using role-based access control (RBAC), you can control resources and the features that users can access. You create role assignment policies for each specialized user group and tailor those role assignment policies to grant more-restrictive or less-restrictive permissions to the groups. For example, you could create a Compliance Offer role to conduct mailbox searches for legal discovery, a Human Resources role to update employee information in the company directory, or a Help Desk role to manage mailbox quotas. Users can also manage some tasks on their own, such as creating and managing distribution groups or tracking message delivery.

Changes in Outlook 2010 - What’s removed

This section provides information about removed features in Outlook 2010.

ANSI offline Outlook data files (.ost) for Exchange synchronization

  • ANSI offline Outlook data files (.ost) can no longer be created (unless overridden by Group Policy). By default, newly created profiles in Outlook 2010 will be in Unicode.
  • Unicode Outlook data files (.ost) are recommended in all scenarios except when alternate display names are required. To use alternate display names, configure Group Policy to set the default Outlook data files (.ost) to ANSI. The Group Policy keys to set are in the Outlook 2010 Group Policy template in Microsoft Outlook 2010\Account Settings\Exchange and Microsoft Outlook 2010\Miscellaneous\PST Settings. Note that ANSI .ost files do not work for profiles that contain multiple Microsoft Exchange Server accounts.

AutoArchive-based retention

  • Users can no longer deploy AutoArchive-based retention settings through Outlook 2010 by using Group Policy. Users who need retention policies are encouraged to explore the Messaging Records Management (MRM) features in Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 and later versions.

Calendar rebasing tool

  • The calendar rebasing tool is removed in Outlook 2010. Calendar rebasing was introduced in Microsoft Office Outlook 2007, and was accessed by clicking Tools, Options, Calendar Options, Time zone, and then making selections in the Time zone drop-down list. Calendar rebasing is available through a separate Web tool, Time Zone Data Update Tool for Microsoft Office, which is currently available to users from the Microsoft Download Center.
  • The Change Time zone button is no longer available in the Time zone dialog box, and all underlying code and user interface code are removed. New calendar items that are created in Outlook 2010 can display start and end times correctly without the need for rebasing. Users can use Time Zone Data Update Tool to rebase down-level clients and servers.

Customization of Contact Activity Search folders

  • In Outlook 2010, the Activities tab on the Contact Folder Properties dialog box is removed because of low usage. This feature allowed you to customize the list of folder groups available to search when in the Activities view on the individual Contact item.

DAV connectivity for HTTP account types

  • Distributed Authoring and Versioning (DAV) connectivity is removed in Outlook 2010. DAV is an old mechanism used when you connect to Windows Live Hotmail and synchronize e-mail. A new mechanism for Hotmail connectivity exists, and enables synchronization of e-mail, contacts, and calendar synchronization through a Web download. There is no visible loss of functionality to Hotmail users. Users who connect to other DAV accounts (non-Hotmail accounts) will lose connectivity and will be unable to synchronize e-mail.

Exchange 2000 connectivity

  • Outlook 2010 cannot connect to Microsoft Exchange Server 2000 or earlier versions of Exchange. Users who run Exchange Server 2000 in their environments will receive an error message when Outlook 2010 attempts to connect to the server. The error message will state that the server version is not supported. Public folders in Microsoft Outlook 2010 also cannot connect to Exchange Server 2000, although an error message does not appear. Users will have to migrate to Exchange Server 2003 or a later version.

Exchange Message Security feature support

  • Support for the Exchange Message Security feature in Outlook 2010 is removed. Customers must use S/MIME to support message security. The infrastructure to support the Exchange Message Security feature was deprecated in Exchange 2000 Server SP2. For more information about S/MIME, see Understanding S/MIME (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkId=167356).

Most Recently Used list

  • The list of last opened Other User's Folder in the File | Open menu is removed. As a replacement, consider using delegates, adding additional Exchange accounts to user profiles or sharing tasks and calendars. The Other User's Folder is still available in Outlook 2010 by clicking the ribbon File tab and Open.

Outlook integrity check tool (.ost)

The Outlook Offline Folder (.ost) integrity check tool (scanost.exe) is not included in Outlook 2010. This tool was recommended in previous versions for fixing errors in Outlook data files (.ost).  If there is an issue with a specific folder, you can resync the folder:

  • Right-click the folder and then click Properties.
  • In the dialog box that appears, click the Clear Offline Items button and then click OK.
  • On the Outlook 2010 ribbon, click the Send/Receive tab.
  • Click Update Folder.

Otherwise, we recommend that you delete the .ost file and let Outlook download information again from Exchange. The exception is if you have local data that is not present on the server. In that case, we recommend that you export the data to an Outlook Data File (.pst), delete the .ost file, allow the server data to download again, and then import the .pst file data by using the Do not import duplicates option that can be accessed through the Open option on the File tab.

Photo resize options

  • The Outlook 2010 options to resize attached photo do not include 640 x 480 or 800 x 600 pixels. If you decide to resize an image, the largest of the three previously supported choices (1024 x 768) is used by default in Outlook 2010.
  • Also, the resize options have been moved to the File tab.
  • These changes were made to simplify the resize options and make them more discoverable.

Postmarking

  • The Postmarking feature is removed in Outlook 2010. The When sending e-mail, Postmark the message to help e-mail clients distinguish regular e-mail from junk e-mail option is removed from the Junk E-mail Options dialog box and Postmarks will not be generated by Outlook 2010.

