Contacts A beefed-up version of the Windows Address Book, Contacts provides the means to organize connections more efficiently for greater productivity. It also enables extra options such as categories, integration with NetMeeting and support for Digital IDs. Contacts even has an option to show the map of an address. Like most other applications of its kind, Outlook's Calendar links the tasks with dates, and provides useful, customizable reminders at regular intervals, if, for instance a task is overdue or needs to be attended to in the near future. The interface for this component is surprisingly clean and uninhibited.
Possible views range from daily to quarterly, with a host of options inbetween.
Notes Notes are a way of recording short pieces of information for future reference without going through the process of creating and saving cumbersome text files or personal e-mails. This improvement is a welcome addition to the 'Open Inbox' method used by the previous version. From looking at Outlook 98, Microsoft have obviously been working very hard on their startup code for Office applications in particular. To Upgrade or Not to Upgrade Outlook 98's refined interface, ability to upgrade from both '97 and competitors' products seamlessly and built-in functionality previously only available for download are most compelling reasons for an upgrade. The combination of its performance, features and interface make Microsoft Outlook 98 the undoubted winner in both the messaging and management categories.