Posted: 17 May 2005

Sometimes moving to something new seems a little difficult. Interestingly enough, this is not because the nature of the thing is any harder than what we already know. What makes it a little daunting is that it is different. For many users of GroupWise on Linux, I imagine this to be true. The inherent nature of GroupWise is that it is intuitive and easy to use. However, some may feel that, because they now have to use it on Linux (which might be something new for them), it must be hard.

Well, I'm here to say that this simply is not true.

Perhaps the most principal function of GroupWise is to communicate with others in the workplace or at school. Today, we'll cover the different types of messages GroupWise handles. Though the concepts should be similar on any of the most recent SUSE-based operating systems, I am using Novell Linux Desktop 9 for this article.

Fire up your Cross-Platform Groupwise Client. Click on the FILE menu, and then NEW. The menu that appears is divided into two parts. It's the upper section of this menu that we're interested here. It contains options for creating new types of messages:

A familiar option that will be most used is MAIL. This refers to good old email.

APPOINTMENT is the next option. Using appointments, it is possible to schedule meetings with other GroupWise users. Other types of things, such as doctor's appointments can also be created using this tool. An appointment can also be used as a reminder to do something like making an important phone call. For more information on appointments, such has how to create and use them, please see Scheduling Appointments.

One can also create a TASK from the menu options. Tasks are great for things that need to be completed, but not necessarily at an exact scheduled time. They can be given priorities, however. You can create tasks for yourself, or assign them to other people. Also, tasks that remain uncompleted carry over to the next day. See also Sending Tasks.

Another possibility from the menu is REMINDER NOTE. These are small notes that are posted to the calendar. Most of the time, they are used to remind others of birthdays, holidays, due dates, paydays, etc. For more information, please see Sending Reminder Notes.

PHONE MESSAGE is the final type of message we can create from this menu. This is a nice feature that can be used to notify someone of a phone call or a visitor. Data that can be sent in the message include caller, phone numnber, company, urgency of the call, etc. Also take a look at Sending Phone Messages.

The Cross-Platform GroupWise Client certainly provides a great many ways to convey and organize information and events. One can creat a new mail message, an appointment, tasks, reminder notes, and phone messages. The GroupWise application is a powerful application, yet remains intuitive and easy to use.