Super Ginormous

Tag: outlook

  • Have I mentioned I hate Outlook 2007?

    Outlook Must DieHave I mentioned how much I hate Outlook 2007 lately?

    1. Daylight Savings Time: I knew that there would be issues with the Daylight Savings Times this year… but figured my calendar would be safe since I use Google Calendar to manage my appointments and whatnot. WRONG. Outlook 2007 has decided to be really, REALLY helpful and change the time of all of my appointments so that they appear an hour later. Never mind the fact that all of the events show the proper time in Google Calendar.
    2. Performance: I almost laughed typing that word. Performance and reliability are atrocious. Every time I shut down this infernal application and reopen it, I get this lovely error that says a ‘data file was closed improperly’ and that Outlook will need to scan it for corruption. Said scan takes hours. I have 4Gb RAM installed on my system. Every time I restart Outlook the same error occurs. I have no idea if my data is safe…
    3. Instant Search: I want you to go away and die. I know you want me to click you and download Windows Desktop Search so the two of you can play together, but I did that once, and the two of you brought my system to it’s knees. I want to turn you off. I should have an option to turn you off, but the only way I’ve seen to get rid of you is by installing Windows Desktop Search. Curse you.
    4. Internet Calendars: Did I mention Outlook 2007 screwed up my calendars? Thankfully Outlook 2007 can’t write to my online calendars, otherwise I would’ve been really screwed. With the DST update, all of the appointments in calendars I am subscribed to got modified locally. All appointments are now an hour later than they actually should be.

    I want to like Outlook 2007, really. I am really, really trying. But this application is grating my last nerves. I’m hoping a decrease in RAM will help some. A coworker recently got a computer with Vista infected, err, pre-installed with only 1Gb RAM, so I am going to give him 2 1Gb DDR2-4200 sticks in exchange for his two 512Mb DDR-4200 sticks. I have a feeling, though, I may be downgrading soon. I can’t stand this application much longer.

  • Daylight Savings

    Daylight Savings Time 2007 In case you missed it, this weekend your clock will be springing forward an hour. DST will occur earlier that usual this year, due to a law passed by Congress called the Energy Policy Act of 2005. From this point forward, DST will begin on the second Sunday of March at 2:00am, and will end on the first Sunday of November at 2:00am.

    “Consider any calendar items in the extended DST period to be suspect. If you are not sure, verify the correct time with the organizer” – Microsoft

    This year, the DST switch is going to cause some potential software problems you need to be aware about. If you use an application that is date-dependent, such as Outlook, check with the manufacturer to see if an update exists for the program. In most cases, DST information is hard-coded into the application. Translation: your software app and/or operating system might not update DST until the first Sunday in April and the last Sunday in October based on the previous DST schedule that was in placed 1987 through 2006.

    Here are some tips I received from a colleague:

    Here are a few steps which you as an Outlook user should take to assure that your information is accurate:

    1. First, check to make sure your calendar events are right. (look at the time in “calendar view” and compare it to the time once you’ve opened it. Just chose some at random and make sure you check a couple of reoccurring events.)
    2. Print your calendar to refer to after the change.
    3. IT will be installing a program and changing the DST pattern tomorrow.
    4. After DST begins, compare your printed calendar to your digital calendar.
    5. Do it again in 3 weeks to make sure your events have not changed when DST used to begin.

    For more information, please check out, this article: “Prepare Outlook calendar items for daylight saving time changes in 2007” on the Microsoft Office website. Information in the article applies to Outlook 2007, Outlook 2003 and Outlook 2002.

  • Subscribe to iCalendars in Outlook 2003

    Heck yeah! Got further validation that I am a GEEK. I am absolutely giddy about news that I received via email from Daniele Tiles about the SourceForge Project: RemoteCalendars.

    RemoteCalendars is a COM-.NET Add-in for Outlook 2003, written in C#. After installing this plugin, every Outlook user should be able to subscribe, reload and delete a generic remote iCalendar (RFC 2445) from Outlook 2003.

    This is what I’ve wanted for quite some time for Outlook. It’s definitely going to make Basecamp more usable for me… now that I can subscribe to project Calendars and get an overview of what’s going on in Outlook, or on my PDA.Daniele – THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for building this. You’re my hero.