BUG in O2K3 - (integration with IE setting ignored)

[FW]

I posted this yesterday, with no response, and am posting again today as
this is clearly a bug in Office 2003. Office 2003 is not properly integrated
(well not at all!) with the IE setting "Reuse windows for launching
shortcuts" (Internet Options - Advanced). This causes severe readability
issues for users who need to make many url clicks from within Outlook, and
don't want multiple instances of the IE window opening.

See this for someone else's report of the same issue:

http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&frame=right&th=b9c079b670
8a7bde&seekm=eHpR%23FUpDHA.372%40TK2MSFTNGP11.phx.gbl#s


==============================================
Hi,

In O2K, clicking multiple web links (inside the emails) re-uses the same IE
window. In O2K3 this opens an IE window for each link clicked.

Is there any way to get O2K3 to behave like O2K?

Thanks,
FW
===============================================

 

[John]

The posting you refer to was made by me. If you find an answer to this most
annoying behaviour, please post back to this thread - I'll do likewise. I'm
not so sure that this is a bug, more a poorly thought out design decision.

John

 

[FW]

Hi John,

Nice to know that I'm not the only one being annoyed by this 'feature' !

The more noise we can make about it, the more chance we have that MS will
take note.

HELLLLOOOOOO MICROSOFT!!!! ?????

Knock knock? Anyone home?

John, let's keep in touch ...

FW

 

[Steve Leahy]

Add me to the list. I have spent hours looking for the solution to this
problem and have seen a few people ask the questions, as those here have,
but I have seen no answer. I am afraid the answer is that it is hard coded
to open a new browser every time, but let's hope not.

This may sound trivial, but for me it is a big problem. I open dozens to
maybe a couple of hundred links in my outlook mail every day. Not only do I
have to close all these browsers, but I have always had some stability
issues when opening too many browsers. Yesterday my machine starting locking
up twice, which I think is due to this browser issue. Also then the position
of the new windows keeps moving around and my font size keeps going back to
medium whereas I use smallest. This is a big pain.

I just installed Outlook 2003 (not doing me any good so far). I am running
on a fully up-to-date win2k workstation, with all fixes and service packs.

Count me in for an MS answer too.

 

[Tom]

Hi John,

Nice to know that I'm not the only one being annoyed by this 'feature'
!

The more noise we can make about it, the more chance we have that MS
will take note.

Add another vote. This can't possibly be intentional. Hope they fix it
soon... I'm getting more instances of IE running as a result of OL 2003
than all of the pop-ups/pop-unders on all the porn sites combined!

 

[Diane Poremsky [MVP]]

it's intentional, not a bug.

There is nothing more annoying than clicking a bunch of links had having it
all use one window - then closing it before going backwards to read all of
the pages. After numerous complaints, MS changed the behavior so outlook
always opens new windows.

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Author, Teach Yourself Outlook 2003 in 24 Hours
Coauthor, Visual Quick Start Guide - OneNote 2003


http://www.poremsky.com - http://www.cdolive.com
Expert Zone http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone

Search for answers: http://groups.google.com
Most recent posts to the Outlook newsgroups:
http://groups.google.com/groups?as_ugroup=microsoft.public.outlook.*&num=30

 

[John]

There is nothing more annoying than an inflexible program which overrides
the settings of any other program it calls. When I set IE6 to reuse its
window, that's what I expect to happen, whether Outlook/Office likes it or
not. I don't see IE6 as some kind of subset to Office.

I find the reasoning that you posit for the change most unintuitive - how
many people open all their links at once and then read them back-to-front.
One may read a newspaper from the back - forward, but I'd be very surprised
if many people browse this way. Isn't it more likely that the program is
training folks to use this method as the only choice. I, along with (I
suspect) most, work in a much more linear way.

Considering that either option seems to have its champions (and detractors),
wouldn't it seem sensible to have made this a matter of choice rather than
an unchangeable default?

If any little registry tweaks leak out from the developers to the MVPs - I
assume you have contact - I'd appreciate if you could post it.

John

it's intentional, not a bug.

There is nothing more annoying than clicking a bunch of links had having it
all use one window - then closing it before going backwards to read all of
the pages. After numerous complaints, MS changed the behavior so outlook
always opens new windows.

