The "Why I hate Outlook" thread

[Sparda]

Things outlook does that it shouldn't (active processes):

Removes BBC'ed recipients from the copy of an email in your sent items.

Tell me that it will run slow if I don't create an archive 'pst' thus making the email server useless.*

Keep Outlook client settings on the server**

Things outlook should do but doesn't (active processes):

Allow me to search all folders including the three other mail boxes I have open in a single search.

Have a function of linking an event (or events) in the calendar to email(s).***

Architectural flaws with outlook:

Stop pretending that Outlook is THE email client****

pst?*****

Rules on shared mail boxes and on personal mail boxes should only ever be handled by the exchange server and never the client!******

*Thunderbird still runs as fast as always with 10000 emails in it's inbox. I don't have a clue what outlook does to make it run slow when other email clients simply aren't afflicted by this problem.

**Exchange is some crazy face protocol that no one supports except Micosoft and Outlook, yet it offers no more functionality than that of imap + ldap directory, wtf is up with that?

***If I have an appointment in the calendar and I have emails related to it, I want to link them to the appoint ment. As far as I can see the calendar application and email application are completely separate applications but happen to be in the same window.

****Outlook seems to have been designed buy some one who does business for some one who does business instead of by some one who wants to get work done using email. it is pretending to be the end all and be all, and given my other complains thus far, that really doesn't hold up.

*****Assuming that outlook is connected to an exchange server, I cannot believe that every day I have to deal with pst files. This seems like some thing the exchange server which uses a protocol that could be designed to do any thing, since it is made up in the first place, should do this for me. Perhaps if outlook didn't use a made up file format to store email the pst's wouldn't be so giant.

******If the server did all the rule management, it could make sure that no unessential duplicates where ever made, and that all rules that apply to an email are performed and flag emails that have conflicting rules. This comes back to "You are using a protocol you made up, why doesn't it do all the fancy shit a custom client with custom server and custom protocol should do?".

Thank you for reading.

[H@L0_F00]

I personally LOVE Outlook [/sarcasm] :P

[WhollyMindless]

I personally LOVE Outlook [/sarcasm] :P

It makes the job of spreading botnets so much easier!

[nullArray]

I don't think anyone actually really likes Outlook..., or Lotus Notes...,

In Snow Leopard, OSX Mail will have full 100% exchange support, so you could look forward to that, perhaps.

[Sparda]

So, it's not just me then?

Outlook really has these flaws?

[SomethingToChatWith]

Things outlook does that it shouldn't (active processes):

Removes BBC'ed recipients from the copy of an email in your sent items.

Tell me that it will run slow if I don't create an archive 'pst' thus making the email server useless.*

Keep Outlook client settings on the server**

Things outlook should do but doesn't (active processes):

Allow me to search all folders including the three other mail boxes I have open in a single search.

Have a function of linking an event (or events) in the calendar to email(s).***

Architectural flaws with outlook:

Stop pretending that Outlook is THE email client****

pst?*****

Rules on shared mail boxes and on personal mail boxes should only ever be handled by the exchange server and never the client!******

*Thunderbird still runs as fast as always with 10000 emails in it's inbox. I don't have a clue what outlook does to make it run slow when other email clients simply aren't afflicted by this problem.

**Exchange is some crazy face protocol that no one supports except Micosoft and Outlook, yet it offers no more functionality than that of imap + ldap directory, wtf is up with that?

***If I have an appointment in the calendar and I have emails related to it, I want to link them to the appoint ment. As far as I can see the calendar application and email application are completely separate applications but happen to be in the same window.

****Outlook seems to have been designed buy some one who does business for some one who does business instead of by some one who wants to get work done using email. it is pretending to be the end all and be all, and given my other complains thus far, that really doesn't hold up.

*****Assuming that outlook is connected to an exchange server, I cannot believe that every day I have to deal with pst files. This seems like some thing the exchange server which uses a protocol that could be designed to do any thing, since it is made up in the first place, should do this for me. Perhaps if outlook didn't use a made up file format to store email the pst's wouldn't be so giant.

******If the server did all the rule management, it could make sure that no unessential duplicates where ever made, and that all rules that apply to an email are performed and flag emails that have conflicting rules. This comes back to "You are using a protocol you made up, why doesn't it do all the fancy shit a custom client with custom server and custom protocol should do?".

Thank you for reading.

Well there's a few things you can do...

- You can compact your data file to supposedly "save space" and "improve performance"

- Redo the e-mail account and when it asks you what data file to put recieved mail in see if you can skip that.

- Donwload only headers unless you actually want to read a message.

- Use rules to organize the e-mail into folders of your choice on your conditions.

- Link your tasks with your contacts instead of the calendar. You might be able to link the contacts with the calendar, not sure.

