Can I build a new UI for Outlook?

D

D'Hag

Despite Microsoft's improvements in Outlook over the years, the user
interface has never been to my liking.

I would like to build a new user interface for Outlook that displays
Contacts, e-mails, calendar, and tasks all on the same screen. (Outlook Today
doesn't come close to what I have in mind.)

I'm a .NET programmer, and I know I could build a separate application that
would read Outlook/Exchange data and display it. But I would much rather just
put a new UI on Outlook itself.

Is this possible? Where do I find information or an SDK on how to do it?
 
S

Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]

You would need to build a separate application. You can use the Outlook View
Control to display folders or build your own controls.
 
D

D'Hag

So can I put in a "wishlist" request? I would like to see the UI on Outlook
exposed/separated/whatever as an assembly that can be replaced, allowing
developers to create custom UI's for it.

The specific look that I really like can be seen here:
http://www.chaossoftware.com/images/tc6-mainscreen-full.gif

The application that this points to is a great little app, but it doesn't
work with Exchange server or have near the capabilities of Outlook. But that
interface (to me) is great. If I could create a custom UI for Outlook to look
and operate like this, I would. However, building a whole application that
uses the Outlook/Exchange data stores is really out of the question for me. I
don't have that kind of time.

Thanks.
David Haggard
 
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