5 time-saving Outlook add-ons

Jessica Dolcourt, Senior Editor April 20, 2010

When we find an app that makes your Outlook 2007 workflow faster or more convenient, will we sit idly by and hoard the good news to ourselves? No! We'll round up the noteworthy in-box add-ons and make them yours for the taking. Harmony for Google Docs beta (hands-on) draws your Web-based Google documents into an Outlook sidebar so you can read, edit, create, and share Google Docs with Outlook contacts, without leaving Outlook. Bccthis, in beta, also sets its sights on sharing, but in a craftier capacity. Use it to send an additional private message to some but not all of your e-mail recipients.

Google Calendar Sync, also in beta, is Google's attempt to marry its online social calendar to your Outlook calendar. Xobni and Gwabbit are two add-ons that tackle Outlook's social and e-mail chaos. The freemium Xobni is talented at finding contacts, e-mail conversations, attachments, and links at speeds that make Outlook weep in shame, and it's the only app in our list that's also prepared for Outlook 2010. Gwabbit, on the other hand, is a free-to-try app best suited for business professionals. Gwabbit captures e-mail signatures and adds the resultant new contacts to Outlook's address book.