- If you're using exchange and hate dealing with .pst files, than stick with web outlook access. You don't want to haft to track down e-mail Outlooks deleted from the server when you need it later from another location.

- You can move your .pst files to where you'd want them, but yeah they require you got one even if you don't need it.

MS is pushing their live suite in the future along with W7. If its a hit most people will start using that I suppose.

[h3%5kr3w]

I don't really know much about outlook, but I just started using it at my new job (hotel reservations agent for a casino). I do not like it though, I dunno about what you guys are talking about as I have never created or used an outlook server but I do not like the interface of it. It's just funky.

I think G-Mail should have a corporate edition!

(take THAT outlook!)

[ADM1NX]

I hate outlook because the hotmail extension utility friggin sucks. i tell it to save my password every goddamn day, and it still asks me for it every time i open the program. then, it has the nerve to tell me how to fix it when it doesn't work, and when i go fix it, it still doesn't work. It also takes 3 minutes to load on a dual core laptop with 1gb of ram. thank god that thunderbird exists. it's nice when your e-mail program loads in 3 seconds instead of 3 minutes.

[nullArray]

I don't really know much about outlook, but I just started using it at my new job (hotel reservations agent for a casino). I do not like it though, I dunno about what you guys are talking about as I have never created or used an outlook server but I do not like the interface of it. It's just funky.

I think G-Mail should have a corporate edition!

(take THAT outlook!)

They have something similar, I think. There are many colleges that use gmail has a front end (or back end, whatever) for their email. Concordia in St. Paul, Minnesota, for example, does this. I don't see why it couldn't be adapted to a business.

[dr0p]

Despite all of the things I hate about it, it has one redeeming factor: My mom can't seem to break it like she does with everything else on her computer.

[nullArray]

Despite all of the things I hate about it, it has one redeeming factor: My mom can't seem to break it like she does with everything else on her computer.

Jealous, my mom (and dad for that matter), have trouble understanding web mail, let alone some sort of newfangled email client.

[deleted]

Oh I hate outlook too, i also hate their mac equivelant "entourage" (what ever that is)

Im happy with Thunderbird and Mail.app

[nullArray]

Oh I hate outlook too, i also hate their mac equivelant "entourage" (what ever that is)

Im happy with Thunderbird and Mail.app

I use Mail.app, it can't thread my mobile me emails, which results in a very messy inbox.

[VaKo]

I like Outlook, but it doesn't work for a home user. If your a home/consumer user then just stick to your webmail client, you don't really need anything else. If your a linux geek, stick to the Thunderbird thingy.

However, if you running a buisness and have to deal with 100GB+ of mail stored online and another couple of hundred GB of PST files then Outlook makes sense. Its easy to manage, has all the features your users are likely to ask for. Who cares if it uses its own protocols, microsoft built both exchange and outlook so I'll judge that choice on less ideological choices. If you have people who will send/recive something like 10GB of mail in a year, you can't store this all on the servers mail boxes if you have hundreds of these people as your users.

Outlook is a top class buisness tool, but piss poor for home users. You need to make the distiction between "what I would personally run on my computer at home" and "what I would use to run a buisness". Personally I can't stand outlook for dealing with Gmail, but I can't stand OWA and perfer the client when I'm at work.

[h3%5kr3w]

They have something similar, I think. There are many colleges that use gmail has a front end (or back end, whatever) for their email. Concordia in St. Paul, Minnesota, for example, does this. I don't see why it couldn't be adapted to a business.

Actually I did not realize this until now but your perfectly correct. My community college has their own gmail account front/back end setup (or at least I guess it's a front/back end cause you even have to go to a separate address to login to it than just gmail.com, but it is gmail for sure.)

So what are the actual advantages to outlook to say, just a good ole' linux mail server with everybody running outlook express or thunderbird or some equivalent? Or is it that it's a direct send/recieve method of mail (i.e. mail gets sent directly from one computer to the other, only using the mail server for redirect protocols and mappings)

...peer to peer email... sounds primitive but in a corporate environment it sounds good. With active directory and tracking info, you could still track everything.

[wetelectric]

Winmail.dat - That's all I have to say.

[Razor512]

why do people use outlook and other email managers, just stop being lazy and heat to their website.

gmail.com looks better and functions better than outlook

how hard is it to head to the email providers website

[h3%5kr3w]

why do people use outlook and other email managers, just stop being lazy and heat to their website.

gmail.com looks better and functions better than outlook

how hard is it to head to the email providers website

yes, using gmail would be good but there are a few key issues to this:

A. All bandwidth has to go outbound from the network for the email *not cost effective

B. yourcompany.com is more professional than yourname@gmail.com

C. gmail is not administerable. * you dont want all your employees sending spam and pron throughout the network.

D. because everybody will just check their own personal email all day

This is why.