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Author, Teach Yourself Outlook 2003 in 24 Hours
Coauthor, Visual Quick Start Guide - OneNote 2003


http://www.poremsky.com - http://www.cdolive.com
Expert Zone http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone

Search for answers: http://groups.google.com
Most recent posts to the Outlook newsgroups:
http://groups.google.com/groups?as_ugroup=microsoft.public.outlook.*&num=30

I posted this yesterday, with no response, and am posting again today as
this is clearly a bug in Office 2003. Office 2003 is not properly integrated
(well not at all!) with the IE setting "Reuse windows for launching
shortcuts" (Internet Options - Advanced). This causes severe readability
issues for users who need to make many url clicks from within Outlook, and
don't want multiple instances of the IE window opening.

See this for someone else's report of the same issue:

http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&frame=right&th=b9c079b670

8a7bde&seekm=eHpR%23FUpDHA.372%40TK2MSFTNGP11.phx.gbl#s


==============================================
Hi,

In O2K, clicking multiple web links (inside the emails) re-uses the same IE
window. In O2K3 this opens an IE window for each link clicked.

Is there any way to get O2K3 to behave like O2K?

Thanks,
FW
===============================================

 

[FW]

Diane,

I can't believe that you would offer such a poor justification for what is
obviously a BUG. Aren't Outlook and IE supposed to be integrated?? What is
the point of the advanced setting in the IE options for reusing windows
called by another application?

What users want is CHOICE. We don't want to be told how to work, we want to
have the ability to work differently but appropriate to the circumastances!
This version of Outlook removes the choice.

I'm an IT manager at a software development firm, and I now have 80% of my
trial users complaining that they can't work efficiently in our environment
which depends heavily on emailed url's. This new 'feature' is a mess for
users, and a total pain for myself as IT manager as I now will have to wait
for SP1 before being able to deploy.

In the meantime, would you please post a regisrty fix of some kind.

Very unhappy,
FW

it's intentional, not a bug.

There is nothing more annoying than clicking a bunch of links had having it
all use one window - then closing it before going backwards to read all of
the pages. After numerous complaints, MS changed the behavior so outlook
always opens new windows.

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Author, Teach Yourself Outlook 2003 in 24 Hours
Coauthor, Visual Quick Start Guide - OneNote 2003


http://www.poremsky.com - http://www.cdolive.com
Expert Zone http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone

Search for answers: http://groups.google.com
Most recent posts to the Outlook newsgroups:
http://groups.google.com/groups?as_ugroup=microsoft.public.outlook.*&num=30

I posted this yesterday, with no response, and am posting again today as
this is clearly a bug in Office 2003. Office 2003 is not properly integrated
(well not at all!) with the IE setting "Reuse windows for launching
shortcuts" (Internet Options - Advanced). This causes severe readability
issues for users who need to make many url clicks from within Outlook, and
don't want multiple instances of the IE window opening.

See this for someone else's report of the same issue:

http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&frame=right&th=b9c079b670

8a7bde&seekm=eHpR%23FUpDHA.372%40TK2MSFTNGP11.phx.gbl#s


==============================================
Hi,

In O2K, clicking multiple web links (inside the emails) re-uses the same IE
window. In O2K3 this opens an IE window for each link clicked.

Is there any way to get O2K3 to behave like O2K?

Thanks,
FW
===============================================

 

[Andrew Stickler]

Diane,

The help for the 'Reuse windows for launchign shortcuts' IE option says
"Specifies that when you click a Web link in an Internet-aware program, such
as Outlook Express, and there is already an Internet Explorer window open,
the Web page appears in the open browser window instead of opening a new
window"

I think it is reasonable to assume that Outlook 2003 is an 'Internet-aware
program', and would have expected Microsoft to honor that option.

I open hundreds of such links a day, and find that Outlook 2003 is seriously
hindering my workflow to the extent that I shall probably revert to Outlook
2000 and recommend such a step to other business users.

Please provide a way to change this behaviour real soon!

Thanks,
Andrew

it's intentional, not a bug.

There is nothing more annoying than clicking a bunch of links had having it
all use one window - then closing it before going backwards to read all of
the pages. After numerous complaints, MS changed the behavior so outlook
always opens new windows.

