Microsoft Outlook 98

Microsoft Outlook (not to be confused with Outlook Express) is an enterprise grade e-mail client. It is primarily intended for use with Microsoft Exchange Server. It was available as both a stand-alone product and as part of Microsoft Office.

When used with Microsoft Exchange, Outlook gives you rich-text formatted e-mail, multi-user calendar scheduling, contact lists, and an activity journal. Typically, Outlook stores everything on a central Exchange server, but also supports storing Exchange objects, including e-mail, in local Personal Folders. The Windows 9x/NT version supports connectors to other e-mail sources such as POP3/IMAP e-mail.

The first version was "8.0", in order to match the Office 97 version numbering. Prior to Outlook, Exchange users would use the Microsoft Exchange Client. At release, Outlook 97 competed directly with Lotus Notes, a similar groupware e-mail program with a very strong hold on corporate e-mail systems.

Despite the similar name, Microsoft Outlook is not at all related to Microsoft Outlook Express, a POP/IMAP e-mail client bundled with Internet Explorer.