Outlook Sidebar 

Dock outlook to the side of your screen and keep it out of your way with "Auto-Hide." You will still have instant easy access to Outlook and new e-mail and reminder notifications. No components to install! It uses little-known features of Windows and Outlook! There's even a version that keeps Word loaded in the background for those users that use Word as the e-mail editor.
Works on all versions of Windows with Outlook 2000 or greater installed. See the instructions below to set it up.

Screenshot

Check out the following link to *really* see it  in action: Outlook Sidebar Test

Instructions

1. Right-click on an empty part of your taskbar and make sure "Lock the taskbar" is unchecked/off.
   
2. Right-click again on an empty part of the taskbar and choose "Toolbars"->"New Toolbar..."
   
3. In the "New Toolbar" window type in "http://www.cflashsoft.com/desk/olside1.htm"
   
4. Most likely, the new toolbar will be created in the taskbar. Drag the toolbar out of the taskbar to turn it into a window (the "Lock the Taskbar" option must be OFF in order to do this... see Step 1).
   
5. You may now dock the new toolbar to any side of the screen, set it to "Auto-Hide," and even create new toolbars inside of it that contain shortcuts to your favorite programs and documents.
   
   Click for a larger image

Advanced Version

• Features automatic loading of Word in the background for fast startup of new e-mail messages (when you set Outlook to use Word as the default e-mail editor).
• Download and install the Outlook Sidebar Helper component. It's a tiny (and secure) component that is used to keep Word loaded.
  - Download and install the component
  - Note: you may need to install the Microsoft VB6 Runtime.
• Follow the instructions above but specify "http://www.cflashsoft.com/desk/olside2.htm" as the address in Step 3.