HowTo-Outlook

Update Rollup 17 for Exchange 2007 Service Pack 3 is now available for direct download.

This Rollup Update fixes an issue that was introduced in Exchange 2007 SP3 Rollup 15;

• KB3057222: “InvaIidOperationException” error when you open digitally signed or NDR messages in FIPS-enabled Exchange Server 2007

It also contains all previously released fixes and security updates for Exchange 2007 SP3.

View: Description of Update Rollup 17 for Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 3
Download: Update Rollup 16 for Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 3 (KB3056710)

A Rollup Update and an update for the Social Connector and Facebook Provider have been released for Outlook 2013, containing a total of 21 documented improvements and fixes.

Update KB3054855 for Outlook 2013
This is a non-security update which contains 20 improvements and fixes.

Most notable new changes and fixes are:

• Adds administrative support to prevent Outlook 2013 from booting into safe mode. (This can be controlled via the Registry.)
• When you connect to a mailbox by using the Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync (EAS) protocol in Outlook 2013, duplicate email items are created. When you are effected by this issue, you can now have Outlook reconcile your mailbox via a Registry setting. (This will create a performance overhead so only use when affected.)
• When you set an appointment or meeting as the Working Elsewhere status for an Exchange ActiveSync (EAS) account in Outlook 2013, the appointment or meeting cannot be synchronized in Outlook Web App.
• 4 fixes for when you are connecting to an Exchange server via the MAPI over HTTP protocol.

View: Download information for KB3054855

Update KB3054854 for Outlook 2013 Social Connector
This non-security updates prevents the Social Connector from loading incompatible providers like LinkedIn. The recently discontinued Facebook Provider does still load.

View: Download information for KB3054854

Note: These updates are also offered via Microsoft Update or already installed automatically for you when Microsoft Update is configured to also update other Microsoft applications.
Office 365 subscribers can install these updates manually via the Update Now button or wait for the automatic update. These updates are included in version: 15.0.4727.1002.

A Rollup Update and an update for the Social Connector and Facebook Provider have been released for Outlook 2010, containing a total of 16 documented improvements and fixes.

Update KB3054881 for Outlook 2010
This is a non-security update which contains 15 improvements and fixes.

Most notable new changes and fixes are:

• You cannot open some iCal events that are created by an Apple device (for example, iPhone) in Outlook 2010 even if they are supported in Outlook 2010.
• When you have many email messages opened in Outlook 2010, Outlook 2010 crashes randomly.
• 5 fixes for when you are connecting to an Exchange server via the MAPI over HTTP protocol.

View: Download information for KB3054881

Update KB2553308 for Outlook 2010 Social Connector
This non-security updates prevents the Social Connector from loading incompatible providers like LinkedIn. The recently discontinued Facebook Provider does still load.
This update is also being offered to Outlook 2007 users since it makes use of the 2010 version of the Social Connector.

View: Download information for KB2553308

Note: This update is also offered via Microsoft Update or already installed automatically for you when Microsoft Update is configured to also update other Microsoft applications.

A security update has been released for Exchange 2013 to solve 3 vulnerabilities. The exploitation risk for all vulnerabilities have been categorized as “Less Likely” but Exchange administrators are advised to update at the earliest possible convenience anyway. A restart is not required.

The most severe vulnerability requires the user to click on a link to a specially crafted website and could result in which elevation of privilege.

View: Microsoft Security Bulletin MS15-064 – Important
View: Download information for KB3062157 (MS15-064)

You might have already noticed that Outlook is no longer being updated with information and pictures from Facebook. In addition, you’ll see an “Invalid user name or password” notice in the People Pane and Social Network Accounts dialog. This is because Facebook has discontinued support for the so-called Graph API that is responsible for synching Facebook content with other applications.

In other words, this doesn’t only affect the Outlook Social Connector but also many other Facebook Apps or Facebook features that are integrated in other applications.

For instance, Facebook Calendar and Contacts sync with Outlook.com and the People hub on both Windows and Windows Phone no longer works and will no longer provide Facebook updates from your contacts either. For an overview of the affected Microsoft products see: Facebook Connect is no longer available.

It might currently still work for you but it will stop functioning eventually when Facebook completes the rollout of the change.

Social Connector lost its usefulness?

Now that it has lost support for both major social networks (LinkedIn and Facebook), the Social Connector (People Pane) in Outlook is therefor of little use to most.

The recent emails feature is still useful for some and for organizations that are actively using the user profiles in SharePoint the connector could prove valuable as well. The Social Connector Provider from Viadeo and Xing still work as well.

When you rather see a few more lines of your email than a mostly empty pane, you can disable the People Pane via: View-> People Pane-> Off

No Alternatives

Now that Outlook.com is moving to Office 365, we might see Outlook integration return via an Office Web Add-in just like LinkedIn, but it is more likely that Facebook rather see you use their app instead. So far, no alternatives have been announced by Facebook.

Even though Outlook.com started to look more like Outlook Web App (OWA) from Exchange, which you might recognize from work or university, it was still being hosted on a completely different mail server infrastructure. That is about to change!

The Outlook.com team has announced a whole lot of new features that are coming to Outlook.com soon. Some of them are; Clutter, Search Suggestions and Refiners, New Themes, Link preview, Inline images, Pop-out read and compose, Pins and Flags, and Add-ins.

The careful observer might have noticed that these are actually all already existing features of Exchange Online which is part of Office 365 for Business. Indeed; Outlook.com will become a free (but ad driven) Exchange mailbox!

This is great news as you can then actually configure your Outlook.com account as an Exchange mailbox instead of needing the Outlook Hotmail Connector or using the Exchange ActiveSync (EAS) protocol in Outlook.

This is going to solve a whole lot of issues and limitations but there are some things to be aware of too…

Continue reading: Outlook.com is moving to Office 365 Exchange Online