» Document Workspace – If you want to make a document available for collaboration purposes, create a document workspace to store the document in a central online location. You can create a document workspace by choosing the shared attachment option when sending an e-mail attachment with Outlook 2007. Document workspaces are made possible through integration with Windows SharePoint Services, a feature of the Windows Server® 2003 operating system.

» Connect to Outlook Tasks – Task lists created on an Office SharePoint Server 2007 site can be connected to Outlook 2007 so that they can be viewed and managed alongside your other tasks. Like OneNote tasks, SharePoint tasks are visible in your To-Do Bar. In the SharePoint task list, click the Actions button, then click Connect to Outlook.

» Offline Document Libraries – You can keep synchronised copies of SharePoint document libraries and lists within your Outlook folders, making it easy to organise and browse documents in these folders, just as you would any e-mail. You can work on these documents within their respective applications in Office Outlook 2007 at any time, even when you are offline. When you are back online, you can easily synchronise your changes with the server version. From a shared document library, click Actions on the Shared Documents toolbar, then click Connect to Outlook.

» Start a Workflow – To start a workflow, click the drop-down list for your document within your document workspace or document library, and then click Workflows. Select the desired workflow, and then click Start.

» Participate in a Workflow – Integration with familiar client applications such as Office Outlook 2007 simplifies the workflow experience for users. For example, you can be notified of the workflow in progress via e-mail. At the top of your email Click Edit This Task to open the Approval dialog box. From here, you can open the workflow document and then approve or reject it, adding your comments if necessary.

» Track a Workflow – You can track the workflow progress and view the completion information in the shared document library or document workspace. Click Workflows from the document drop-down menu within your document workspace or document library.

» Electronic Business Cards – Electronic business cards are an easy way to create, customise, and share your information with customers, clients, or friends. You can add photos, company logos, or other personal information to your card so that the recipients have an easy way to identify your card. To customise an electronic business card, open a contact and, in the Options group of the Contact command tab, click Business Card.

» Sharing Requests – With Exchange Server 2007, you can send a sharing request to anyone, giving them read/write permissions to any non-mail folder in Office Outlook 2007, including your calendar, contacts, tasks, notes, and journal. At the same time, you can ask that person to share their folder in return.

» Calendar Snapshots – You can use Calendar Snapshots to send an HTML snapshot of your calendar through e-mail, making it easier to share your calendar information with people outside of your organisation. In your Outlook Calendar, click Send a Calendar via E-mail.

» Scheduling Assistant – Improved scheduling capabilities in Office Outlook 2007 and Exchange Server 2007 help you schedule meetings easily and in less time. Exchange Server 2007 looks at the attendee list and recommends an ideal meeting time and location. To use the Scheduling Assistant, click the Scheduling Assistant button on the Meeting tab of a new meeting request.

» Improved Out of Office – Exchange Server 2007 makes it easier to stay on top of those times when you’re out of the office or otherwise unavailable. Out of Office (OOF) messages can be scheduled to begin and end on specific dates and times, reducing the likelihood of your OOF not being set. A separate out of office message can be sent to external recipients, a capability your administrator can enable or disable. Out of Office messages can also be set or unset from a mobile device. To access the Out of Office Assistant, click Tools, then Out of Office Assistant.

» OneNote Integration – You can link items in your Office Outlook 2007 calendar to meeting notes in the Office OneNote 2007 note-taking program by right-clicking the item and choosing Meeting Notes or by opening the item and clicking the Meeting Notes button. Then, you can easily access information about the meeting or appointment on your calendar by clicking on Unfiled Notes in the Office OneNote 2007 interface—or quickly access the notes in Office OneNote 2007 by right-clicking an item in your calendar and selecting Meeting Notes.

» Instant Search – With new and powerful integrated Instant Search, you can quickly locate the information you need, whether it is in your e-mail, calendar, contacts, or tasks. Enter a keyword, and Instant Search quickly searches your Office Outlook 2007 data, highlighting the locations where that search term appears. Instant Search even searches for keywords within e-mail attachments. You also have the flexibility to create queries with different criteria, such as date, sender, colour categories, and mail importance, and Instant Search finds and delivers the results.

» Attachment Previewer – With the new Attachment Previewer, you can view your attachments with one click directly from within the Reading pane. Click Preview File in the Preview pane.

» Unified Messaging – By integrating Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 and the Office Outlook 2007 messaging and collaboration client, you have the added advantage of being able to receive voice mails and faxes in your inbox. You don’t have to waste time calling your phone to check your messages or going to the fax machine to get your faxes.

» Really Simple Syndication (RSS) – Office Outlook 2007 has native aggregation support for RSS feeds, so you can easily subscribe to and stay up-to-date with the latest news sites and blogs. You can manage your RSS feeds in Office Outlook 2007 just like other e-mail, so you can flag feeds for follow-up, assign them colour categories, or automate any process using the rules engine.

» Command Tabs – Opening an e-mail message or other Outlook item reveals the new Ribbon user interface and selection of Outlook-specific command tabs. Presented graphically, command tabs display the commands that are most relevant for each of the task areas in the application. You can double-click a command tab to hide or reveal the Ribbon as needed. Of course, the traditional dialog box interfaces are still available for those who want a greater degree of control over the result of the operation.

» Colour Categories – New colour categories give you a quick, visual way to customise and distinguish items from one another, making it easy to locate information. You can add the same colour category to mail, calendar, or task items so that you can easily locate all items from a project at a glance. When you need to find the information later, you can search and sort by colour categories to quickly identify what you are looking for. To assign a category, right-click the category icon in the Mail pane. From an open e-mail message, click Categorise in the Options group of the Message tab and select a category.

» Flagging Mail as Tasks – With the Flagging Mail as Tasks feature, you can create a task from an e-mail message in one simple step. Simply right-click to flag your message and designate a date for completion. The item is then added to your To-Do Bar, and the due dates are integrated automatically into your calendar.

» Daily Task List – Office Outlook 2007 integrates tasks on the calendar in the Daily Task List so that you see them displayed beneath your daily appointments and meetings. To allot time for working on a task, simply drag the task onto your calendar.

» To-Do Bar – The new To-Do Bar integrates your tasks, e-mail messages flagged for follow-up, upcoming appointments, and calendar information in one convenient place. It also includes tasks from the Microsoft Office OneNote 2007 note-taking program, Microsoft Office Project 2007, and Microsoft Windows® SharePoint® Services Web sites. To view the To-Do Bar, click View To-Do Bar.