Outlook 2007 messages unexpectedly open in Word 2007

Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 uses a custom message form that was created in a version of Microsoft Outlook that is earlier than Outlook 2007. However, when you open Outlook 2007 e-mail messages, the messages unexpectedly open in Microsoft Office Word 2007. This behavior occurs even if the Always use Microsoft Word as the e-mail editor option is not selected on the Properties tab of the custom form.

This behavior occurs because Outlook 2007 message forms use Word 2007 exclusively. There is no option to force message forms to open any other way. This is a new feature of message forms in Outlook 2007. This behavior is by design in Outlook 2007.