Microsoft Outlook 2002 review

Lock the door and throw away the key
Some changes, though, are sure to garner gripes. We're betting Outlook's new antivirus security tops most people's lists. To slam the door on viruses such as Melissa and I Love You, Outlook won't let you receive certain file formats, such as EXE (program files), BAT (batch files, a holdover from DOS), and HLP (help files), that it deems potential virus carriers. Outlook notifies you that you've been sent such an attachment, but you can't see it, open it, or save it to disk. We appreciate the security, but unless your company uses Microsoft Exchange Server, you can't modify this behavior, so if you use standalone Outlook, you're out of luck. Sure, Outlook's notoriously insecure, but this feels like overkill.

And don't forget: Outlook 2002, like all Office XP applications, won't run on Windows 95 machines.

By itself, using Outlook 2002 makes little sense. When tossed into the app mix that is Office XP, however, it more than carries its weight when it comes to e-mail. However, we wish Microsoft had spent more time bulking up its weak PIM.