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Author, Teach Yourself Outlook 2003 in 24 Hours
Coauthor, Visual Quick Start Guide - OneNote 2003


http://www.poremsky.com - http://www.cdolive.com
Expert Zone http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone

Search for answers: http://groups.google.com
Most recent posts to the Outlook newsgroups:
http://groups.google.com/groups?as_ugroup=microsoft.public.outlook.*&num=30

I posted this yesterday, with no response, and am posting again today as
this is clearly a bug in Office 2003. Office 2003 is not properly integrated
(well not at all!) with the IE setting "Reuse windows for launching
shortcuts" (Internet Options - Advanced). This causes severe readability
issues for users who need to make many url clicks from within Outlook, and
don't want multiple instances of the IE window opening.

See this for someone else's report of the same issue:

http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&frame=right&th=b9c079b670

8a7bde&seekm=eHpR%23FUpDHA.372%40TK2MSFTNGP11.phx.gbl#s


==============================================
Hi,

In O2K, clicking multiple web links (inside the emails) re-uses the same IE
window. In O2K3 this opens an IE window for each link clicked.

Is there any way to get O2K3 to behave like O2K?

Thanks,
FW
===============================================

 

[Steve Leahy]

There is definitely something more annoying, that is having to keep
adjusting and closing all of the windows that keep opening when I click
another link. This is terrible. I will have to use another program (other
than Outlook 2003) to read the links from this particular source.) I must
have opened over 200 new browsers yesterday. Again it is causing me
stability issues which I did not have before all of the re-opening browsers.

It would have been pretty simple to add another setting in Outlook to allow
an override of the IE6 'Re-use' setting if that was desired. And/or to add
a rt-click option (as is available when browsing a web page) to "Open in a
new Window" when clicking a link.

This absolutely terrible. Saying it is intentional is supposed to be
better than it being a bug? It goes to the monopolistic practices of MS
that everyone is complaininabout. Tens of millions of people have used
the prior method ofallowing re-use and to just eliminate it without choice
is totalling Big Brother- u know what is best for me.

We need a workaround and fast.

Steve

it's intentional, not a bug.

There is nothing more annoying than clicking a bunch of links had having it
all use one window - then closing it before going backwards to read all of
the pages. After numerous complaints, MS changed the behavior so outlook
always opens new windows.

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Author, Teach Yourself Outlook 2003 in 24 Hours
Coauthor, Visual Quick Start Guide - OneNote 2003


http://www.poremsky.com - http://www.cdolive.com
Expert Zone http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone

Search for answers: http://groups.google.com
Most recent posts to the Outlook newsgroups:
http://groups.google.com/groups?as_ugroup=microsoft.public.outlook.*&num=30

I posted this yesterday, with no response, and am posting again today as
this is clearly a bug in Office 2003. Office 2003 is not properly integrated
(well not at all!) with the IE setting "Reuse windows for launching
shortcuts" (Internet Options - Advanced). This causes severe readability
issues for users who need to make many url clicks from within Outlook, and
don't want multiple instances of the IE window opening.

See this for someone else's report of the same issue:

http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&frame=right&th=b9c079b670

8a7bde&seekm=eHpR%23FUpDHA.372%40TK2MSFTNGP11.phx.gbl#s


==============================================
Hi,

In O2K, clicking multiple web links (inside the emails) re-uses the same IE
window. In O2K3 this opens an IE window for each link clicked.

Is there any way to get O2K3 to behave like O2K?

Thanks,
FW
===============================================

 

[Lone Wolf Design]

I don't like several of the "new and improved" "features" of the Office
2003 - especially things like this one in Outlook.So much so, that I
probably will not upgrade for quite a while.

In the meantime, here is a possible workaround to try. It involves an
"alternative" browser. The one I have been using the last few months is
built on top of Internet Explorer kinda like a shell. It is called MY IE 2
( http://www.myie2.com ). Instead of opening multiple brwoser sessions, it
opens each window on tabs within the application. I know it isn't exactly
what you want, but it does help a little.

