November 18, 1999

Enhanced system policies in Microsoft Office 2000 include more options that you can set, and give you more flexibility for managing system policies in your organization. Using system policies with Microsoft Outlook® 2000 is easier now, too, and provides an excellent user experience.

System policies help you control how users work with Office applications. Each system policy represents a single option in an application. You determine which options are available by setting the appropriate system policies.

A system policy corresponds to one or more Microsoft Windows® registry entries. By using the System Policy Editor, you create a system policy file and distribute it to users. The system policy associates application settings on the computer with the relevant registry entries. When you create a system policy file, you base your file on one or more policy templates.

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Toolbox   The Office 2000 Resource Kit includes the new System Policy Editor and policy template files, including the policy template for Outlook 2000 (Outlk9.adm). Download the Office Resource Kit (orktools.exe) from the Toolbox to install these updated files. You can find this downloadable file on the Office 2000 Resource Kit Downloads page.

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Easier implementation of system policies

Office 2000 has improved system policies by adding more policies and including an enhanced version of the System Policy Editor. The Outlook template includes all of the items that can be set through system policies, and the order of the items corresponds to the Outlook 2000 user interface. For example, all of the options in the Options dialog box (Tools menu) can now be set by policy.

To make system policies easier to manage, policies are now consolidated under the HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies subkey in the Windows registry, rather than in the various Software subkeys, such as HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\9.0\Outlook. Storing all system policy settings under the same subkey prevents Windows registry errors, and also makes it possible for administrators to lock the Policy subkey under Windows NT®.

For example, Outlook 2000 consolidates policy settings in the HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Office\9.0\Outlook subkey, where they are accessible by system policies. In past releases, many Outlook settings were stored in the HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft Messaging Subsystem subkey, where they were not accessible by system policies.

In addition, you could set entries in the Microsoft Messaging subkey only when you created a new Outlook profile. Now all of these settings can be viewed in the System Policy Editor and set through system policies.

More flexibility for configuring user environments

System policies in Office 2000 cover many more settings than previous versions. The additional settings give you more flexibility for configuring user environments. You can even set system policies that lock down portions of the user interface, so that users cannot activate commands or change options.

For example, you can now control the following types of Outlook 2000 settings by using system policies:

• Disable menu commands and corresponding toolbar buttons.
• Disable shortcut keys.
• Specify settings for dialog box options, including options in the Options dialog box (Tools menu).

For example, if your organization wants to prevent users from sending e-mail messages as blind carbon copies, you can disable the BCC Field command (View menu) in new messages.

In addition, you can disable features that do not appear in the user interface. For example, you can specify home pages for Outlook special folders, such as Drafts or Contacts. These policies are listed in the Microsoft Outlook 2000\Tools | Options\Miscellaneous\Folder Home Pages for Outlook special folders category in the policy template.

Terrific user experience

Improved system policies in Office 2000 include the following features that enhance the end-user experience:

• Unavailable items now appear dimmed in the user interface.
• Custom error messages can be activated through a system policy.

Visual cue that an item is unavailable through policy

When a feature or option is disabled by a system policy, the item now appears dimmed in the user interface, which gives users a visual cue that the item is unavailable.

For example, you can set a system policy that prevents saving message drafts. In past versions of Outlook, the user might select the option to save message drafts with no indication that it was unavailable. In Outlook 2000, users can see that the option is disabled, and they cannot modify the setting.

Custom error messages activated through policy

Another new Office-wide feature that you can set through system policies is custom error messages, also known as customizable alerts. If you have already deployed Office 2000, the System Policy Editor allows you to add, remove, or modify a single custom error message, or to enable or disable all custom error messages throughout your organization.

You enable custom error messages in Outlook by using the System Policy Editor to create a new policy file based on the Outlook policy template, Outlk9.adm. In the Microsoft Outlook 2000\Customizable error messages category, set the List of error messages to customize policy.

Note   If you have not yet deployed Office 2000, you can add the registry entry that activates custom alerts to your transform (MST file) by using the Custom Installation Wizard. This step activates custom alerts during your Office deployment.

Related links

In addition to the menu and toolbar items listed in Outlk9.adm, you can add other menu items or toolbar buttons to your system policy file. For more information about using the System Policy Editor to set policies and to disable menu and toolbar items, see Using the System Policy Editor in the Office 2000 Resource Kit.

When you are setting Outlook system policies for your organization, you might find it useful to refer to the Outlook 2000 policy template file. To view the file’s contents, see System Policies in the Outlook 2000 Policy Template in the Office 2000 Resource Kit.

The Office 2000 Resource Kit includes detailed information about customizing error messages, along with sample Web pages to help you get started. For more information, see Customizing Built-in Error Messages in the Office 2000 Resource Kit.