Outlook 2003 Beta 2:
As usual, I have the luxury of getting software a little bit ahead of its release-date. Thanks to the newsgroups, I’m trying out a Beta 2 version of Office 2003 Professional Beta 2. So far, I’ve been using Outlook 2003, which is fantastic… I have found one bug so far, too! First, the app. They have a built-in Junk Mail filter now, which can be turned on and off and tweaked, like all other spam-eating software apps out there. The view has been made a little different, having the default view of messages arranged in a tall column in the center, and having the message window in the large window pane on the right side. The far left, like usual is either your folder list or your Outlook Bar (which has been improved).
Spam Filter:
The spam filter in Outlook 2003 is awesome… I now have the luxury of having an “almost clean” inbox. The SpamAssassin blocked emails from our server are almost ALL making it into the Junk Mail folder on their own. I’ve since set up a filter to take the messages that SpamAssassin tags as spam to get thrown into the Junk Mail folder, as well. Stay tuned for some more comments on Office 2003 Professional.
Excel 2003:
Small note on Excel. It has a research feature, as does Word. It opens up a narrow column on the right side, like Office XP had for various things, and I search for a mortgage calculator. It took me to a site that had all sorts of little tools I could download. I chose one, and within 2 seconds, I had a full-blown mortagage calculator/amortization table within Excel! MS has their shit together!