Since My IE 2 runs with the MSIE engine underneath, all of the settings and
good parts (yes, I believe there are a few) of Internet Explorer are
retained. Because of this, compatability with webpages is 100% MSIE, unlike
problems with Opera, Mozilla Netscape and others. The software is free and
also open source with many enhancements avaliable that I always wished were
part of my web browser.

Ok so this sounds like a commercial. It is not, just a satisfied user
testimonial!

--
Jared Finkenbinder
Lone Wolf Design
(e-mail address removed)

Note this is a "spam bucket" account.
If you need to contact me off the newsgroups,
send a request for the actual address.

 

[Diane Poremsky [MVP]]

There is no registry fix that I'm aware of - yes, they should have made it
an option, I have no idea why they didn't, only why they changed the very
annoying behavior of hijacking open windows. (Which OE still does, BTW)

OL and IE are integrated to the point of OL using IE's controls, but nothing
more.

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Author, Teach Yourself Outlook 2003 in 24 Hours
Coauthor, Visual Quick Start Guide - OneNote 2003


http://www.poremsky.com - http://www.cdolive.com
Expert Zone http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone

Search for answers: http://groups.google.com
Most recent posts to the Outlook newsgroups:
http://groups.google.com/groups?as_ugroup=microsoft.public.outlook.*&num=30

Diane,

I can't believe that you would offer such a poor justification for what is
obviously a BUG. Aren't Outlook and IE supposed to be integrated?? What is
the point of the advanced setting in the IE options for reusing windows
called by another application?

What users want is CHOICE. We don't want to be told how to work, we want to
have the ability to work differently but appropriate to the circumastances!
This version of Outlook removes the choice.

I'm an IT manager at a software development firm, and I now have 80% of my
trial users complaining that they can't work efficiently in our environment
which depends heavily on emailed url's. This new 'feature' is a mess for
users, and a total pain for myself as IT manager as I now will have to wait
for SP1 before being able to deploy.

In the meantime, would you please post a regisrty fix of some kind.

Very unhappy,
FW

it's intentional, not a bug.

There is nothing more annoying than clicking a bunch of links had having it
all use one window - then closing it before going backwards to read all of
the pages. After numerous complaints, MS changed the behavior so outlook
always opens new windows.

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Author, Teach Yourself Outlook 2003 in 24 Hours
Coauthor, Visual Quick Start Guide - OneNote 2003


http://www.poremsky.com - http://www.cdolive.com
Expert Zone http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone

Search for answers: http://groups.google.com
Most recent posts to the Outlook newsgroups:

http://groups.google.com/groups?as_...?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&frame=right&th=b9c079b670

same
IE

 

[Diane Poremsky [MVP]]

I know for a fact that OE does not honor the IE settings - I have it set to
open new windows and OE reuses them when I open links from posts.



--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Author, Teach Yourself Outlook 2003 in 24 Hours
Coauthor, Visual Quick Start Guide - OneNote 2003


http://www.poremsky.com - http://www.cdolive.com
Expert Zone http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone

Search for answers: http://groups.google.com
Most recent posts to the Outlook newsgroups:
http://groups.google.com/groups?as_ugroup=microsoft.public.outlook.*&num=30

Diane,

The help for the 'Reuse windows for launchign shortcuts' IE option says
"Specifies that when you click a Web link in an Internet-aware program, such
as Outlook Express, and there is already an Internet Explorer window open,
the Web page appears in the open browser window instead of opening a new
window"

I think it is reasonable to assume that Outlook 2003 is an 'Internet-aware
program', and would have expected Microsoft to honor that option.

I open hundreds of such links a day, and find that Outlook 2003 is seriously
hindering my workflow to the extent that I shall probably revert to Outlook
2000 and recommend such a step to other business users.

Please provide a way to change this behaviour real soon!

Thanks,
Andrew

it's intentional, not a bug.

There is nothing more annoying than clicking a bunch of links had having it
all use one window - then closing it before going backwards to read all of
the pages. After numerous complaints, MS changed the behavior so outlook
always opens new windows.

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Author, Teach Yourself Outlook 2003 in 24 Hours
Coauthor, Visual Quick Start Guide - OneNote 2003


http://www.poremsky.com - http://www.cdolive.com
Expert Zone http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone

Search for answers: http://groups.google.com
Most recent posts to the Outlook newsgroups:

http://groups.google.com/groups?as_...?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&frame=right&th=b9c079b670

same
IE

 

[Andrew Stickler]

And that is supposed to make me feel better? Just because the help for IE
lies?

The point is that MS have changed the behaviour of Outlook to benefit the
workflow of some users, but have not kept the original behavior, resulting
in impaired workflow for other users.

Please confirm that you have raised an enhancement request for the
configurability of this capability (or even the honoring of the IE option)
to be included in the next service release of Outlook 2003

Thanks,
Andrew

I know for a fact that OE does not honor the IE settings - I have it set to
open new windows and OE reuses them when I open links from posts.



--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Author, Teach Yourself Outlook 2003 in 24 Hours
Coauthor, Visual Quick Start Guide - OneNote 2003


http://www.poremsky.com - http://www.cdolive.com
Expert Zone http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone

Search for answers: http://groups.google.com
Most recent posts to the Outlook newsgroups:
http://groups.google.com/groups?as_ugroup=microsoft.public.outlook.*&num=30

Diane,

The help for the 'Reuse windows for launchign shortcuts' IE option says
"Specifies that when you click a Web link in an Internet-aware program, such
as Outlook Express, and there is already an Internet Explorer window open,
the Web page appears in the open browser window instead of opening a new
window"

I think it is reasonable to assume that Outlook 2003 is an 'Internet-aware
program', and would have expected Microsoft to honor that option.

I open hundreds of such links a day, and find that Outlook 2003 is seriously
hindering my workflow to the extent that I shall probably revert to Outlook
2000 and recommend such a step to other business users.

Please provide a way to change this behaviour real soon!

Thanks,
Andrew

having
it

all

of

the pages. After numerous complaints, MS changed the behavior so outlook
always opens new windows.

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Author, Teach Yourself Outlook 2003 in 24 Hours
Coauthor, Visual Quick Start Guide - OneNote 2003


http://www.poremsky.com - http://www.cdolive.com
Expert Zone http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone

Search for answers: http://groups.google.com
Most recent posts to the Outlook newsgroups:

http://groups.google.com/groups?as_ugroup=microsoft.public.outlook.*&num=30 today

as Outlook,
and

http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&frame=right&th=b9c079b670

 

[Diane Poremsky [MVP]]

I brought it to their attention. All of the Outlook MVPs are well aware of
the complaints, we won't let it slip off the radar during SP beta testing.

 

[Marty List]

I posted this yesterday, with no response, and am posting again today as
this is clearly a bug in Office 2003. Office 2003 is not properly integrated
(well not at all!) with the IE setting "Reuse windows for launching
shortcuts" (Internet Options - Advanced). This causes severe readability
issues for users who need to make many url clicks from within Outlook, and
don't want multiple instances of the IE window opening.

See this for someone else's report of the same issue:

http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&frame=right&th=b9c079b670
8a7bde&seekm=eHpR%23FUpDHA.372%40TK2MSFTNGP11.phx.gbl#s


==============================================
Hi,

In O2K, clicking multiple web links (inside the emails) re-uses the same IE
window. In O2K3 this opens an IE window for each link clicked.

Is there any way to get O2K3 to behave like O2K?

Thanks,
FW
===============================================

Here's a workaround that's not too bad - Instead of clicking on the URL link
in the message, drag it to an open IE window. I would prefer that the links
reuse the existing instance of IE, but dragging them is doable for me. To
me the ideal solution is for Microsoft to add an item in Outlook's
Tools/Options that would have 3 radio buttons:

- Always launch a new window when opening links
- Always reuse the existing window when opening links
- Use the current setting in Internet Explorer

This would make everyone happy I think.

 

[Andrew Stickler]

Here's a workaround that's not too bad - Instead of clicking on the URL link
in the message, drag it to an open IE window. I would prefer that the links
reuse the existing instance of IE, but dragging them is doable for me. To
me the ideal solution is for Microsoft to add an item in Outlook's
Tools/Options that would have 3 radio buttons:

- Always launch a new window when opening links
- Always reuse the existing window when opening links
- Use the current setting in Internet Explorer

This would make everyone happy I think.

I'll second that!
Andrew