outlook instead of express for news reader

[lenny]

Can I configure outlook 2003 to be my newsreader instead of having to use
outlook express?

 

[Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]]

No. Outlook is not a news reader. It calls OE for that task.

 

[lenny]

thanks Russ,
So it looks like I am stuck using OE then.

No. Outlook is not a news reader. It calls OE for that task.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

Can I configure outlook 2003 to be my newsreader instead of having to use
outlook express?

 

[Jeff Daly]

Is there a 3rd party plug-in for Outlook to do this?
Why won't MS let us read newsgroups in Outlook? I've never understood the
reasoning behind this...

Jeff

No. Outlook is not a news reader. It calls OE for that task.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

Can I configure outlook 2003 to be my newsreader instead of having to use
outlook express?

 

[Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]]

Outlook is primarily the client for Exchange, a corporate standard.
Corporations do not want their employees browsing news groups when they
should be working. Exchange provides a method for gatewaying in news groups
if the corporation wants them to be used. Otherwise, corps would have a
major problem with employees browsing alt.sex.binaries - the possibilities
for lawsuits is sufficiently high that corps do not usually allow
newsgroups.

--
Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]

Post all replies to the group to keep the discussion intact. Due to
the (insert latest virus name here) virus, all mail sent to my personal
account will be deleted without reading.

After furious head scratching, Jeff Daly asked:

| Is there a 3rd party plug-in for Outlook to do this?
| Why won't MS let us read newsgroups in Outlook? I've never
| understood the reasoning behind this...
|
| Jeff
|
| || No. Outlook is not a news reader. It calls OE for that task.
|| --
|| Russ Valentine
|| [MVP-Outlook]
|| |||
||| Can I configure outlook 2003 to be my newsreader instead of having
||| to use outlook express?

 

[Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]]

MS lets you read news groups. That's why they give you OE for free. I've
never understood the reason to include a news reader in an email program.
Most corporate clients prefer that function be left completely separate.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

Is there a 3rd party plug-in for Outlook to do this?
Why won't MS let us read newsgroups in Outlook? I've never understood the
reasoning behind this...

Jeff

No. Outlook is not a news reader. It calls OE for that task.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

Can I configure outlook 2003 to be my newsreader instead of having to use
outlook express?

 

[lenny]

Well that has settled that query. Thanks for that and now that you point it
out it becomes quite obvious.

MS lets you read news groups. That's why they give you OE for free. I've
never understood the reason to include a news reader in an email program.
Most corporate clients prefer that function be left completely separate.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

Is there a 3rd party plug-in for Outlook to do this?
Why won't MS let us read newsgroups in Outlook? I've never understood the
reasoning behind this...

Jeff

No. Outlook is not a news reader. It calls OE for that task.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

Can I configure outlook 2003 to be my newsreader instead of having to use
outlook express?

 

[Brian Tillman]

So it looks like I am stuck using OE then.

Well, there are also newsreaders like Xnews, Freereader, and Forte Agent.

 

[Brian Tillman]

Is there a 3rd party plug-in for Outlook to do this?

Yes. http://www.newsgator.com/outlook.aspx ,
http://www.shorelinesoftware.com/ are two.

 

[lenny]

Thanks Brian, I am not unhappy with OE at all I just thought that it would
be a less cluttered screen with only one program open for emails and
newsgroups. I will also check out the other options.

 

[Don Caton]

Is there a 3rd party plug-in for Outlook to do this?
Why won't MS let us read newsgroups in Outlook? I've never understood the
reasoning behind this...

Jeff

Jeff:

The only answer to your question is that they simply choose not to. As
to why, only the person at Microsoft who makes those decisions can
answer that definitively; in the absence of any official statement from
MS, anything else is speculation. But the reasons stated by some of the
MVPs here really do not stand up under scrutiny.

The standard "Outlook is not a news reader" is often given as an answer
to your question, but Outlook certainly can be a news reader when used
in conjunction with Exchange. While this does not provide all the
capabilities of a full-blown newsreader program, it certainly allows an
Outlook user to read and post to whatever newsgroups the Exchange admin.
has allowed.

The "outlook is primarily a client for Exchange" reason does not hold
water. Outlook works equally well with or without Exchange. All of the
features in Outlook, except for those things involving collaboration and
sharing (shared calendars, global address lists, public folders, etc.)
are available without Exchange. If Outlook was "primarily a client for
Exchange", then why is it a standard component of Microsoft Office? The
truth is that Outlook is included in EVERY version of Office, including
the stripped-down Office "Basic Edition" which is bundled with many
systems these days. Outlook is also sold as a stand-alone product. And
what about Microsoft's Business Contact Manager add-in, which was
specifically designed NOT for Exchange users?

The "corporations would have a problem with newsgroups in Outlook"
reason is also bogus. Users in a corporate environment can simply use
Outlook Express or any other newsreader to browse alt.sex.binaries. You
can view alt.sex.* via Google in a browser as well. Of course, those
things can be controlled in a corporate environment by various
mechanisms. And when you use Outlook in a corporate environment with
Exchange, the Exchange admin. can control and disable a number of things
in Outlook. If Microsoft included newsgroup support in Outlook, there
is no reason why it could not be restricted or disabled via this same
mechanism.

And finally, the "no reason to include a news reader in an email
program" answer. If it there's no reason to include newsgroup support
in an email program, then what reason is there to include a calendar, a
journal, notes, a task manager or a contact list? You can browse the
web all day long in Outlook without ever opening IE; what does that have
to do with email? Using this line of reasoning, we can dismiss
Microsoft's BCM and the dozens of 3rd party add-ins that add, among
other things, newsgroup and RSS support to Outlook. And why then is it
ok to mix newsgroup and email capabilities in Outlook Express, Netscape,
Dialog or any number of other newsreader programs that also handle
email, but it isn't ok in Outlook?

The truth is that Outlook is not an "email program", it is a personal
information manager. This is how Microsoft describes Outlook
(http://www.microsoft.com/office/outlook/prodinfo/default.mspx).

There are 3 or 4 newsreader add-ins to Outlook; my company sells one of
them. Like anything else in life, some people like them and some don't.
But information comes in many forms, and it would be hard to argue
that newsgroups are not a source of information, and therefore an
inappropriate addition to Outlook. Same for RSS add-ins like NewsGator.