e-mail

One of the very first applications one needs access to on a new computer is e-mail.  While everyone used to use installed software for e-mail, the trend is definitely going to SaaS (software as a service) e-mail such as gmail.

However, in the business world, desktop e-mail is owned by Microsoft Exchange.  Of all the software that Microsoft sells, the Outlook/Exchange combination is probably the most well-done (which isn’t saying much).

I had been using Outlook 2003 on the PC for a number of years in an Exchange environment, but that all broke once I switched to Mac.

I had assumed there was a version of Outlook for the Mac, but to my surprise a program called Entourage was suddenly the only option that worked with Exchange.  Apparently, Entourage was built on an entirely separate code base from Outlook.

Some features work well, some don’t, but below is a list of features that have been lost.

• Calendars
  • Can’t view shared calendars side by side.
    • The group that I work with is constantly sharing calendars and planning meetings, so it’s crucial to see when everybody’s free.  This is a pain with Entourage.

• Mail
  • Can’t view one-line in the when splitting pane vertically
    • This is so simple - why couldn’t they add this feature?
  • Signature is always applied to replies, not just new messages
    • Again, Outlook was smart enough to only put your signature on new messages.
  • Outlook PST files are incompatible as they need to be in the .mbox format for Mac.
    • This is the biggest problem.  I have to run Outlook 2007 in Parallels to read the 3GB of archive e-mail I’ve collected.  It works fine with X1 to search, but definitely a waste of resources to have to run WinXP all the time for this.  I also have to autoarchive my e-mail there.
  • Required to have a mail folder “My computer” which is the default folder for POP and rules
    • This doesn’t make any sense.  Why would I want a local folder?  Why can’t this just have the same workflow as Outlook?
• Notes & Tasks Not downloaded from exchange
  • Yes! That’s right, you can’t read or write notes or tasks from Exchange.  You can create tasks locally on Entourage, but those won’t show up in your PDA.  Luckily, I can still see my old notes and tasks in my Treo.

Overall Entourage has been pleasurable, mainly due to the Mac OS.

• Searching with spotlight is quick
• Keyboard shortcuts are friendly
• Flagging / following up works well

However, it still feels half baked at times.

Feel free to comment with tips / other complaints!