XCLN: Microsoft Outlook for Windows 3.1x

The Microsoft Outlook 8.0 client for the Windows 3.1x operating system improves messaging and group scheduling interoperability with Microsoft Outlook (for Windows) without requiring new hardware for users of Windows 3.1x.

Customers committed to staying on the Windows 3.1x platform for the long term may want to consider using Microsoft Outlook Express for messaging and the Microsoft Outlook Web Access (OWA) client for scheduling. Microsoft will continue to support the Windows 3.1x version of the Microsoft Exchange and Microsoft Schedule+ 7.x clients.

The Microsoft Outlook client for Windows 3.1x includes all the features of the existing Microsoft Exchange and Schedule+ clients, plus new features to smooth interoperability with existing versions of Microsoft Outlook. Because of the operating system and hardware limitations of typical computers based on Windows 3.1x, this client continues to provide only a subset of the features found in the 32-bit version of Microsoft Outlook. Please note that this client does not support connectivity to Internet mail, Microsoft Mail for PC Networks, or Lotus cc:Mail.

FEATURES

The following new features are included in the Microsoft Outlook 8.x for Windows 3.1x client:

E-mail Interoperability Improvements

Users can now send and receive flagged messages, recall messages, and respond to (but not send) voting messages. This client is intended for Microsoft Exchange Server integration only and does not include the Internet mail (POP, IMAP4) support required to directly connect to an Internet service provider. Users of Windows 3.x who require POP3 support are encouraged to evaluate the Microsoft Outlook Express client that is available with Microsoft Internet Explorer.

Calendar and Group Scheduling

By default, the Windows 3.x version of Outlook can only view Microsoft Schedule+ 7.x data of other users. However, a client extension is available for the Outlook Windows 3.x client that provides the ability to view the details of a Windows Outlook user's Calendar folder. This add-on, called the Schedule+ Exchange Transport DLL, is located on the Microsoft Exchange Server 5.5 Client Pack CD in the following directory: The client continues to have exactly the same Calendar, Contacts, and Task features that are available in Schedule+ version 7.0, and the client continues to display Calendar, Contacts, and Task information in a separate window, accessible through the Calendar icon on the Outlook Bar.

Opening Exchange Server HTML Forms

Outlook electronic forms created using the built-in Outlook forms design tool can only be used on Windows desktops where Outlook is installed. However, Exchange Server provides an alternative way to create forms for use in collaborative applications - using Active Server Pages and the Microsoft Exchange Collaboration Data Objects (CDO) interface to script forms that are displayed as HTML in a Web browser. All three versions of Outlook in Exchange Server 5.5 (32-bit Outlook, Outlook for Windows 3.1x, and Outlook for Macintosh) have been extended to support Exchange Server HTML forms. These features provide Exchange Server sites with more options for developing and deploying electronic forms.

All three versions of Outlook in Exchange Server 5.5 contain a new menu item on the Compose menu, Open Web Form, that lets users invoke an Exchange Server HTML form. When a user selects this menu item, the Web browser registered on the user's computer is automatically opened and directed to an internal Web site containing a directory of HTML forms. The URL that locates the directory of HTML forms can be set as an option and can be set in registry keys by the system administrator.

Currently, when an Outlook form is sent to the Windows 3.x client, it is essentially unusable - opening the item in the Windows 3.x Inbox does not display the actual form, as the form designer intended. However, with Exchange Server 5.5, the Windows 3.x client automatically starts an associated HTML form through the browser when a user opens an Outlook form from the Inbox, provided Outlook Web Access is installed and enabled on the server. This HTML form is created as an additional design step and is not automatically generated during the design of the Outlook form. The Exchange Server administrator associates the HTML form with the appropriate Outlook form message class.

Improved User Interface

Outlook for Windows 3.1x includes a partially customizable Outlook Bar and a Folder Banner consistent with Outlook for Windows. Menu and toolbar commands are now arranged to more closely match Outlook for Windows.

Architecture and System Requirements

Server Requirements

Standard e-mail and group scheduling requires Exchange Server 4.0 or later. To implement custom forms using HTML and Exchange Server CDO requires Exchange Server 5.0 Service Pack 1 or later, and Microsoft Internet Information Server 3.0 with Active Server Pages (renamed to Outlook Web Access in Exchange Server 5.5) or later installed.

Client Requirements

Windows 3.1x:

• 8 MB of RAM minimum (12 MB or more recommended)
• 12 MB of hard-disk space (22 MB or more recommended)