Thanks for the reply.

However, you may have misunderstood me when I mentioned "contact folder". I
am referring not to a single contact, but a collection of contacts grouped
under a single folder. Specifically, it is what you obtain when you go under
New-Folder, and selecting "Contact Items" under the field labelled "Folder
contains:". Then, when mailing a new message, it is possible to navigate to
this folder and select the contacts you want to send the message to from the
list.

In my confusion, it appeared that these contact folders were essentially the
same thing as a distribution list. However, I played around with it a bit
more and I think I may understand the difference a bit better. It seems that
you cannot have the same contact in two different folders (at least I did not
figure out a way to do it since you cannot copy/paste contacts). Also, it is
much easier to send an email to a distribution list rather than all the
contacts in a contact folder.

Well, thanks for the help anyway. If you have any more tips, please post.

"Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]" wrote:

A distribution list is a single data item, stored in a contacts folder, that contains a list of names and addresses. It contains no other information -- no phone numbers, no company names, no mailing addresses, etc.

DLs are quite useless, IMO, except for small, relatively static lists, such as peer colleagues or a committee whose membership changes only once a year. In those scenarios, you can send a message to everyone on the list by simply typing the name of the list into a message's To box.

The vastly more detailed information available in individual contact records in a contacts folder allows for reports, mail merges, searches, and other similar operations.

--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of Configuring Microsoft Outlook 2003
http://www.turtleflock.com/olconfig/index.htm
and Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for
Administrators, Power Users, and Developers
http://www.outlookcode.com/article.aspx?id=54

"serg.kr" wrote in message ...
Outlook allows you to have contact folders and distribution lists. They seem
to serve a very similar purpose. What is the difference? How are they *meant*
to be used?