Microsoft Outlook is a nearly ubiquitous presence in PC computing -- and, seemingly, a universally reviled one. Outlook has countless features, ranging from e-mail gathering to calendaring, contact tracking, to-do list creation and more -- yet its tendency toward bloat, sluggishness and unreliability can make it maddening to use. The Internet is rife with people complaining about Outlook, and I admit that I've been mighty annoyed with the program myself over the years. But I'm ready to move beyond that -- I've found solutions for the problems that most bedevil Outlook users. So whether you hate Outlook, love it or fall somewhere in between, read on to find fixes to some of the most common problems that drive Outlook users (including me) off the deep end.
Note that I focus here on the most recent version of Outlook, Outlook 2007. Many of these fixes will work with earlier versions of Outlook, but not all of them, so be aware of that.