Article by George Norman

On 18 Feb 2010

The beta version of Microsoft’s 2010 productivity suite, Office 2010 Beta, features an add-on that lets you stay “up-to-the-minute with the people in your networks by accessing everything from e-mail threads to status updates in one single, centralized view.” This add-on is called Outlook Social Connector and as of this week it is available for download as a Beta. This release works with Office 2010 Beta obviously – the interesting thing is that it works with older Outlook versions as well, like Outlook 2003 and Outlook 2007.

“The Outlook Social Connector is a set of new features that bring together communications history, contact information, and professional and social networking information into the Outlook experience. Most importantly, it brings all of your friends, family and colleagues into one place, making it easier than ever to stay in touch with the people you care about,” explained Product Manager with Microsoft Outlook, Dev Balasubramanian.


LinkedIn announced back in November that it would be Microsoft’s first partner and the first networking site to support the Outlook Social Connector. On the LinkedIn site here the LinkedIn download for the Outlook Social Connector is now available.

As Balasubramanian explained, the “LinkedIn download for the Outlook Social Connector brings together the most popular professional network with the world’s leading professional inbox.” Which means you’ll be able to do the following with it:

• - Connect to your LinkedIn account; next to an email you received from a friend, you can see his or her status updates and photos.
• - Import info from LinkedIn right to the Outlook contact card. When a contact updates info on LinkedIn, the info is synced with their contact card in Outlook.
• - Social network from within the inbox.

“What we think users will appreciate is that the Outlook Social Connector doesn’t add another professional or social network into the mix. The Outlook Social Connector does offer busy people, who are already a part of one or several networks, convenience – not confusion,” explained Dev Balasubramanian.

Outlook Social Connector will add Facebook and MySpace support when Office 2010 ships.

• Office 2010 Beta is available for download here.
• Outlook Social Connector Beta is available for download here.
• The LinkedIn download the for Outlook Social Connector is available for download here.

Tags: Microsoft, Outlook, Office 2010, Outlook Social Connector, LinkedIn

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