Could there be anything more confusing than trying to figure out how to implement faxing with Microsoft Outlook? The reason for all the confusion is that Microsoft has released 7 different versions of Outlook and 5 different modem fax programs and a growing list of Internet Fax Services for use with Outlook. The Outlook versions use different transport protocols. The fax versions use different transport protocols. Therefore, each version of Outlook "supports" only one or two of the fax programs. The permutations are endless.
It's a little easier to keep it all straight when one remembers the evolution of Outlook's transports. Outlook 97 was developed to be the client for Exchange Server and therefore used Microsoft's full MAPI protocols for transport. As the need arose to accommodate simpler Internet transport protocols such as SMTP/POP3 and IMAP, Outlook 98 and 2000 split into separate "mail support" versions: Corporate/Workgroup (C/W) which retained full MAPI capability and Internet Mail Only (IMO) which relied instead on TAPI and Internet protocols but did not have full MAPI capability. Finally, Outlook 2002 and 2003 have merged back to one version which can support both MAPI and Internet protocols at the same time.
Microsoft has been similarly schizophrenic in its approach to fax software. Each operating system has included a different fax program (or none at all) and each fax program differs in how or whether it uses MAPI protocols. Some require full MAPI protocols (MAPI dependent) while others can function independently of MAPI but still be configured to log on to and thus integrate with a MAPI profile (MAPI aware). Finally, Microsoft also released a fax program separately from its operating systems for use with Outlook in IMO mode since IMO had no MAPI capability, the now infamous WinFax Starter Edition. So here's the team roster for Microsoft's Fax Programs:
| Operating System | Fax Program | MAPI Capability |
| Windows 95 | Microsoft Fax (or "At Work Fax"): integrated into OS | Dependent |
| Windows 98 | Microsoft Fax: add-on from CD only | Dependent |
| Windows ME | None* | |
| Windows NT | NT Personal Fax (beta release only) | Aware |
| Windows 2000 | Windows 2000 Fax ("Personal Fax for Windows") | Aware |
| Windows XP | Windows XP Fax | Aware |
| Any | WinFax Starter Edition (for Outlook IMO only) | None (TAPI only) |
*Although Windows ME includes no fax software, users have figured out a method to force Microsoft Fax to install on Windows ME. Use at your own risk. Your OS is no longer supported once you use it.
In what seems to be a deliberate attempt to add to the confusion, Microsoft has decided that each version of Outlook will "support" only certain fax programs. Sometimes that support is determined by the MAPI capability of the Outlook version. For example, since IMO mode has no MAPI capability, so it can only support WinFax SE. Outlook 2003 has added even more complexity complexity by adding integration with Internet Fax Service Providers. That's not a bad move as more users abandon their analog phone line modems for broadband but still have a need to fax. Outlook 2003 fax issues are too complicated to cover in their entirety here, so I've moved them to a separate page.
Here then is the roster of fax players and the Outlook versions for whom they may play.
| Outlook Version | Fax Program(s) Supported |
| Outlook 97 | Microsoft Fax |
| Outlook 98 Corporate/Workgroup | Microsoft Fax |
| Outlook 98 Internet Mail Only | WinFax Starter Edition v. 1 |
| Outlook 2000 Corporate/Workgroup | Microsoft Fax, Windows 2000 Fax, Windows XP Fax |
| Outlook 2000 Internet Mail Only | WinFax Starter Edition v. 2 |
| Outlook 2002 | Windows 2000 Fax, Windows XP Fax |
| Outlook 2003 | Windows 2000 Fax, Windows XP Fax, Selected Internet Fax Service Providers |
In theory, it may be possible to configure Windows 2000 Fax to log on to a MAPI profile in Outlook 97 or 98 C/W, but this procedure is only supported for Outlook 2000 C/W, and I haven't tried it with the earlier versions.
Now, for the intricacies of installing each of these fax modules and getting them to integrate with Outlook, I'll send you to Sue Mosher's (now Diane Poremsky's) Slipstick Outlook and Exchange Center. Like everything else that has to do with Outlook, you'll find no better place for information. For those who need more detailed information on Microsoft Fax (which is getting hard to find as the program has been out of development for so long), I highly recommend Sue's book, The Microsoft Outlook 2000 E-mail and Fax Guide.
Here are the links that will help with your Outlook faxing questions: