Outlook 2013

I recently upgraded from Windows 8 to Windows 8.1 and am still trying
to get all the settings as I want them. One problem I'm still unable
to resolve is getting the panes in Outlook 2013 changed to a
color/shade that is easier for me to read. The current settings are
for moderately gray lines on a light gray background. My vision isn't
quite perfect and I often find myself confused as to what I have
selected.

Is there any way for me to change the Outlook 2013 screen background
and layout lines to colors with more contrast? Also, I would like to
lock the scroll bars such that they don't disappear as soon as I move
my mouse pointer away from that part of the screen. Gordon

On Sat, 30 Nov 2013 09:07:07 -0600, Gordon
wrote:

I recently upgraded from Windows 8 to Windows 8.1 and am still trying
to get all the settings as I want them. One problem I'm still unable
to resolve is getting the panes in Outlook 2013 changed to a
color/shade that is easier for me to read. The current settings are
for moderately gray lines on a light gray background. My vision isn't
quite perfect and I often find myself confused as to what I have
selected.

Is there any way for me to change the Outlook 2013 screen background
and layout lines to colors with more contrast? Also, I would like to
lock the scroll bars such that they don't disappear as soon as I move
my mouse pointer away from that part of the screen. Gordon


Bear in mind that neither Outlook 2013 nor any other version of
Outlook is part of Windows 8.1 nor of any other version of Windows.
Outlook is a separate program and any version of Outlook can run on
more than one version of Windows.

Regarding Outlook 2013's colors, unfortunately you can't do what you
want. I wish I could too.

Ken Blake, MVP wrote:
On Sat, 30 Nov 2013 09:07:07 -0600, Gordon
wrote:

I recently upgraded from Windows 8 to Windows 8.1 and am still trying
to get all the settings as I want them. One problem I'm still unable
to resolve is getting the panes in Outlook 2013 changed to a
color/shade that is easier for me to read. The current settings are
for moderately gray lines on a light gray background. My vision isn't
quite perfect and I often find myself confused as to what I have
selected.

Is there any way for me to change the Outlook 2013 screen background
and layout lines to colors with more contrast? Also, I would like to
lock the scroll bars such that they don't disappear as soon as I move
my mouse pointer away from that part of the screen. Gordon


Bear in mind that neither Outlook 2013 nor any other version of
Outlook is part of Windows 8.1 nor of any other version of Windows.
Outlook is a separate program and any version of Outlook can run on
more than one version of Windows.

Regarding Outlook 2013's colors, unfortunately you can't do what you
want. I wish I could too.


The options are dreadful looking.

http://www.slipstick.com/outlook/201...-color-scheme/

Paul

On Sat, 30 Nov 2013 13:29:07 -0500, Paul wrote:

Ken Blake, MVP wrote:
On Sat, 30 Nov 2013 09:07:07 -0600, Gordon
wrote:

I recently upgraded from Windows 8 to Windows 8.1 and am still trying
to get all the settings as I want them. One problem I'm still unable
to resolve is getting the panes in Outlook 2013 changed to a
color/shade that is easier for me to read. The current settings are
for moderately gray lines on a light gray background. My vision isn't
quite perfect and I often find myself confused as to what I have
selected.

Is there any way for me to change the Outlook 2013 screen background
and layout lines to colors with more contrast? Also, I would like to
lock the scroll bars such that they don't disappear as soon as I move
my mouse pointer away from that part of the screen. Gordon


Bear in mind that neither Outlook 2013 nor any other version of
Outlook is part of Windows 8.1 nor of any other version of Windows.
Outlook is a separate program and any version of Outlook can run on
more than one version of Windows.

Regarding Outlook 2013's colors, unfortunately you can't do what you
want. I wish I could too.


The options are dreadful looking.

http://www.slipstick.com/outlook/201...-color-scheme/

Paul
Thanks, Ken and Paul. I've been kicking this around most of the
morning and I think I can live with the setup I now have. I tried
going back to Outlook 2010 but for some reason it is labeled as a
Trial copy which will expire on December 10th. I don't know how my old
full version of Outlook 2010 got changed into a trial version but I
guess it doesn't really matter. I'll just cope with the 2013 version
and hope for some improvements on down the line. I did get rid of the
very light gray background and now have a dark gray instead. This
makes it a lot easier for me to read the text and select the things
tabs I want to click. Gordon

On Sat, 30 Nov 2013 09:07:07 -0600, Gordon
wrote:

I recently upgraded from Windows 8 to Windows 8.1 and am still trying
to get all the settings as I want them. One problem I'm still unable
to resolve is getting the panes in Outlook 2013 changed to a
color/shade that is easier for me to read. The current settings are
for moderately gray lines on a light gray background. My vision isn't
quite perfect and I often find myself confused as to what I have
selected.

Is there any way for me to change the Outlook 2013 screen background
and layout lines to colors with more contrast? Also, I would like to
lock the scroll bars such that they don't disappear as soon as I move
my mouse pointer away from that part of the screen. Gordon

I got the Folders Pane color changed to dark gray and the font changed
to something more readable for my tired old eyes but I cannot get the
Reading Pane changed. It seems that if there is a way to change the
background color of the Folders pane there should also be a way to
change the background color of the Reading Pane. Gordon

On Sat, 30 Nov 2013 17:05:13 -0600, Gordon wrote:

On Sat, 30 Nov 2013 09:07:07 -0600, Gordon
wrote:

I recently upgraded from Windows 8 to Windows 8.1 and am still trying
to get all the settings as I want them. One problem I'm still unable
to resolve is getting the panes in Outlook 2013 changed to a
color/shade that is easier for me to read. The current settings are
for moderately gray lines on a light gray background. My vision isn't
quite perfect and I often find myself confused as to what I have
selected.

Is there any way for me to change the Outlook 2013 screen background
and layout lines to colors with more contrast? Also, I would like to
lock the scroll bars such that they don't disappear as soon as I move
my mouse pointer away from that part of the screen. Gordon

I got the Folders Pane color changed to dark gray and the font changed
to something more readable for my tired old eyes but I cannot get the
Reading Pane changed. It seems that if there is a way to change the
background color of the Folders pane there should also be a way to
change the background color of the Reading Pane. Gordon

Is there a newsgroup or a forum or two for Outlook? Maybe there would be
people there who know everything :-) about the program.

--
Gene E. Bloch (Stumbling Bloch)

On Sat, 30 Nov 2013 16:05:50 -0800, "Gene E. Bloch"
wrote:

On Sat, 30 Nov 2013 17:05:13 -0600, Gordon wrote:

On Sat, 30 Nov 2013 09:07:07 -0600, Gordon
wrote:

I recently upgraded from Windows 8 to Windows 8.1 and am still trying
to get all the settings as I want them. One problem I'm still unable
to resolve is getting the panes in Outlook 2013 changed to a
color/shade that is easier for me to read. The current settings are
for moderately gray lines on a light gray background. My vision isn't
quite perfect and I often find myself confused as to what I have
selected.

Is there any way for me to change the Outlook 2013 screen background
and layout lines to colors with more contrast? Also, I would like to
lock the scroll bars such that they don't disappear as soon as I move
my mouse pointer away from that part of the screen. Gordon

I got the Folders Pane color changed to dark gray and the font changed
to something more readable for my tired old eyes but I cannot get the
Reading Pane changed. It seems that if there is a way to change the
background color of the Folders pane there should also be a way to
change the background color of the Reading Pane. Gordon

Is there a newsgroup or a forum or two for Outlook? Maybe there would be
people there who know everything :-) about the program.


Yes there is, and Diane Poremsky, who runs http://www.slipstick.com/,
knows everything about it. It's a terrific web site.

Hi, Gene.

Is there a newsgroup or a forum or two for Outlook? Maybe there would be
people there who know everything :-) about the program.

Yes, there is an Outlook newsgroup. The name is, surprisingly:
microsoft.public.outlook

It's one of the many newsgroups formerly hosted by Microsoft on their public
news server - that MS shut down in 2010. Many ISPs (such as mine, Grande
Communications, Inc.) include a news server in their Internet subscription.
And that newsgroup is also carried on many FREE news servers. Bingle (Bing
or Google) for "free usenet news servers" and you should find many, both
free and fee, with that NG.

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX

Microsoft Windows MVP (2002-2010)
Windows Live Mail 2012 (Build 16.4.3508.0205) in Win8.1 Pro


"Gene E. Bloch" wrote in message
...

On Sat, 30 Nov 2013 17:05:13 -0600, Gordon wrote:

On Sat, 30 Nov 2013 09:07:07 -0600, Gordon
wrote:

I recently upgraded from Windows 8 to Windows 8.1 and am still trying
to get all the settings as I want them. One problem I'm still unable
to resolve is getting the panes in Outlook 2013 changed to a
color/shade that is easier for me to read. The current settings are
for moderately gray lines on a light gray background. My vision isn't
quite perfect and I often find myself confused as to what I have
selected.

Is there any way for me to change the Outlook 2013 screen background
and layout lines to colors with more contrast? Also, I would like to
lock the scroll bars such that they don't disappear as soon as I move
my mouse pointer away from that part of the screen. Gordon

I got the Folders Pane color changed to dark gray and the font changed
to something more readable for my tired old eyes but I cannot get the
Reading Pane changed. It seems that if there is a way to change the
background color of the Folders pane there should also be a way to
change the background color of the Reading Pane. Gordon

Is there a newsgroup or a forum or two for Outlook? Maybe there would be
people there who know everything :-) about the program.

--
Gene E. Bloch (Stumbling Bloch)

Gordon wrote:
On Sat, 30 Nov 2013 09:07:07 -0600, Gordon
wrote:

I recently upgraded from Windows 8 to Windows 8.1 and am still trying
to get all the settings as I want them. One problem I'm still unable
to resolve is getting the panes in Outlook 2013 changed to a
color/shade that is easier for me to read. The current settings are
for moderately gray lines on a light gray background. My vision isn't
quite perfect and I often find myself confused as to what I have
selected.

Is there any way for me to change the Outlook 2013 screen background
and layout lines to colors with more contrast? Also, I would like to
lock the scroll bars such that they don't disappear as soon as I move
my mouse pointer away from that part of the screen. Gordon

I got the Folders Pane color changed to dark gray and the font changed
to something more readable for my tired old eyes but I cannot get the
Reading Pane changed. It seems that if there is a way to change the
background color of the Folders pane there should also be a way to
change the background color of the Reading Pane. Gordon


In prior operating systems MSFT included a feature called 'Advanced
Appearance Settings' which allows the user to change the Window color.
Windows 8x does not include this feature but the registry settings for
those values remain intact in the following registry key

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Colors

The above registry key (rt hand pane) has a Name value called 'Window'
with a 3 character default value of:
255 255 255

Changing the values will change the Windows color of the panes in other
Windows programs that use that same value (e.g. Outlook, Word, Excel,
Task Manager, etc. **including the Reading Pane** Outlook 2013

e.g. changing the value to
255 255 210
will change the white to a yellow color.

Note:
- For the color change to take effect the current user must completely
logout of Windows then logon.

Other Windows programs/tools and third party programs may or may not use
that registry value system color, partially use it, or continue to use
their default/available color theme.
e.g. SeaMonkey Mail/News has an option to use its own color (Default
Theme or available Theme) or the Windows system color. When using the
Windows color for the above registry value (depending upon the Theme)it
may apply that value to one, two or three panes (Folder, Message, and
Reading Pane).

Some caution is warranted when changing the values - it would be prudent
to not radically change values one would not to end up with black text
on a black background (or white on white)!

--
...winston
msft mvp consumer apps

Ken Blake, MVP wrote:
On Sat, 30 Nov 2013 16:05:50 -0800, "Gene E. Bloch"
wrote:

On Sat, 30 Nov 2013 17:05:13 -0600, Gordon wrote:

On Sat, 30 Nov 2013 09:07:07 -0600, Gordon
wrote:

I recently upgraded from Windows 8 to Windows 8.1 and am still trying
to get all the settings as I want them. One problem I'm still unable
to resolve is getting the panes in Outlook 2013 changed to a
color/shade that is easier for me to read. The current settings are
for moderately gray lines on a light gray background. My vision isn't
quite perfect and I often find myself confused as to what I have
selected.

Is there any way for me to change the Outlook 2013 screen background
and layout lines to colors with more contrast? Also, I would like to
lock the scroll bars such that they don't disappear as soon as I move
my mouse pointer away from that part of the screen. Gordon

I got the Folders Pane color changed to dark gray and the font changed
to something more readable for my tired old eyes but I cannot get the
Reading Pane changed. It seems that if there is a way to change the
background color of the Folders pane there should also be a way to
change the background color of the Reading Pane. Gordon

Is there a newsgroup or a forum or two for Outlook? Maybe there would be
people there who know everything :-) about the program.


Yes there is, and Diane Poremsky, who runs http://www.slipstick.com/,
knows everything about it. It's a terrific web site.


Outlook 2013's Reading pane (as well as other MSFT programs) uses the
default system 'Window' color value in
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Colors

Additionally, some Windows included apps/tools/features ignore that same
setting or override it with built-in code.

i.e. its not an Outlook issue but Windows and the op is in the correct
group g



--
...winston
msft mvp consumer apps

On 12/1/2013 4:14 AM, ...winston wrote:
Ken Blake, MVP wrote:
On Sat, 30 Nov 2013 16:05:50 -0800, "Gene E. Bloch"
wrote:

On Sat, 30 Nov 2013 17:05:13 -0600, Gordon wrote:

On Sat, 30 Nov 2013 09:07:07 -0600, Gordon
wrote:

I recently upgraded from Windows 8 to Windows 8.1 and am still trying
to get all the settings as I want them. One problem I'm still unable
to resolve is getting the panes in Outlook 2013 changed to a
color/shade that is easier for me to read. The current settings are
for moderately gray lines on a light gray background. My vision isn't
quite perfect and I often find myself confused as to what I have
selected.