[SomethingToChatWith]

Or is it that it's a direct send/recieve method of mail (i.e. mail gets sent directly from one computer to the other, only using the mail server for redirect protocols and mappings)

You can setup Outlook where it only gets links instead of full e-mails and than only downloads when you want to read an e-mail. So this would sorta be relying on the server. You can also set it up where it keeps copies of messages on the server (whereas its default behavior is download and delete messages from the server).

With you want true server interaction, stick with gmail or web outlook in your browser as with the case of companies running exchange servers.

I personally haven't had that much issues with outlook, but this is coming from someone who keeps everything organized and cleans out the inbox every once in awhile.

[Sparda]

B. yourcompany.com is more professional than yourname@gmail.com

C. gmail is not administerable. * you dont want all your employees sending spam and pron throughout the network.

You can use gmail to host email at any domain you want. In doing so you can also have as many usernames and/or email addresses at your domain and administrate them.

D. because everybody will just check their own personal email all day

every one does that any way, but if they are on a network you control it is possible to block the 'personal' gmail service and still access the 'corporate' one.

[Machstorm]

I like Outlook, but it doesn't work for a home user. If your a home/consumer user then just stick to your webmail client, you don't really need anything else. If your a linux geek, stick to the Thunderbird thingy.

However, if you running a buisness and have to deal with 100GB+ of mail stored online and another couple of hundred GB of PST files then Outlook makes sense. Its easy to manage, has all the features your users are likely to ask for. Who cares if it uses its own protocols, microsoft built both exchange and outlook so I'll judge that choice on less ideological choices. If you have people who will send/recive something like 10GB of mail in a year, you can't store this all on the servers mail boxes if you have hundreds of these people as your users.

Outlook is a top class buisness tool, but piss poor for home users. You need to make the distiction between "what I would personally run on my computer at home" and "what I would use to run a buisness". Personally I can't stand outlook for dealing with Gmail, but I can't stand OWA and perfer the client when I'm at work.

You are right. I have had very little problems with Outlook. Outlook 2003 is another story, but over all no problems.Now, for users who try to use it that know nothing about it, of course you are going to hate it, because most users are so stubborn that they don't want to learn a new skill. They want it to work like their Yahoo or GMAIL accounts.

Outlook does make sense in the work place were you have agents who have a 33 gig contact lists which need to be backed up to an exchange server. Believe me you do not want to lose those contact lists. The boss over the insurance company that I work for does not back up his Outlook Contacts and he has well over a 50 gig pst file. On the day that his hard drive crashes I won't bother coming into work.

[VaKo]

Outsourcing things like email is always a risk. When I worked for Pipex we sold hosted exchange services for SME's, they were dirt cheap but we (the support staff, 1st and 2nd line) had no training on it at all. As a result, we would often get sysadmins calling up to fix errors and would have nothing else to offer than "OK, i've logged that in a ticket and someone should get back to you... no, i don't have a timescale, sorry".

If you want to outsource your email, I'm not sure I would go with gmail. It is a bit feature lite (compared to OWA which is a far better webmail client than gmail), and you only get a slightly dodge sla with three 9's availability.

[Machstorm]

You can use gmail to host email at any domain you want. In doing so you can also have as many usernames and/or email addresses at your domain and administrate them.

every one does that any way, but if they are on a network you control it is possible to block the 'personal' gmail service and still access the 'corporate' one.

The problem is that it costs money to do that. I just set up Outlook clients to a Linux exchange server and its free.

At this point you are grasping at straws.

[h3%5kr3w]

QUOTE (h3%5kr3w @ Sun, 25 Jan 2009 06:02:42 +0000) *

B. yourcompany.com is more professional than yourname@gmail.com

C. gmail is not administerable. * you dont want all your employees sending spam and pron throughout the network.

You can use gmail to host email at any domain you want. In doing so you can also have as many usernames and/or email addresses at your domain and administrate them.

QUOTE (h3%5kr3w @ Sun, 25 Jan 2009 06:02:42 +0000) *

D. because everybody will just check their own personal email all day

every one does that any way, but if they are on a network you control it is possible to block the 'personal' gmail service and still access the 'corporate' one.

cool, i did not know that..

*********************

***It's what you know***

**********************

i decline my previous rant.

oh just so you know, i have only been using gmail for the past year, and yah, I am stubborn.. lols... I still think eudora mail was the best client ever.

[SomethingToChatWith]

As far as backup for contacts/e-mail, just copy his .pst file to a safe place and than if there's problems you can launch outlook again on the re-install and set it back as the default again after you've copied back. If you put right in the folder outlook is expecting, it might not even prompt you with the usual setup routine like it normally would.

Done this plenty of times.... it don't keep all the settings and you lose any e-mail sigs, but your folders, including inbox e-mails, contacts, tasks, calendar will remain intact.