A new outlook on life

If you like the look of Outlook, Delphi component vendors are ready to help you spread the Outlook er...look to your own applications.

Microsoft Office sits on millions of machines so it's not surprising that where Microsoft leads, many Windows developers follow. That's certainly true when it comes to the Office UI. Many new user interface elements are introduced first in applications like Word and Outlook only to later become part of Windows or Internet Explorer, generally as part of the common controls library.

One such UI widget is what Microsoft calls the Outlook bar -- the vertical panel that by default runs on the left side of the main window in Outlook 97, Outlook 98, and Outlook 2000. Microsoft also uses it in Outlook Express 5.0. It consists of multiple groups of icons that you can click to change the view displayed in the rest of the window. You can get a similar effect with a tab control and a list view, but many developers lust after the exact look and feel of the Outlook bar. So many, in fact, that there are a number of components that provide that functionality for Delphi and C++Builder developers.

I've gathered up information on every open source, freeware, shareware, and commercial product I could find that includes Outlook bar functionality. The following chart is not a product evaluation -- everything listed here comes straight from the provider's Web site or the documentation with the software itself. If you think your favorite product was left off in error, please let me know.

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