I am the only person

I am the only person who likes Microsoft Outlook. That is, until recently. They added a stupid, "save me from myself" security fix to it that made it well-nigh impossible to get an executable via email.

Fortunately, Sue Mosher has posted an Outlook 2002 Patch that fixes this annoying problem by letting you choose which file extensions you're allowed to play with. Sue runs Slipstick Systems and is probably the single most knowledgeable person in the world about Outlook.

I've been following Sue's work since way back when Windows 95 shipped with the abominable Windows Messaging client, which at the time was known as Exchange, after the server software. Then, the Internet happened and email became POP and SMTP and a little bit of IMAP and not at all MAPI. This meant that Exchange client and Windows Messaging client went away and Outlook Express and Outlook (two similarly-named, but woefully divergent applications) became Microsoft's way of dealing with mail.

This concludes our history of Microsoft email platforms. Next episode, MS Mail and what ever happened to Schedule Plus?

Much thanks to Ken Slovak for writing the add-in.

I'm Anil Dash, and I've been blogging here since 1999, writing about how culture is made. Contact me at anil@dashes.com, at +1 646 833 8659, or at anildash on Twitter or IM. Find out more »

If you're new to the site, check out my Best Of and Most Popular things I've written in the past 10 years, or explore the full archives. Browse by month or year using the calendar below.

Powered by Hunch.com

1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
  Jan Jan Jan Jan Jan Jan Jan Jan Jan Jan
  Feb Feb Feb Feb Feb Feb Feb Feb Feb Feb
  Mar Mar Mar Mar Mar Mar Mar Mar Mar Mar
  Apr Apr Apr Apr Apr Apr Apr Apr Apr Apr
  May May May May May May May May May May
  Jun Jun Jun Jun Jun Jun Jun Jun Jun Jun
Jul Jul Jul Jul Jul Jul Jul Jul Jul Jul Jul
Aug Aug Aug Aug Aug Aug Aug Aug Aug Aug Aug
Sep Sep Sep Sep Sep Sep Sep Sep Sep Sep Sep
Oct Oct Oct Oct Oct Oct Oct Oct Oct Oct Oct
Nov Nov Nov Nov Nov Nov Nov Nov Nov Nov Nov
Dec Dec Dec Dec Dec Dec Dec Dec Dec Dec