Is there any way for me to change the Outlook 2013 screen background
and layout lines to colors with more contrast? Also, I would like to
lock the scroll bars such that they don't disappear as soon as I move
my mouse pointer away from that part of the screen. Gordon

I got the Folders Pane color changed to dark gray and the font changed
to something more readable for my tired old eyes but I cannot get the
Reading Pane changed. It seems that if there is a way to change the
background color of the Folders pane there should also be a way to
change the background color of the Reading Pane. Gordon

Is there a newsgroup or a forum or two for Outlook? Maybe there would be
people there who know everything :-) about the program.


Yes there is, and Diane Poremsky, who runs http://www.slipstick.com/,
knows everything about it. It's a terrific web site.


Outlook 2013's Reading pane (as well as other MSFT programs) uses the
default system 'Window' color value in
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Colors

Additionally, some Windows included apps/tools/features ignore that same
setting or override it with built-in code.

i.e. its not an Outlook issue but Windows and the op is in the correct
group g




So what would Outlook look like if it were installed in Windows 7?

--
Alias

Gordon wrote:
On Sat, 30 Nov 2013 13:29:07 -0500, Paul wrote:

Ken Blake, MVP wrote:
On Sat, 30 Nov 2013 09:07:07 -0600, Gordon
wrote:

I recently upgraded from Windows 8 to Windows 8.1 and am still trying
to get all the settings as I want them. One problem I'm still unable
to resolve is getting the panes in Outlook 2013 changed to a
color/shade that is easier for me to read. The current settings are
for moderately gray lines on a light gray background. My vision isn't
quite perfect and I often find myself confused as to what I have
selected.

Is there any way for me to change the Outlook 2013 screen background
and layout lines to colors with more contrast? Also, I would like to
lock the scroll bars such that they don't disappear as soon as I move
my mouse pointer away from that part of the screen. Gordon

Bear in mind that neither Outlook 2013 nor any other version of
Outlook is part of Windows 8.1 nor of any other version of Windows.
Outlook is a separate program and any version of Outlook can run on
more than one version of Windows.

Regarding Outlook 2013's colors, unfortunately you can't do what you
want. I wish I could too.

The options are dreadful looking.

http://www.slipstick.com/outlook/201...-color-scheme/

Paul
Thanks, Ken and Paul. I've been kicking this around most of the
morning and I think I can live with the setup I now have. I tried
going back to Outlook 2010 but for some reason it is labeled as a
Trial copy which will expire on December 10th. I don't know how my old
full version of Outlook 2010 got changed into a trial version but I
guess it doesn't really matter. I'll just cope with the 2013 version
and hope for some improvements on down the line. I did get rid of the
very light gray background and now have a dark gray instead. This
makes it a lot easier for me to read the text and select the things
tabs I want to click. Gordon

Here is another suggestion, which appears to change the Subject line
in emails, to black text.

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/stevelasker/...look-2013.aspx

Paul

On Sat, 30 Nov 2013 09:07:07 -0600, Gordon
wrote:

I recently upgraded from Windows 8 to Windows 8.1 and am still trying
to get all the settings as I want them. One problem I'm still unable
to resolve is getting the panes in Outlook 2013 changed to a
color/shade that is easier for me to read. The current settings are
for moderately gray lines on a light gray background. My vision isn't
quite perfect and I often find myself confused as to what I have
selected.

Is there any way for me to change the Outlook 2013 screen background
and layout lines to colors with more contrast? Also, I would like to
lock the scroll bars such that they don't disappear as soon as I move
my mouse pointer away from that part of the screen. Gordon

I've decided to put this set of problems on the back burner and wait
for the 8.2 release. Maybe this will fix all the things I've been
fretting and stewing about. Gordon

http://guardianlv.com/2013/11/micros...n-windows-8-2/

On Sun, 01 Dec 2013 07:42:18 -0500, Paul wrote:

Here is another suggestion, which appears to change the Subject line
in emails, to black text.

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/stevelasker/...look-2013.aspx



Thanks very much. It's a minor change, but I just tried this, and I
think I like the result. But I'll wait a few days to see whether I
want to keep it this way.

On Sat, 30 Nov 2013 20:55:32 -0500, "...winston"
wrote:

In prior operating systems MSFT included a feature called 'Advanced
Appearance Settings' which allows the user to change the Window color.
Windows 8x does not include this feature but the registry settings for
those values remain intact in the following registry key

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Colors

The above registry key (rt hand pane) has a Name value called 'Window'
with a 3 character default value of:
255 255 255

Changing the values will change the Windows color of the panes in other
Windows programs that use that same value (e.g. Outlook, Word, Excel,
Task Manager, etc. **including the Reading Pane** Outlook 2013

e.g. changing the value to
255 255 210
will change the white to a yellow color.


Thanks very much. I just changed that value to 255 235 215, a sort of
light ivory color. It changed it in several places in Outlook, and in
a bunch of other programs too, including WordPerfect and Forte Agent.

I think I like the results, but again, I'll try it for a few days
before I decide whether to keep it.