Alernative to Outlook 2003

[Kolin Tregaskes]

Having spent ages and ages to set up Outlook 2003 as my main email client,
I've found that it cannot do simple and little things that Outlook Express
should do. I wanted to move to Outlook to get calendar, contacts (which I
still think is great), tasks, newsgroups, RSS feeds and, of course, mail
into one program.

What are the alternatives to Outlook 2003? I know there are free
applications, has anyone tried them?

Kol

 

[Roady]

What is the real problem with Outlook then? You failed to mention that.

--
Roady
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[Kolin Tregaskes]

See all my other messages on this group. ;-)

Kol
---------

Many forms of Government have been tried, and will be tried in this world of
sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed,
it has been said that democracy is the 'worst' form of Government except all
those others that have been tried from time to time. - Sir Winston Leonard
Spencer Churchill

 

[Roady]

Point taken :-D

But these are not real problems but just program differences. No matter what
program you choose you'll always have some options that are not in Outlook
or different. But on the other side Outlook (and especially Outlook 2003)
has lots of options other programs don't have. I was on Outlook Express
first as well and getting used to Outlook (version 98 at the time) took a
while for me too. First I just started using Outlook as Outlook Express and
later started to use the extra options. Going to a new program and
immediately have it set to your likings, fully understand all the options
and trusting your mail, calendar, contacts, etc to it is an impossible job
for every program no matter what you choose.

As an example your folder question; having the special folders (Inbox,
Outbox, Notes, etc) at the top (why would you want this anyway?). Try a
different approach; like setting Favorite folders and Search folders. Also
note that you have a Shortcut Navigation to work with as well.

Switching between programs means letting go as well and finding new ways of
accomplishing things. Once you're settled a bit more with Outlook open up
Outlook Express again and I'm sure the "nagging" will be the different way
around ;-)

--
Roady
www.sparnaaij.net
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Also Outlook FAQ, How To's, Downloads and more...

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-----

 

[Kolin Tregaskes]

I've been using both programs for years (Outlook 98 - 2000 at work, Outlook
XP - 2003 at home, plus OE since IE3) and was expecting Outlook 2003 to have
fixed the problems (I still see them as problems). It's a shame as these
problems are tiny, but SO important. Most could easily be implemented as
options, why don't Microsoft give the user the option to do this and do
that. If I could bolt on Tasks, Calendar, etc. to Outlook Express them that
would be prefect. Outlook Express is a great email client.

I would to use OE for newsgroups regardless.

Oh well. :-(

Kol

 

[Roady]

Well there are no plans for extending OE's features so it's realy up to
Outlook then.

If you want to you can issue a "wish" here so developers at Microsoft can
consider it for future Outlook releases;
http://office.microsoft.com/assistance/suggestions.aspx

--
Roady
www.sparnaaij.net
Microsoft Office and Microsoft Office related News
Also Outlook FAQ, How To's, Downloads and more...

Questions of the month:
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-Add Sound To Your E-mail

Subscribe to the newsletter to receive news and tips & tricks in your
mailbox!
www.sparnaaij.net

-----

 

[Kolin Tregaskes]

Oh goodie, there's no holding me back now, LOL

Kol

 

[Donald McDaniel]

Having spent ages and ages to set up Outlook 2003 as my main email
client, I've found that it cannot do simple and little things that
Outlook Express should do. I wanted to move to Outlook to get
calendar, contacts (which I still think is great), tasks, newsgroups,
RSS feeds and, of course, mail into one program.

What are the alternatives to Outlook 2003? I know there are free
applications, has anyone tried them?

Kol

The Microsoft application named "Outlook" is NOT an email or news client. It is a Personal Information Manager which INCLUDES email, a Calendar, To-Do list, Contacts database (and now a Business Contacts Manager, in Office 2004), and the ability to use an external Usenet client such as Outlook Express to access Usenet newsgroups. It also contains the ability to use many third-party add-ons and utilities.

If you don't like Outlook's email abilities, use another client for email. There are hundreds of email clients in circulation. Email clients were probably among the first end-user applications ever written. I'm sure millions of people do it every day.

If you don't like Outlook Express as a news agent, use one of the many other Usenet clients available.

