G
Guest
I have realized a few drawbacks over the many months I've been using it. I
use it primarily to keep my MSN e-mail account synchronized between two
computers running Outlook 2003. In other words, it enables me to calendar
items or create tasks on one computer, and then see them on the other without
having to enter them twice. Outlook Connector does a good job keeping
e-mail, contacts, calendar, tasks, and notes in sync, but I have noticed one
inconvenience. Since the MSN e-mail account has its own set of folders (e.g.
inbox, outbox, sent items, etc.) separate from the default Outlook "Personal
Folders," (which I don't use) many of the Outlook functions and features are
lost with respect to the MSN account.
For example:
- Generally, all Navigation Pane buttons (e.g. Mail, Calendar, Contacts,
Tasks) are mapped to the Personal Folders items. Clicking them displays the
corresponding Personal Folders item. To see the MSN counterpart, I must
check it in the navigation pane. This may not sound like a big deal, but
this two-step process everytime I want to go to my calendar or tasks is
unnecessarily burdensome. An option to "Show this [folder] first" or "Make
this the default [calendar]" would be nice.
- Inability to set reminders for task items. When trying to set a reminder
for a task created in the MSN account, a dialog window pops up that says:
"The reminder for "[Task name]" will not appear because the item is not in
your Calendar or Tasks folder. Is this OK?" (The mentioned Calendar or
Tasks folders are presumably the ones located in Personal Folders.)
- Outlook Today welcome page only shows Calendar and Tasks items for
Personal Folders. To date, I haven't been able to figure out a way to set
Outlook Today to display Calendar and Tasks items located in the MSN account.
(So the fields remain blank, even though there are active calendar and task
items for the day.)
- Cannot add holidays to calendars other than the Personal Folders calendar.
This is a big drawback considering I don't use the default Personal Folders
calendar and only use the MSN account calendar (again, for synchronization
purposes).
These are only a sample of the many "minor" annoyances I've encountered in
using Outlook Connector with my MSN account for synchronization purposes, in
lieu of the default Personal Folders scheme in Outlook. If there is any way
to set the MSN account as the "default" or otherwise get Outlook to give it
the full Personal Folders functionality, or even an altogether better way of
synchronizing Outlook between multiple computers, I'm all ears. In the
meantime, I'll have to live with the minor but many inconveniences of
synchronizing with Outlook Connector.
use it primarily to keep my MSN e-mail account synchronized between two
computers running Outlook 2003. In other words, it enables me to calendar
items or create tasks on one computer, and then see them on the other without
having to enter them twice. Outlook Connector does a good job keeping
e-mail, contacts, calendar, tasks, and notes in sync, but I have noticed one
inconvenience. Since the MSN e-mail account has its own set of folders (e.g.
inbox, outbox, sent items, etc.) separate from the default Outlook "Personal
Folders," (which I don't use) many of the Outlook functions and features are
lost with respect to the MSN account.
For example:
- Generally, all Navigation Pane buttons (e.g. Mail, Calendar, Contacts,
Tasks) are mapped to the Personal Folders items. Clicking them displays the
corresponding Personal Folders item. To see the MSN counterpart, I must
check it in the navigation pane. This may not sound like a big deal, but
this two-step process everytime I want to go to my calendar or tasks is
unnecessarily burdensome. An option to "Show this [folder] first" or "Make
this the default [calendar]" would be nice.
- Inability to set reminders for task items. When trying to set a reminder
for a task created in the MSN account, a dialog window pops up that says:
"The reminder for "[Task name]" will not appear because the item is not in
your Calendar or Tasks folder. Is this OK?" (The mentioned Calendar or
Tasks folders are presumably the ones located in Personal Folders.)
- Outlook Today welcome page only shows Calendar and Tasks items for
Personal Folders. To date, I haven't been able to figure out a way to set
Outlook Today to display Calendar and Tasks items located in the MSN account.
(So the fields remain blank, even though there are active calendar and task
items for the day.)
- Cannot add holidays to calendars other than the Personal Folders calendar.
This is a big drawback considering I don't use the default Personal Folders
calendar and only use the MSN account calendar (again, for synchronization
purposes).
These are only a sample of the many "minor" annoyances I've encountered in
using Outlook Connector with my MSN account for synchronization purposes, in
lieu of the default Personal Folders scheme in Outlook. If there is any way
to set the MSN account as the "default" or otherwise get Outlook to give it
the full Personal Folders functionality, or even an altogether better way of
synchronizing Outlook between multiple computers, I'm all ears. In the
meantime, I'll have to live with the minor but many inconveniences of
synchronizing with Outlook Connector.