Prompts when exiting outlook

[CMoya]

responses inline below
--
-C. Moya
http://www.cmoya.com

No, closing the application is what you should do with any application
before shutting down your system ;-)
An idea perhaps is that some applications can tap into a shutdown warning
system; a dialog that pops up requesting the user to close the application
before continuing the shutdown or a notification system of which apps
Windows is waiting for before completing shutdown. Then the delayed
shutdown would be visible to the user and Windows would have enough time
to shutdown gracefully and give all the apps the time they need. This
issue is of course not limited to Outlook but basically any tray app that
holds active data connections and locks which could take additional time
to properly disconnect. Also note that it is not just up to Outlook to
release such locks. Add-ins and sync software (especially when the mobile
device is still cradled) are known sources which will prevent a proper
shutdown of Outlook. But I'm sidestepping now as this doesn't matter for
Outlook in tray or not; just making a point towards user visibility of
things that are going on and delayed shutdowns.

What's the difference between the user shutting down Outlook and IMMEDIATELY
shutting down Windows versus just shutting down Windows? The answer is:
there is no difference (they're both WM messages sent to Outlook). You're
really telling me that Outlook is relying on the user being slow enough
between clicks.... which is not always the case and is BAD DESIGN. So a user
is expected to close Outlook, wait a few moments and then shut down
windows??? That's ridiculous.

It's still an architectural issue. Every good developer knows they need to
respond to the shutdown message sent by windows. You can even
programmatically prevent the shutdown if that's what you really really want
to do. I NEVER shut down Outlook when I restart. And I've never had any
problems. Last I heard of these problems was 10 years ago in Outlook 97 and
every now and then in Outlook 2000.

OneNote's icon is functional. Outlook's icon is primarily informational. I
do not agree with you that it should not be persistent even though it
should be according to the guidelines. But again; a guideline isn't exact
science, they are no rules written in stone and can be moved away from for
good reasons. As Outlook's icon shows the connection status and
send/receive information, which a lot of users have set to around 5
minutes, it would result in a very nervous Notification Area of showing
and hiding the icon; not good at all ;-)

The Send/Receive thing is of dubious value. I mean, who cares? If there's a
problem THEN you show the icon.
Transient icons: Stop/Remove Device (it's not there if no hardware applies
to it), Windows Update, Vista Backup, Visual Studio connection problems,
etc. Outlook's icon shows when it's having connection problems (and it shows
when there's nothing to say).

The function; "Hide when minimized" is added by user request and because
that is more or less expected of a semi-persistent Notification Area icon.
I agree that it is a bit out of place when compared to the other features
the context menu offers. Still, the terminology is correct; it says "Hide
when minimized" and not "Minimize on close."

Neither of those are correct terminology. Windows Messenger uses the correct
terminology: "Keep Loaded in the Background." Outlook's design is not only
out of place, it's a productivity killer because it suggests you can close
its Outlook Explorer window (what you call the "Application" but is really
just a window not an "application") and still keep it running in the tray
like all other tray icons behave.