See this site for a list of free Organizers:
http://www.a1b2c3.com/free/ref18.htm
Launch this URL for a list of many free Email clients:
http://www.google.com/search?q=free+email+clients

See these two sites to find lists of many free Calendars:
http://www.a1b2c3.com/free/ref07.htm
http://download.com.com/3150-2124-0.html?tag=dir

See this site to find a list of many (mostly shareware) Usenet clients: http://www.newsreaders.com/win/clients.html
See this site for a powerful and totally FREE Usenet client:
http://lightning.prohosting.com/~tbates/gravity/super.html

However, while you're downloading all those "free" software programs, remember that a living, breathing human being wrote them, and had to eat, support a family, and pay other day-to-day expenses while he was doing it, so the software you freely download is not really "free" after all. Someone, somewhere paid for it in sweat, at the very least.

 

[Chris Schatte]

Excellent, RE
However, while you're downloading all those "free" software programs, remember that a living, breathing human being wrote them, and had to eat, support a family, and pay other day-to-day expenses while he was doing it, so the software you freely download is not really "free" after all. Someone, somewhere paid for it in sweat, at the very least

and hopefully they make some money for their sweat and {blood if need be} for their "free" knowledge and experience.

 

[Roady]

Yep, well I guess no software is final untill it's retired ;-)

--
Roady
www.sparnaaij.net
Microsoft Office and Microsoft Office related News
Also Outlook FAQ, How To's, Downloads and more...

Questions of the month:
-Color Code Your E-Mail Advanced
-Add Sound To Your E-mail

Subscribe to the newsletter to receive news and tips & tricks in your
mailbox!
www.sparnaaij.net

-----

 

[Kolin Tregaskes]

Like I've mentioned in other posts, I'm not asking for huge changes in
Outlook. The problems I have with Outlook are small and can easily be fixed
by giving the user these little options - it's not rocket science.

And you don't need to explain to me what Outlook is and that people work
hard on these free applications, LOL.

Oh, there's an Office 2004?? ;-)

Kol
---------

No great man ever complains of want of opportunity. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Having spent ages and ages to set up Outlook 2003 as my main email
client, I've found that it cannot do simple and little things that
Outlook Express should do. I wanted to move to Outlook to get
calendar, contacts (which I still think is great), tasks, newsgroups,
RSS feeds and, of course, mail into one program.

What are the alternatives to Outlook 2003? I know there are free
applications, has anyone tried them?

Kol

The Microsoft application named "Outlook" is NOT an email or news client.
It is a Personal Information Manager which INCLUDES email, a Calendar, To-Do
list, Contacts database (and now a Business Contacts Manager, in Office
2004), and the ability to use an external Usenet client such as Outlook
Express to access Usenet newsgroups. It also contains the ability to use
many third-party add-ons and utilities.

If you don't like Outlook's email abilities, use another client for email.
There are hundreds of email clients in circulation. Email clients were
probably among the first end-user applications ever written. I'm sure
millions of people do it every day.

If you don't like Outlook Express as a news agent, use one of the many other
Usenet clients available.

See this site for a list of free Organizers:
http://www.a1b2c3.com/free/ref18.htm
Launch this URL for a list of many free Email clients:
http://www.google.com/search?q=free+email+clients

See these two sites to find lists of many free Calendars:
http://www.a1b2c3.com/free/ref07.htm
http://download.com.com/3150-2124-0.html?tag=dir

See this site to find a list of many (mostly shareware) Usenet clients:
http://www.newsreaders.com/win/clients.html
See this site for a powerful and totally FREE Usenet client:
http://lightning.prohosting.com/~tbates/gravity/super.html

However, while you're downloading all those "free" software programs,
remember that a living, breathing human being wrote them, and had to eat,
support a family, and pay other day-to-day expenses while he was doing it,
so the software you freely download is not really "free" after all.
Someone, somewhere paid for it in sweat, at the very least.

 

[Donald McDaniel]

Like I've mentioned in other posts, I'm not asking for huge changes in
Outlook. The problems I have with Outlook are small and can easily
be fixed by giving the user these little options - it's not rocket
science.

And you don't need to explain to me what Outlook is and that people
work hard on these free applications, LOL.

Oh, there's an Office 2004?? ;-)

Sorry, my brain got ahead of my fingers..Office 2003 is the latest released
version of Office.

While we're at it, lets consider your thought that "adding an option is a
really simple matter". This in not necessarily so. Just putting a
checkbox or radio button on the screen has little to do with adding an
option. It does enable the user to access the added options by passing a
value to the event handler of the program. However, the code must be added
which will handle the new options.

