Microsoft Entourage 2008 sucks

[Guest]

I am on a diligent quest to get EVERY MAC USER to STOP USING ENTOURAGE
and onto Apple Mail instead. Microsoft has all but ABANDONED Mac users
and treated us like sh*t for long enough. Microsoft is ACTIVELY trying
to destroy Mac users' productivity & ACTIVELY trying to make us have
less productive tools than Windows users. Microsoft is the most evil
software company on the planet. They have made virtually ZERO
improvements in Entourage 2008, it still lags WAY WAY WAY behind
Outlook for Windows, and they STILL haven't fixed HUNDREDS of bugs &
missing features that have been problematic since the very first
version of Entourage many years ago. Here's just two of the latest
problems I discovered with Entourage... these 2 problems are just the
tip of the iceberg of HUNDREDS of problems that I am not listing here:

1. Entourage is the ONLY program on the Mac that doesn't recognize
OPTION-DELETE as a command to delete the previous word that you just
typed,

2. Entourage is the ONLY email program on the Mac that doesn't
currently have an "Insert Hyperlink" command. It's absolutely
ridiculous that you have to go into in Microsoft Word first, and then
pull down from Word’s File menu to “Send To > Mail Recipient (as
HTML)”. Even then, you won’t be able to change the body of your email
message once it’s in Entourage, and you can't even control the weird
font-related issues that are applied to your message in Entourage
after going through all of that hassle. Absolutely ridiculous.

Don't even get me started on the hundreds of other problems with
Entourage.

 

[Corentin Cras-Méneur]

1. Entourage is the ONLY program on the Mac that doesn't recognize
OPTION-DELETE as a command to delete the previous word that you just
typed,

2. Entourage is the ONLY email program on the Mac that doesn't
currently have an "Insert Hyperlink" command.

So these are the two main reasons why Entourage sucks?? I was expecting
deeper issues like syncking all type of data and fields to SyncService
and Exchange, or wirting complex HTML e-mails (these come quite often),


Corentin

 

[Barry Wainwright]

I hesitate to mention it, with you being such an experienced and wise
user and all that, but your attempt to obfuscate your email address in
order to avoid spam won't have worked.

while you quite thoroughly masked your display name:
"(e-mail address removed)"
your email address came through in full glory:
<[email protected]>

I'm sorry to say that the address harvesters will have collected your
email address by now and you can expect a dramatic increase in the
levels of spam you receive.

May I suggest to all posters that they ensure their email addresses are
properly obscured before posting?

 

[Daiya Mitchell]

So these are the two main reasons why Entourage sucks?? I was expecting
deeper issues like syncking all type of data and fields to SyncService
and Exchange, or wirting complex HTML e-mails (these come quite often),

So was I. Dude, option-delete is a reason to switch email programs?

Pitiful attempt at making a good argument. You can't toss around the
word "evil" and back it up with some penny-ante nonsense like that, and
expect people to be persuaded to do anything.

(Corentin, I suspect Insert | Hyperlink is a subset of writing complex
HTML emails, though---I think the OP didn't phrase it well, but the
complex HTML process is what he described).

Scotty, more tips on making a good argument--instead of trying to reach
every Mac user, focus on people who are interested in sending complex
HMTL. I'm not, so your post is really unconvincing to me. And try not to
write a subject line that reads like a rant from a madman.

 

[Guest]

Folks, complete apathy on your part in response to the crap which is
Entourage 2008 just allows Microsoft to continue making crap like
this. I love how you guys vehemently defend Microsoft, a truly
horrible company, and I'm shocked that NOBODY ELSE is interested in
complete feature parity between Entourage and Outlook. Great, then
just let Microsoft continue to walk all over you and continue to make
shitty products.

I could literally give 2 features EVERY SINGLE DAY FOR AN ENTIRE YEAR
-- yes, that's 720 features -- that Outlook for Windows has that
Entourage for Mac does NOT HAVE. Would 720 features finally be enough
reason to sway you guys to stop pretending like Microsoft is your
friend and stop pretending that they have actually delivered an email
program that comes anywhere CLOSE to usefulness?

Here's my 2 for today -- actually, let me make it 6 for the day:

1. No quick way to add return receipts to messages, without manually
creating an extra header to handle this task. If you only want return
receipts SOME of the time, then you have to create a whole new account
to deal with this.

2. No way to duplicate accounts without manually retyping in the
account from scratch.

3. No way to test the POP & SMTP servers for a new account without
actually performing a send & receive.

4. No way to change which columns are displayed when the preview pane
is on the right.

5. No way to have a preview pane when looking at to-do's and notes...
you always have to double-click on to-do's and notes to open them up.

6. No way to drag-and-drop items onto the calendar to create
appointments.

Yes, these are all features in Microsoft Outlook. No, none of these
features are in Entourage 2008.

Stay tuned for more tomorrow. Do you think that by the time I get to
720 features that some of you will wake up and realize that you were
delivered a boatload of lies & crap with Entourage 2008?

Scott

 

[AndyO]

Scott -

I happen to agree with you but what's the good alternative?

Andy

 

[inco9nito]

I'll bite. Entourage blows because Microsoft, until very recently, has
hoarded its Exchange mail protocol, leaving greater programs, like Apple
Mail, to guess at it, and use IMAP workarounds.

The sad part? These workarounds are better. Entourage uses a 20+G single db
file. Entourage costs $350 or more, and Mail.app is free with Mac.
Entourage email messages are incompatible with other Mac Email clients.
Entourage Projects totally blow and add nothing save the folders where they
allow messages to be store (something more easily created in Apple Mail).

I use word because others that I work with do. I used to be forced to
Entourage because my mail server required it. Thanks to the iPhone, Exchange
has partly opened up, and the adaptations from Apple are better and better.

Microsoft, I applaud you Exchange protocol. But that's it. Give up with the
client-development because you are done.

Anyone needing help with Mail.app simply needs to set up an Exchange account
in it, then find out what SMTP port their server allows. Set, and abandon
the dinosaur that is Entourage.

Oh, and regarding spam, mail away. Like my hotmail account hasn't been
receiving spam since day One.

Microsoft, what ARE you doing with your time lately? Honestly, what was the
last decent product that you put out besides the Xbox?

 

[Diane Ross]

You are venting to your peers. If you have complaints send feedback to MSFT.

Send feedback to Microsoft.

When working in Office, you can use the ¡°Send Feedback¡± option under the
Help menu in all of the Office applications or visit

<http://www.microsoft.com/mac/suggestions.mspx>

My 2Cents...you have a lot of wrong info. Entourage does not use a 20+GB
database. Most people have a database that is around 2GB. Some more some
smaller, but it's an individual thing not a requirement. Entourage does not
cost $350 or more. You can get the Home & Student version for less than
$130. Entourage messages are compatible with other email clients. Blaming
your email client for spam is well.... ridiculous.