I've noticed that a bunch of the referrers I get from google/msn/yahoo search to this blog are interested in terms such as "Email Notification Icon". So in response to that, today's blog entry is about two tricks related to the system tray, one of which is about the email notification icon.

Tip #1: How to minimize Outlook 2003 so that it doesn't appear on the taskbar:

1. Click on the Outlook icon in the system tray
2. Check "Hide when minimized"
3. Minimize Outlook

And voila, Outlook will not show up on the taskbar. To maximize Outlook, click on the system tray icon again and choose "Open Outlook."

Note: If reminders fire, they will still show up on the taskbar.

Tip #2: Turn off the envelope icon the system tray

The new mail icon in the system tray tends to be one of those features that you either hate or love. If you are in the hate camp, just turn it off (Outlook 2002/2003):

1. Tools | Options | E-mail Options | Advanced E-mail Options
2. Uncheck "Show an envelope icon in the notification area"

Outlook 2003 contains a new message notification mechanism that's much spiffier (at least in my humble opinion). This mechanism (known as "desktop alert") displays a translucent box on your screen with the first few lines of the message and gives you the option to delete it, flag it or open it while it's being displayed. This is configured in the same dialog as the above checkbox, just click "Desktop Alert Settings".

P.S. I love the idea of creating blog entries based on the searches that already lead to this blog. It's such a warm-fuzzy-customer-feedback-loop. :-)