Considering that Outlook probably runs to many thousands of lines of source
code, adding another several thousand lines (for the added "simple" options)
is not necessarily expedient for the programmers, who have deadlines to
meet, and it also adds expense to the company, because of the added wages
for the programmers.

It adds time to their project because of the time needed to create the code
necessary to perform the new options, and it adds time needed for debugging
the code. It also adds extra time in the compiling process, because the
project may have to be completely recompiled several times when the new code
is added and debugged.

Then it adds expense to the company in providing downloadable bits on their
Update servers for hundreds of thousands of people who might want to add the
new options, or it adds extra expenses in manufacturing physical media for
those who want CDs with the new bits on them.

No, my friend, it is NOT "a simple matter" to add a few "simple options".
Modern software programs are not the little GWBasic programs a 10 year old
can throw together in a few hours. They are very complicated and
well-balanced, more like a high-performance racing auto than your neighbor's
son's jalopy put together with shoestrings and chewing gum.

 

[Kolin Tregaskes]

LOL - I used to work for a developer, there's no need to explain all that to
me. And to add code like this is not hard.



Kol

 

[Jeff Stephenson [MSFT]]

(BTW, Outlook is more than "many thousands of lines of code" - try "several
million").

Actually, it's not adding the code that's hard (though given the amount of
work we do each release, there are serious time constraints that affect the
ability to add an option) - what really limits the number of options are the
increased test and support costs.

Each on/off option added effectively doubles the testing required for the
part of Outlook to which the option is added - you now need to test
everything in that part of Outlook with the option on and with it off. Four
such options and you've multiplied the testing costs by 16. In other
companies in which I've worked, this wouldn't have been an issue - someone
would have tested the option in isolation, but *wouldn't* have tested the
entire part affected by the option in both configurations. Despite the
detractors of the quality of Microsoft software, we take quality very
seriously and actually *do* run complete tests with every option.

Further, if you add an option it becomes yet another way in which Joe Random
User can unwittingly mess up his Outlook configuration and require support
to fix it. Remember, there are millions of Outlook users, and few of them
really understand email or Outlook. This is no knock on those folks - it's
just a means to an end for them, and they understand it about as well as
they understand their TV, VCR, or telephone. So the trick is to provide
just the right options and no more. There will always be disagreement as to
where the proper line is (I have to admit to being an advocate for more
options, but I'm an email geek...)

 

[Kolin Tregaskes]

I do appreciate people giving away their code for free, so much so I
normally put the programs I use and/or find useful on my web site,
e-lusion.co.uk.

The Microsoft application named "Outlook" is NOT an email or news
client. It is a Personal Information Manager which INCLUDES email, a
Calendar, To-Do list, Contacts database (and now a Business Contacts
Manager, in Office 2004), and the ability to use an external Usenet
client such as Outlook Express to access Usenet newsgroups. It also
contains the ability to use many third-party add-ons and utilities.

If you don't like Outlook's email abilities, use another client for
email. There are hundreds of email clients in circulation. Email
clients were probably among the first end-user applications ever
written. I'm sure millions of people do it every day.

If you don't like Outlook Express as a news agent, use one of the
many other Usenet clients available.

See this site for a list of free Organizers:
http://www.a1b2c3.com/free/ref18.htm
Launch this URL for a list of many free Email clients:
http://www.google.com/search?q=free+email+clients

See these two sites to find lists of many free Calendars:
http://www.a1b2c3.com/free/ref07.htm
http://download.com.com/3150-2124-0.html?tag=dir

See this site to find a list of many (mostly shareware) Usenet
clients: http://www.newsreaders.com/win/clients.html
See this site for a powerful and totally FREE Usenet client:
http://lightning.prohosting.com/~tbates/gravity/super.html

However, while you're downloading all those "free" software programs,
remember that a living, breathing human being wrote them, and had to
eat, support a family, and pay other day-to-day expenses while he was
doing it, so the software you freely download is not really "free"
after all. Someone, somewhere paid for it in sweat, at the very
least.

--

Kol
---------

We shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in
France, we shall fight on the seas and the oceans, we shall fight with
growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our
island, whatever the cost may be. We shall fight on the beaches, we
shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in
the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender. -
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill