Known issues in Office Outlook 2007 when you use custom forms that were created by using earlier versions of Outlook

This article provides an overview of known issues in Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 when you use custom forms that were created by using the following earlier versions of Microsoft Outlook:

• Office Outlook 2003
• Outlook 2002
• Outlook 2000
• Outlook 98
• Outlook 97

The scope of this article is limited to custom forms that you create by using the method with which you would typically publish a form in these earlier versions of Outlook. This article does not discuss custom forms that you create by using the new form region feature in Office Outlook 2007.

Outlook 2007 does not support custom form passwords

In the earlier versions of Outlook, developers can assign a password to a custom form. The form cannot be opened in form design mode without the password. This password feature was intended to restrict users from switching to form design mode and modifying the form.

Outlook 2007 does not support passwords in custom forms. Instead, Outlook 2007 uses the following design:

• The option to create a password does not appear on the Properties page in form design mode.
• If a form was created in an earlier version of Outlook, and the form has a password, you are not prompted for the password when you open the form in Outlook 2007.
• The password is not preserved if you republish the form in Outlook 2007.
• The FormDescription.Password property in the object model is hidden and undocumented.

If you want to restrict users from switching to form design mode, consider using the NoOutlookFormsDesigner policy key instead. This policy key does not let you secure forms on a per-form basis. However, this policy key does provide functionality that is similar to password protection.

To use the NoOutlookFormsDesigner policy key, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, click Run, type regedit in the Open box, and then click OK.
2. Locate and then right-click the following subkey:
   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Outlook
3. Point to New, and then click DWORD Value.
4. Type NoOutlookFormsDesigner, and then press ENTER.
5. Right-click NoOutlookFormsDesigner, and then click Modify.
6. In the Value data box, type the appropriate value, and then click OK. Use one of the following values:
   • 0 (or no value)
     This value lets users design custom forms.
   • 1
     This value does not let users design custom forms.
7. Exit Registry Editor, and then restart the computer.

The "Always use Word as your e-mail editor" option on a custom form may produce unexpected results

In earlier versions of Outlook, you can enable Microsoft Word as the editor of a custom form. To do this, you can select the Always use Word as your e-mail editor option on the Properties page in form design mode. If you install Microsoft Office Word 2007, and you are still using an earlier version of Outlook, you may experience unexpected results. For example, the Word 2007 ribbon may appear instead of the toolbars that the earlier versions of Word use.

You cannot send custom one-off forms over the Internet

In earlier versions of Outlook, you can send custom one-off forms over the Internet. To do this, you must select the Send form definition with item option on the Properties page in form design mode. When you do this, Outlook sends the custom form as part of an underlying Transport Neutral Encapsulation Format (TNEF) attachment. Most Internet-based message servers handle the TNEF part of the message correctly. Therefore, other Outlook users can receive and use the custom form.

For more information about one-off forms, and about how to send one-off forms over the Internet, click the following article numbers to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: Outlook 2007 does not preserve one-off forms when they are received. When Outlook 2007 converts an incoming Internet message from MIME format to MAPI format, Outlook 2007 ignores the custom form. This is a design change.

The Office Forms feature is no longer supported

The Office Forms feature lets users and form developers embed an Office file on a form page. They can then use the form page in an e-mail message. They can also post the form page. Earlier versions of Outlook support the Office Forms feature. However, these versions of Outlook support this feature in different ways. Outlook 2007 does not support this feature.

Outlook 2000 and earlier versions of Outlook

You can create this kind of form in Outlook 2000 and in earlier versions of Outlook. To do this, you click New on the File menu, and then you click Office Document.

When you open this kind of form in Outlook 2000 and in earlier versions of Outlook, the form opens in the Outlook item.

Outlook 2003 and Outlook 2002

You cannot create this kind of form in Outlook 2003 or in Outlook 2002. However, users can still open this kind of form in both Outlook 2003 and Outlook 2002.

Outlook 2007

You cannot create this kind of form in Outlook 2007. When you open this kind of form from an Outlook item in Outlook 2007, Outlook 2007 opens the form as a regular Office file in the host application. For example, if an Outlook item contains a custom form that has an embedded Microsoft Office Excel workbook, Outlook 2007 opens the Excel workbook in Microsoft Office Excel 2007.

You cannot specify the size of Ribbon commands for custom form tabs

Consider the following scenario. You develop a custom Outlook form in a version of Outlook that is earlier than Outlook 2007. On that form, you add custom form tabs. In this scenario, the custom tabs appear as buttons in the Show group of an item's ribbon when you open the custom form Outlook 2007. This behavior occurs because there is no direct way to specify the size of the buttons that appear on the ribbon.