In some networks, there are different versions of Microsoft Outlook in use. In that kind of environment when Outlook 2003 and 2007 are in use, there might be an issue with sharing categories in appointments and events. This happens because Microsoft has changed the policy of naming categories. Microsoft Outlook 2003 offers Labels along with Categories that can be used to tag items. In Outlook 2007 Labels from Outlook 2003 are replaced by Categories in 2007. Categories from 2003 are now gone from the 2007 version. To share the categories in CodeTwo Public Folders between Outlook 2003 and 2007, the names of Categories and Labels from 2003 must be uniform to those in Outlook 2007. Here is an article describing how to do this:

In Microsoft Outlook 2003:

1. Choose Edit Labels option from the main toolbar. (Fig.1.)

Fig.1. Editing Labels in Microsoft Outlook 2003

2. Change the name for every Label that corresponds to a Category in Outlook 2007. Remember about case sensitivity. In Outlook 2003 there are more default Labels than there are Categories in Outlook 2007. Therefore, the missing Categories need to be added later. (Fig.2.)

Fig.2. Labels after name correction 

3. The final thing to do in Outlook 2003 is adding the same names to the Master Category List. Right click one of the appointments created in the program and choose Categories/Master Category List. (Fig.3.)

Fig.3. Master Category List editing in Outlook 2003.

Every Category that corresponds to every Label should be added to the list. (Fig.4.)

Fig.4. Categories on the Master Category List after correction.

In Microsoft Outlook 2007.

Add the missing Categories that are now present in Microsoft Outlook 2003, and rename the existing ones so that they correspond to the Labels from Outlook 2003. (Fig.5.)

Fig.5. Color Categories after correction in Microsoft Outlook 2007.

Now, the colors will be shared in CodeTwo Public Folders. There are two minor disadvantages though. They are caused by difference between Outlook versions. In Outlook 2007, several Categories can be assigned to one appointment. It is not possible however in Outlook 2003. This is why some Labels assigned in Outlook 2003 to one meeting are not always visible in Outlook 2007 on the main view pane. Although, if you right click such an appointment and choose the Categories/All Categories option, every assigned color can be viewed. 

The second disadvantage is the fact that there it is not possible in Microsoft Outlook 2003 to clear the categories. There is a button called No Label, but it works like "No label" Category in Outlook 2007. Categories can be cleared only in Outlook 2007 with "Clear all Categories" button.

If you are looking for a tool to synchronize Outlook data between computers, try CodeTwo Public Folders.