January, 2010

If you’re the Office/Messaging developer and use Outlook 2010 beta for developing applications, then this article is for you. Microsoft published Outlook 2010 – Developer reference. These developer references are in HxS format, as opposed to CHM format. It also contain related information about the Outlook 2010 Object Model changes, which i specified earlier.

You can download the Developer reference from Office 2010: Developer References on the Microsoft Download Center. Please note, in these tables, the status value for a given object model member may be any of the following:

1. Changed—The syntax for the member has changed.
2. Hidden—The member has been deprecated.
3. Removed—The member has been removed from the object model.

Very nice article, that i want to recommend. Happy programming!!

With respect to my previous blog post, i want to add more information regarding the Outlook Object Model changes. Being Messaging developer, it’s a must for us to understand and keep in-track, Outlook 2010 Object Model changes available since earlier versions. I request you to refer the MSDN article which summary of the changes in the Microsoft Outlook 2010 object model as compared to earlier versions of Microsoft Office.

Couple of Outlook 2010 beta users reported that they can’t find the old VBA (Visual Basic for Applications) and Visual Basic Editor in new Outlook 2010? Whether the feature is removed? With respect to my last blog post, VBA is available with Outlook 2010. Let me explain in-detail. We know about how Outlook 2010 applications expose their object models; also we’re eager to calling object methods, setting object properties, and responding to object events. To do so, you must write your code in a place and in a way that Office can understand; typically, by using the Visual Basic Editor. Although installed by default, many users do not know that it is even available until it is enabled on the ribbon.

Opening the Developer Tab

All Office 2010 applications use the ribbon. One tab on the ribbon is the Developer tab, where you access the Visual Basic Editor and other developer tools. Because Office 2010 does not display the Developer tab by default, you must enable it by using the following procedure:

To enable the Developer tab and view Visual Basic Editor, do the following steps:

1. On the File tab, choose Options to open the Outlook Options dialog box.

2. Click Customize Ribbon on the left side of the dialog box.

3. Under Choose commands from on the left side of the dialog box, select Popular Commands.

4. Under Customize the ribbon on the right side of the dialog box, select Main tabs, and then select the Developer check box.

5. Click OK.

Please note: In Office 2007, you displayed the Developer tab by clicking the Office button, clicking Options, and then selecting the Show Developer tab in Ribbon checkbox in the Popular category of the Options dialog box

After you enable the Developer tab, Bingo, it is easy to find the Visual Basic and Macros buttons.

Developer tab in Outlook 2010
 

Continue your programming with VBA with Outlook 2010.

Microsoft released environment scanning tool as download for the Assessment planning. As you know the goal of the assessment planning phase is to determine the techniques that will be used to discover applications and customizations that could be affected by an Office upgrade.This tool (along with documentation) assists a customer in the assessment phase of deployment.

It identifies:

• Currently installed applications and installation environment
• Add-ins currently in use by Office clients
• Programs that are not registered as add-ins but still interact with Office programs
• Reports:
• Environmental assessment (potential upgrade issues)
• Add-ins assessment–list of third party programs and information about the compatibility of those programs with Microsoft Office 2010

This tool collects information for the following Office applications:

• Microsoft Office 97, Microsoft Office 2000, Microsoft Office XP, Microsoft Office 2003, 2007 Microsoft Office system, Microsoft Office 2010

In addition, you must have the following applications installed:

• Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0, Microsoft Office Excel 2007 (-OR-) Microsoft Excel 2010

Earlier one of my customer reported when he created a simple HTML e-mail using Outlook 2010 beta. It contained a hyperlink and some text with bullet lists, but the size of the message is quite big. He tried with Outlook 2007, the message size was relatively small. It’s researched by Outlook 2010 product team and yesterday we got the updated detailed blog post regarding this, stating it’s fixed in latest Outlook 2010 builds.

Microsoft published the Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 and Outlook Standards documentation is intended for use in conjunction with publicly available standard specifications and network programming art, and assumes that the reader either is familiar with the aforementioned material or has immediate access to it. A protocol specification does not require the use of Microsoft programming tools or programming environments in order for you to develop an implementation. If you have access to Microsoft programming tools and environments you are free to take advantage of them.

The Exchange Server and Outlook Standards Documents describe Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 and Outlook support for industry messaging standards and Requests for Comments (RFCs) related to iCalendar, IMAP4, and POP3. It assumes that the reader either is familiar with this material or has immediate access to it.

When Outlook 2010 is installed, it sets the new registry key named Bitness, which indicates whether the Outlook 2010 installation is a 32-bit or 64-bit version. This can be useful to administrators who want to audit computers to determine the installed versions of Outlook 2010 in their organizations.

• Registry path: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Office\14.0\Outlook
• Registry key: Bitness
• Value: either x86 or x64

For more information about Microsoft Office 2010 in 64-bit, see 64-bit editions of Office 2010.

Per Randy’s blog post, Exchange Client Extension (ECEs) deprecation does (for Outlook 2010) matters the developers. For more information please refer the excerpts of the blog post:

“For most Outlook users, this announcement will not concern you. However, if you are a developer that uses Exchange Client Extension interfaces to build a solution in Outlook, then this deprecation is significant because you will have to redesign your solution for Microsoft Outlook 2010.

Exchange Client Extensions (ECEs) represent an extensibility feature introduced with the Microsoft Exchange client in 1995. The Exchange client was a 16-bit mail application running against the earliest versions of Exchange Server. ECEs must be written in native code, typically using C++ and relying heavily on the Messaging API (MAPI). When Outlook replaced the Exchange client, ECEs were used to extend Outlook 97-98 until COM Add-ins replaced ECEs in Outlook 2000 as the primary extensibility technology for Outlook.

ECEs will continue to operate as expected in Outlook 2007 and earlier. However, ECEs will not load in 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Outlook 2010. Outlook 2010 has converted its own ECEs such as Delegate Access, Deleted Items Recovery, Exchange Extensions commands, and Exchange Extensions property pages to native Outlook code.

To redesign your solution, you should consider the following options:

• Rewrite your ECE as a COM Add-in using native or managed code. Unlike ECEs, an add-in represents a strategic extensibility technology that is fully supported in Outlook 2010. Using an Outlook add-in, you can build Outlook form regions and extend the Office Fluent User Interface. For additional information, please visit the Outlook Developer Portal on MSDN.
• Rewrite your ECE as a Windows service application using native code and MAPI. If you are writing a Windows service application, you must use MAPI to access Outlook items rather than the Outlook object model. ”

I am an avid fan of using MS Outlook connector with previous versions of Outlook. Earlier when i was using Outlook Connector 12.1, i can manage my Windows Live Hotmail e-mail, calendar, and contacts from within Outlook.  Recently i read blog post by Alessio, that MS had announced the Beta release of Microsoft Outlook Hotmail Connector 14.0 (previously called Outlook Connector) in parallel with the Outlook 2010 Beta. It’s really a nice thing to hear.

What’s new? Outlook Hotmail Connector 14.0 Beta is compatible with Outlook 2003 and 2007, and will replace Outlook Connector 12.1 upon release and provides an improved authentication and synchronization experience.

Better with Outlook 2010: With Outlook Hotmail Connector 14.0 and Outlook 2010, you gain these additional benefits:

• Junk filter settings Your Safe Sender List/Blocked sender list/Safe Recipient lists are synchronized between Outlook and Hotmail.
• Integrated Send/Receive Send/receive works like your other Outlook accounts.
• Integrated connection status Your Hotmail account status appears in the Outlook status bar.
• Rule support for secondary accounts Rules work with the Hotmail account in Outlook even if it’s not your primary account.

Where to download & use the Outlook Hotmail Connector 14.0 Beta: To download the Outlook Hotmail Connector 14.0 Beta manually, go to the Microsoft Download Center.

Outlook Hotmail Connector 14.0 for Outlook 2003, 2007 and 2010 32-bit

Outlook Hotmail Connector 14.0 for Outlook 2010 64-bit

Try this out. Start enjoy with Hotmail Connector and save more time!!