While there are plenty of improvements in Outlook 2003 that affect all users, Microsoft didn't forget about Tablet PC users. As I've worked with the various Outlook betas on my Acer Travelmate C100 Tablet PC, I've found a number of features to be particularly useful. In this short article, I'll go over some of my favorites.

Ink support
Outlook 2003 (and all the other applications in Office System 2003) supports digital ink. Digital ink is particularly powerful if you use Word 2003 as your email editor. With this combination, you can add handwritten annotations to email messages, even send handwritten mail, as shown in Figure A.

FIGURE A

Handwritten email adds a personal touch to your messages. Click picture for a larger image.

Fortunately, Microsoft has made using Word as your email editor more pleasant than it was in the past. They've streamlined the way Word works with Outlook, and I haven't seen any of the Word/Outlook integration problems that plagued earlier versions.

A pen-friendly interface
The Outlook 2003 Navigation Pane includes large buttons for switching between the views. The buttons look like bars across the bottom of the Navigation Pane, and their large size makes them easy to tap with the pen. You can also set Outlook to use large (I mean really large) toolbar icons, which are easy to hit with the pen.

Automatic adaptation to screen mode
The Outlook 2003 interface was clearly designed for landscape mode displays, which suits the vast majority of Outlook users just fine, since almost all desktop and notebook computer displays are landscape mode. But that's not the case for Tablet PCs. If you're like me, you tend to use your Tablet PC in both portrait and landscape modes.

This could have been a real pain in the neck for anyone who wants to use Outlook in each mode without headaches. Thanks to smart design work, Outlook recognizes when you change screen modes and automatically reconfigures itself to make the most efficient use of the tall thin screen of portrait mode, as shown in Figure B.

FIGURE B

Outlook 2003 adapts to the tall, thin screen of portrait mode. Click picture for a larger image.

You can also see how Outlook 2003 takes advantage of the short wide screen of landscape mode in Figure C.

FIGURE C

Outlook 2003 in appears here in its usual landscape mode. Click picture for a larger image.