Outlook 2003 not MAPI Compliant with Older Office Suites? Is it Tr

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Guest

I have searched through the various discussion forums for days, looking for a
logical answer to a very common problem.

PROBLEM: The "Send To" command from MS Office products (other than Office
2003) no longer works with Outlook 2003

I have heard over and over again that there is NO fix for this issue and the
resolution is to "UPGRADE" to the Office 2003 Suite .

I am having a very difficult time accepting the fact that Microsoft has
neglected to offer backward compatibility for it's most valued function of
being "MAPI" compliant.

Am I to convey to our Corporate Staff that a BAD decision was made by
upgrading to Outlook 2003, thus costing the company more than was originally
planned because now we have to upgrade ALL prior versions of the Office Suite
to keep our user community happy.

If this is the only solution Microsft can offer, then I CAUTION all those
considering an upgrade to Outlook 2003.
 
This have been the case for all versions of Office/Outlook already. The
e-mail integration is on a deeper level and thus all the applications must
be from the same version/family.

Don't look at it this so black and white.

Cost of the software is just one factor. Also ask yourself if people are
working more efficient with the software now besides the fact that they now
have to manually add Office attachments and cannot use Word as the e-mail
editor. Also see the benefits on the support side of it like for instance a
Junk E-mail Filter and Cached Exchang Mode.

See how many users are indeed effected by the upgrade and do they need the
full Office 2003 suite or just Word?

--
Robert Sparnaaij [MVP-Outlook]
www.howto-outlook.com

Tips of the month:
-FREE tool; QuickMail. Create new Outlook items anywhere from within Windows
-Properly back-up and restore your Outlook data

-----
I have searched through the various discussion forums for days, looking for
a
logical answer to a very common problem.

PROBLEM: The "Send To" command from MS Office products (other than Office
2003) no longer works with Outlook 2003

I have heard over and over again that there is NO fix for this issue and the
resolution is to "UPGRADE" to the Office 2003 Suite .

I am having a very difficult time accepting the fact that Microsoft has
neglected to offer backward compatibility for it's most valued function of
being "MAPI" compliant.

Am I to convey to our Corporate Staff that a BAD decision was made by
upgrading to Outlook 2003, thus costing the company more than was originally
planned because now we have to upgrade ALL prior versions of the Office
Suite
to keep our user community happy.

If this is the only solution Microsft can offer, then I CAUTION all those
considering an upgrade to Outlook 2003.
 
Thanks for your prompt replay and point of view. I'm sure - in time- your
points be validated.

My frustrations has been advocating for the "everyday" users and trying to
explain in a very simplistic way to upper management how simple functionality
can be lost by the very creators of the most awsome product "MS Office". It
is difficult , especially in the early days of implementation to justify the
optimistic ROI when so many users are complaining about the loss of simple
functionality. What used to take one step (Send to command) now takes several
(manually attaching the doc to an email).

Alas, the age ole debate arises once again "Convenience vs Productivity". I
just keep wishing for a simple solution to make my world a better place.

If I were involved in the project plan before hand ( I came onboard after
the roll out), I'm sure our pilot testers concerns would have been voiced a
bit louder and perhaps the implementation would have been postponed. But
hind-site is just that.

I would however, like to caution those comtemplating an upgrade to Outlook
2003.
Consider if what you have to gain outweights what you will loose and BE
PREPARED.

I also hope that the folks at Microsoft list issues such as this (what you
need to give up in order to take advantage of new features) in their FAQs
instead of hiding it under the carpet. But then the art of Marketing is all
about shining the spotlight on the positive.....

I wish I lived in the matrix. It might be a fake world but it would be
reality for most.

Thanks for letting me vent
--
IT Girl


Roady said:
This have been the case for all versions of Office/Outlook already. The
e-mail integration is on a deeper level and thus all the applications must
be from the same version/family.

Don't look at it this so black and white.

Cost of the software is just one factor. Also ask yourself if people are
working more efficient with the software now besides the fact that they now
have to manually add Office attachments and cannot use Word as the e-mail
editor. Also see the benefits on the support side of it like for instance a
Junk E-mail Filter and Cached Exchang Mode.

See how many users are indeed effected by the upgrade and do they need the
full Office 2003 suite or just Word?

--
Robert Sparnaaij [MVP-Outlook]
www.howto-outlook.com

Tips of the month:
-FREE tool; QuickMail. Create new Outlook items anywhere from within Windows
-Properly back-up and restore your Outlook data

-----
I have searched through the various discussion forums for days, looking for
a
logical answer to a very common problem.

PROBLEM: The "Send To" command from MS Office products (other than Office
2003) no longer works with Outlook 2003

I have heard over and over again that there is NO fix for this issue and the
resolution is to "UPGRADE" to the Office 2003 Suite .

I am having a very difficult time accepting the fact that Microsoft has
neglected to offer backward compatibility for it's most valued function of
being "MAPI" compliant.

Am I to convey to our Corporate Staff that a BAD decision was made by
upgrading to Outlook 2003, thus costing the company more than was originally
planned because now we have to upgrade ALL prior versions of the Office
Suite
to keep our user community happy.

If this is the only solution Microsft can offer, then I CAUTION all those
considering an upgrade to Outlook 2003.
 

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