Preview of published Office Online calendars

  • The Office Online Calendar Sharing Service Web site enabled users to view and manage their shared calendars in a Web browser without having to subscribe to the published calendar. Within Outlook, users could select the Preview this Calendar option when they were notified that a calendar was shared to them.
  • The Web site for Outlook Calendar Sharing Service is discontinued with Outlook 2010. Therefore, the Preview this Calendar option is removed in Outlook 2010. Users can still publish their calendars for sharing. However, to view the contents of the calendar, users will have to subscribe to the calendar for viewing within Outlook. For Web access, users will have to subscribe to the calendar in Windows Live Calendar. Users who subscribe to the published Office Online Calendar in Outlook are not affected.

Quick View

Quick View is a file viewer that was included with Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows NT 4.0. The related code in Outlook was removed in Outlook 2010. There is no related change to the user experience for those who are on supported operating systems.

Remote Mail

  • Remote Mail is removed from Outlook 2010. The Remote Mail functionality is replaced by Cached Mode, which was introduced in Outlook 2003.

Search Toolbar add-in

  • The Search Toolbar add-in setup code is removed in Outlook 2010. The Search Toolbar add-in enables local indexing of online mode Exchange Server mailbox stores by using Windows Desktop Search. As a result of this change, e-mail in online Exchange mailboxes will not appear in the results of Windows Explorer searches. The online indexing add-in is a legacy component that adversely affects performance of Outlook during startup and shutdown. With this removed in Outlook 2010, users will experience improved Outlook reliability and significantly lower Exchange bandwidth usage. For fast search, use Cached Exchange Mode or for online mode, use Exchange Search in Exchange 2007 and later versions.

Send Link to This Folder

  • In Office Outlook 2007 and earlier versions, this feature opens a new mail message that has an attached .xnk file that links to the public folder. Because of increased security in Office Outlook 2007, by default access is denied to Microsoft Exchange Server public folder shortcuts with an .xnk file name extension. So in Outlook 2010, the Send Link to This Folder on the Public Folder context menu is removed. Instead, consider using SharePoint Server for collaboration.

Send Options

  • In Outlook 2010, the ability to specify the format for e-mail messages by using Send Options is removed. This feature was once useful for sending e-mail to people who would receive an e-mail on an Apple computer. Apple computers can now read e-mail messages in Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) type. In Office Outlook 2007, to find the Send Options command enter an e-mail address in the To line, resolve the e-mail address, right-click the e-mail address and select Send Options.

Shade group headings

  • The ability to shade group headings is removed in Outlook. In Office Outlook 2007, to access this feature right-click on the column heading, select Custom…, Customize current view and then click Other Settings.

Third-party Exchange client extensions do not load

  • Third-party Exchange client extensions do not load on Outlook 2010. We recommend that users contact their Exchange client extension vendor for more information regarding an update to their solutions. Third-party exchange client extensions are replaced by add-ins built by using Microsoft Visual C++, Visual Studio Tools for Office, or third-party tools that can create an Outlook COM add-in.

Web browser support

Web browser support is removed in Outlook 2010. The following related features have also been removed.

  • View Web pages from within Outlook
  • Save as Web Page option for Calendar
  • Search the Internet from within Outlook
  • Navigate to Web pages within Outlook

Changes in Outlook 2010 - Migration considerations

Even though several new features and user interface changes are added in Outlook 2010, the Outlook data files (.ost and .pst) and Outlook profile file (.prf) formats in Outlook 2010 are compatible with earlier releases.

Outlook data files (.pst and.ost)

  • With Outlook 2010, users can open and use Outlook data files that were created in earlier versions of Outlook. Users who have offline Outlook data files (.ost) do not need to re-create those files; for example, users whose accounts are configured to use Cached Exchange Mode. Similarly, users who have Outlook data files (.pst) can continue to use the files without converting or migrating the files.
  • By default, Outlook .pst and .ost files that are created by using Office Outlook 2003 and later versions are in the updated Unicode file format that allows larger file sizes (the 2-gigabyte (GB) limit is eliminated). The data file format (non-Unicode ANSI) used by Outlook 2002 and earlier is also supported by Outlook 2010.

If users currently have non-Unicode ANSI-formatted .ost files, we recommend that you upgrade the .ost files to Unicode.

Outlook profile file (.prf)

  • As in earlier versions of Outlook, you can continue to use the Outlook profile file (.prf) to provide options for specifying additional Outlook settings or MAPI services.The Outlook 2010 .prf file format has changed but Office Outlook 2007, Office Outlook 2003, and Outlook 2002 versions of the file will work with Outlook 2010. If you plan to make updates to the .prf file for an Outlook 2010 deployment, we recommend that you re-create the .prf file by using the Office 2010 Office Customization Tool (OCT), export the settings to a new .prf file, and use that file to specify the additional Outlook settings or MAPI services that you need.

Reverting to Office 2007 from Office 2010

  • Because of the changes in Outlook 2010 that allow for multiple Exchange e-mail accounts, user profiles that were upgraded to Outlook 2010 will not work if the user removes Outlook 2010, reinstalls Office Outlook 2007, and then attempts to start Office Outlook 2007 by using the same user profile. In this scenario, the user profile will have to be removed and re-created in Windows through the Control Panel and Mail options.

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Office 2010 - Microsoft Office 2010 Overview

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