Message format (Outlook 2000 SR-1)

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I’ve searched but haven’t located a discussion of the pros and cons of using HTML, Rich Text, or Plain Text for your outgoing mail message format. Does anyone know of any resource or any thread discussing this subject? Or, if you’d care to comment here ….! It seems to me that I’ve heard that HTML causes some potential difficulties, but can’t remember what they are. I know that most people recommend against using Word as the e-mail editor, and because we use PC DOCS Open we have specific issues in that regard, too. Comments would be welcome. Thanks.

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It probably has been a while since the last thread. Here are my off-the-top thoughts:

Rich Text: Most useful in an Exchange environment. Least compatible with non-Microsoft mail clients; attachments can disappear on recipients’ computers or be merged with the formatting into a useless blob.

HTML: Omitting Outlook 97, widely readable, but many mail servers appear to strip HTML to plain text, so the desired formatting may be completely trashed in the recipient’s mailbox. As HTML is the best medium for spreading viruses, users choosing to view HTML as plain text probably will increase in the future.

Plain Text: No control over formatting on the recipient’s PC (e.g., font face, font size, tab size), but maximum compatibility. (I always use Plain Text unless for some reason I need to use HTML.)

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