A word about Color Categories and Outlook 2003 Quick Flags
I already posted this to the Beta1 newsgroup, but it seems appropriate to post here as well.
While people liked colored flags in Outlook 2003, for many, over time, the meaning of the colored flag was lost ("was green Carson Project or Drew Project?") Not surprisingly, we heard a lot of complaints about not being able to rename the colored flags in Outlook 2003. Also, there were not enough colored flags - Outlook 2003 is limited to six. Another problem was that there were different and unrelated ways of coloring items throughout Outlook 2003 - quick flags, calendar labels, notes, etc. With Outlook 12, we brought together these different ways of coloring and labeling items into one pre-existing feature - Color Categories. The feature essentially let's people name their colors, apply them everywhere, and the number of categories is almost limitless.
Another problem we discovered was that many people were using the colored flags in Outlook 2003 to mark mail as a task for follow up, these flags didn't integrate with the rest of Outlook's time management system. Some of these flags were date driven: "red means get this done today, blue means get this done this week," but other than reminders, Outlook 2003 flags were not date driven, so people had to manage their flagged mail and their tasks in multiple places. To help this scenario, we introduced date driven flags in Outlook 12. The new flags help to merge tasks that come in through mail (besides task requests) and regular tasks. In Outlook 12, the primary function of flagging is to make the item appear on the To-Do Bar where it can be managed along with other tasks.
-Melissa