Windows Address Book
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Windows Address Book, a Microsoft Windows component first included with Internet Explorer 3 in 1996, let users maintain a single contact list shareable across multiple programs, most notably Outlook Express. Its API could query LDAP servers or read and write data to a local file. The application was replaced by Windows Contacts in Windows Vista.
Features
The Windows Address Book can store comprehensive contact information in tabs including personal and business information. It integrates with Outlook Express. It has a programmable API to work with other applications, and applications can also extend functionality such as adding more tabs and fields to store additional custom information or customizing the toolbar. It can store contacts inside contact groups and folders.
Users can selectively send email to contacts only in plain text for additional security. It can export and import cards to and from vCard 2.1 and CSV formats, and can also import from LDIF and other formats. Users can search for entries in the contact database, arrange contacts by first name or last name, and automatically add contacts from received email. It prints contact lists as memo, business card or phone list styles.
Outlook integration
One of the undocumented features of the Windows Address Book is integration with Microsoft Office Outlook. A registry value has to be set at the following registry key location: HKCU\Software\Microsoft\WAB\WAB4. A value named "UseOutlook" (if not present already) can be created with its value set to 1. After setting this value, Outlook Contacts are shared with the Windows Address Book.
This feature works only up to Windows XP and Outlook 2003. Windows Contacts introduced with Windows Vista does not support sharing contacts with Outlook. The above method works with any version of Outlook up to Outlook 2003, despite newer versions not including it as a configurable option in the user interface.
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Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Windows Address Book (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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