What is the future of Outlook?

[RichT]

I have been using Outlook for about ten years and so have a lot of data that
I wish to preserve.

But Microsoft seem to be abandoning Outlook (unless you use are a corporate
user and have Exchange server). I'm a private user - but having online sycn
across a variety of devices is still important to me. This is not possible
with outlook - unless you have Exchange.

So my question is - do I abandon outlook amd move to Windows live mail (with
its shortfalls compared to Outlook)? Or should I hang on to Outlook in the
hope that Microsoft will implement cloud synchronisation for Outlook?

 

[Diane Poremsky [MVP]]

I'd stick with Outlook for now. It's not going anywhere fast. Whether it
will sync with the cloud is another story - I doubt much will change, but
you can use a live account and the connector if you want everything in the
cloud.

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]

Outlook & Exchange Solutions Center: http://www.slipstick.com/

Outlook Tips by email:
mailto:[email protected]

EMO - a weekly newsletter about Outlook and Exchange:
mailto:[email protected]

Do you sync your mailbox with a smartphone or pda?
http://forums.slipstick.com/showthread.php?t=39473

 

[VanguardLH]

Microsoft seem to be abandoning Outlook (unless you use are a corporate
user and have Exchange server).

And where did you come up with that prediction? Guess you haven't heard
about the beta for Outlook 2010.

I'm a private user - but having online sycn
across a variety of devices is still important to me. This is not possible
with outlook - unless you have Exchange.

Oh, what you really mean is that you no longer get to use the Exchange
server at your old company where you no longer work. So get an IMAP e-mail
account. Of course, whether your unidentified devices can synchronize to an
IMAP account depends on how limited is the set of e-mail protocols that
those devices support. Maybe they only support POP (POP3 is a 30-year old
messaging protocol) and haven't gotten up to speed to support IMAP (IMAP4 is
a 16-year old messaging protocol).

So my question is - do I abandon outlook amd move to Windows live mail (with
its shortfalls compared to Outlook)?

And what is Windows Live Mail (WLM) going to give you that you can't get in
Outlook (which presumably you have a legit license)? Based on your wrong
premise that Outlook must work with Exchange to support sync to your
"devices", and since WLM doesn't work with Exchange, just how would you lose
anything in Outlook that you wouldn't already lose in WLM?

Or should I hang on to Outlook in the
hope that Microsoft will implement cloud synchronisation for Outlook?

Guess you'll actually have to explain to *us* just what you really mean by
"synchronization".

 

[Leonid S. Knyshov // SBS Expert]

I have been using Outlook for about ten years and so have a lot of data
that I wish to preserve.

But Microsoft seem to be abandoning Outlook (unless you use are a
corporate user and have Exchange server). I'm a private user - but
having online sycn across a variety of devices is still important to me.
This is not possible with outlook - unless you have Exchange.

So my question is - do I abandon outlook amd move to Windows live mail
(with its shortfalls compared to Outlook)? Or should I hang on to
Outlook in the hope that Microsoft will implement cloud synchronisation
for Outlook?

You can buy an individual Exchange account. I have an Apps4rent account,
for example (and I keep forgetting to cancel the thing).

Outlook is not going anywhere. It's the premier messaging platform.

Cloud synchronization has been implemented in Outlook with Gmail, Live
Mail, and many other services, in addition to hosted Exchange.
--
Leonid S. Knyshov
Crashproof Solutions
510-282-1008
Twitter: @wiseleo
http://crashproofsolutions.com
Microsoft Small Business Specialist
Try Exchange Online http://bit.ly/free-exchange-trial
Please vote "helpful" if I helped you

 

[RichT]

I'd stick with Outlook for now. It's not going anywhere fast. Whether it
will sync with the cloud is another story - I doubt much will change, but
you can use a live account and the connector if you want everything in the
cloud.

I've tried the connector - it works very poorly, and doesn't sync tasks and
notes, and only syncs a hotmail or a live account. I have about six pop
email accounts. And also there is no way to sync online to a mobile phone.

I currently use syncpst for item level synchronisation between PC and
laptop - but surely MS can implement something like this over their live
sync service?

 

[RichT]

And where did you come up with that prediction? Guess you haven't heard
about the beta for Outlook 2010.

Doesn't live sync though does it - it doesn't offer anything new over
Outlook 2003 that is useful to me.

Oh, what you really mean is that you no longer get to use the Exchange
server at your old company where you no longer work. So get an IMAP
e-mail
account.

Tried IMAP - clumsy, only syncs inbox and and doesn't sync sent items.

And what is Windows Live Mail (WLM) going to give you that you can't get
in
Outlook (which presumably you have a legit license)? Based on your wrong
premise that Outlook must work with Exchange to support sync to your
"devices", and since WLM doesn't work with Exchange, just how would you
lose
anything in Outlook that you wouldn't already lose in WLM?

