Welcome to Microsoft Office Outlook 2003! Outlook 2003 is a versatile e-mail client, as well as a personal information manager (PIM). This means you can create, send, and manage e-mail, manage your address book, keep track of your to-do list, and schedule appointments all in one place. The different components of Outlook are all integrated, meaning you use your contacts to address an e-mail, track all contact with a particular person, or send your community group tasks to plan for that fundraiser you’ve been planning. Basic Windows functions, like cutting, copying, and pasting, are also included.

Outlook 2003 also integrates with other applications to provide advanced features. For example, it provides access to newsgroups through Outlook Express. There are also many add-ins that you can download or purchase to provide additional functionality; many other applications (such as antivirus software, word processors, and contact managers) also add their tools into Outlook to help you manage your data. You don’t need to worry about all these tools right now, as they won’t be covered in this course. It is good to know about them, however, in case you see buttons or commands within your Outlook that don’t match the pictures or descriptions in these lessons.