It seems that WLM is MS preferred option for private users - Outlook seems
to be optimised to work with Exchange for corporate use.

Guess you'll actually have to explain to *us* just what you really mean by
"synchronization".

I mean item sync, as done (for example) by Syncpst. It syncs everything in
Outlook - tasks, notes, inbox, outbox, draft, deleted items. Ideally I'd
like a system like that which works over Live Sync

 

[RichT]

I'd stick with Outlook for now. It's not going anywhere fast. Whether it
will sync with the cloud is another story - I doubt much will change, but
you can use a live account and the connector if you want everything in the
cloud.

Why are you so sure Outlook is here to stay? MS abandoned Money, which was a
great program. And recently MS announced that they were putting all their
future into cloud computing - how does Outlook fit into that strategy if
they are not going to implement cloud sync at item level?

 

[Diane Poremsky [MVP]]

How many users did Money have? Was it at the top of the market? (if it was,
it was only because they gave it away free after rebate) Was it something
that nearly *every* computer user needed? (no)

1. The cloud has its limitations.
2. Many, many users will still want an "offline" reader.
3. Outlook has millions of "seats" and is the #1 client used in corps.
OE/Mail/WLM is #1 overall.
4. There are a surprisingly large number of people still using Outlook 97,
98 and 2000.
5. There will be at least one more version of Outlook in the works (after
2010) as we know it. Figure 2 -3 years for its release... and you can use
the old version as long as you want (see above).

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]

Outlook & Exchange Solutions Center: http://www.slipstick.com/

Outlook Tips by email:
mailto:[email protected]

EMO - a weekly newsletter about Outlook and Exchange:
mailto:[email protected]

Do you sync your mailbox with a smartphone or pda?
http://forums.slipstick.com/showthread.php?t=39473

 

[Diane Poremsky [MVP]]

Eventually, they might. The live sync service is new and they are working
the bugs out.

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]

Outlook & Exchange Solutions Center: http://www.slipstick.com/

Outlook Tips by email:
mailto:[email protected]

EMO - a weekly newsletter about Outlook and Exchange:
mailto:[email protected]

Do you sync your mailbox with a smartphone or pda?
http://forums.slipstick.com/showthread.php?t=39473

 

[RichT]

How many users did Money have? Was it at the top of the market? (if it
was, it was only because they gave it away free after rebate) Was it
something that nearly *every* computer user needed? (no)

1. The cloud has its limitations.
2. Many, many users will still want an "offline" reader.

I definitely want offline capability - just make it item level sync over the
cloud!

 

[Diane Poremsky [MVP]]

Oh, what you really mean is that you no longer get to use the Exchange

Tried IMAP - clumsy, only syncs inbox and and doesn't sync sent items.

Huh? That's how POP3 works. IMAP syncs every folder on the server to
Outlook. It doesn't handle contacts and calendar though (some addins can
sync both to an IMAP account)

It seems that WLM is MS preferred option for private users - Outlook seems
to be optimised to work with Exchange for corporate use.

Outlook is optimized to work with exchange because the bulk of the seats are
sold to exchange orgs. WLM is preferred only because its smaller, simpler,
lighter, easier... you name it. Most home users don't need the power Outlook
offers. Outlook works just fine for home users - unfortunately, POP3 was
not optimized for cloud computing and that's what most ISPs offer.




--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]

Outlook & Exchange Solutions Center: http://www.slipstick.com/

Outlook Tips by email:
mailto:[email protected]

EMO - a weekly newsletter about Outlook and Exchange:
mailto:[email protected]

Do you sync your mailbox with a smartphone or pda?
http://forums.slipstick.com/showthread.php?t=39473

 

[RichT]

Huh? That's how POP3 works. IMAP syncs every folder on the server to
Outlook. It doesn't handle contacts and calendar though (some addins can
sync both to an IMAP account)

My ISP IMAP service only synched the inbox - useless.

Incidentally, how can Mac make their mac.com email addresses sync with
Outlook from their server when with a Microsoft live address we have to use
that clumsy Outlook connector?

 

[Diane Poremsky [MVP]]

I have no idea who Mac does it - possible with imap for mail and ical for
calendar.

Your ISP either has IMAP configured wrong or you didn't set it to include
all online folders - you can tell outlook to sync only certain folders.

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]

Outlook & Exchange Solutions Center: http://www.slipstick.com/

Outlook Tips by email:
mailto:[email protected]

EMO - a weekly newsletter about Outlook and Exchange:
mailto:[email protected]

Do you sync your mailbox with a smartphone or pda?
http://forums.slipstick.com/showthread.php?t=39473