Just some comments... I've snipped where appropriate so if it looks like
I've omitted stuff it's because I probably agree with you.
Bill,
Entourage still isn't an equivalent counterpart to the Windows Outlook
client.
Entourage isn't claiming to be an equivalent to Windows Outlook and no
Exchange client for Mac ever has been an equivalent.
IMHO, Entourage is a good successor to Outlook 2001 for Mac and its
capabilities.
Enoturage is slow, and acts like a POP mail client, not like an
Exchange only
client which Outlook 2001 was. It hogs local resources, and has to
locally download
every email, which is silly in a workplace with an Exchange 2003
server.
I agree that I don't like the synchronization that Entourage does. I
would prefer Entourage to be able to work "online" as Outlook 2001 did
and not in a "cached" mode.
It also lacks some features that Outlook 2001 had which we use daily.
All we
(and most larger companies) would want would be to make Outlook for OS
X,
which doesn't have all the 'consumer' bells and whistles, and is a true
exchange-only
client.
In particular, what features of Outlook 2001 are you missing from
Entourage? As Entourage evolves, it is getting most if not all the same
capabilities.
That's not to say it does the same thing or acts the same way. For
example, there's still no .pst support but you can still archive
locally. You actually have more flexibility with Entourage than Outlook
for this featue.
Possible drawbacks to the Entourage 2004 solution might include the
following:
Entourage 2004 provides a solution for e-mail, group calendaring,
scheduling, Global Address Book, and delegation only. Certain
advanced Exchange features, such as voting, shared tasks, shared
notes, and server-side rules, are not accessible.
Voting wasn't supported in Outlook 2001. What are shared tasks and
notes? i don't recall them in Outlook 2001 either. SSR were very basic
as well. You could turn on/off an OOF message but that was about it.
Entourage 2004 does not provide full public folder or delegation
support.
Since sp2, pubic folder support included calendar and contacts in
addition to messages. Is there a specific public folder function you're
looking for and not getting?
Although rules stored on Exchange Server will run, Exchange
Server-based rules cannot be created or changed by using Entourage.
To change a server-based rule from the Macintosh computer, users must
use Microsoft Outlook.
I would expect this to come n the future. It only makes sense. The MacBU
at Microsoft simply doesn't have the resources to do everything at once.
Entourage does not perform out-of-office responses in the same way
that Outlook does. To configure an out-of-office response in
Entourage, a user must create a rule.
Or until the Entourage interface includes this capability, use OWA to
set an OOF message. But you know this one already as I read later.
Entourage 2004 has the following limitations for public folders:
--Only e-mail messages appear in Entourage. Other item types that
might be in the public folder - such as Calendar events, contacts,
or
tasks - do not appear in Entourage.
Have you not downloaded sp2 yet? Go look again!
<
http://www.microsoft.com/mac/default.aspx?pid=office2004sp2>
Tasks? Not yet.
--To have Entourage automatically download the messages in a specific
public folder, a user must subscribe to that folder.
I find it unusual to download messages automatically to a public folder,
but I won't argue this point. Never tried it. But I would think it makes
sense to have to have subscribed to something before being able to
manipulate it.
--Public folders cannot be created, dragged, moved, renamed, or
deleted by using Microsoft Entourage.
Haven't tried this either since I am not the owner of any public
folders, but see what happens after sp2.
--Downloading the public folder list from the Exchange server can be
very slow if there are many folders.
Drag your frequently used folders into the Favorites folders. These will
be kept synchronized so that you don't have to wait. That's its purpose.
Users cannot browse Global Address List
You need sp2 and Exchange 2003. From what I understand browse
capabilities with Exchange 2000 aren't possible due to some limitations
on the Exchange side and how Entourage connects.
Entourage issues:
· Entourage uses the WebDAV protocol to communicate with the
Exchange
server and manage mail, Calendar, and contacts. Outlook uses a
MAPI-based architecture to communicate with the Exchange server.
You can probably look forward to Outlook for Windows going WebDAV too.
(That's just the general assumption.)
WebDAV instead of MAPI isn't a limitation--it's a carefully thought out
decision. MAPI is a Microsoft proprietary protocol and not a standard.
WebDAV is a standard protocol and much of Entourage follows standards
(another example is the use of the .mbox file format) whereas a lot of
Outlook for Windows is proprietary.
· Entourage provides no offline access to the Global Address List.
Now that one's a shame.
· Entourage does not support setting permissions.
Setting permissions on what? sp2 has enabled folder sharing with
equivalent permissions capabilities as Outlook 2001.
· Entourage does not support disabling the Entourage user
interface
based on permissions.
Sorry, I don't understand what you mean by this one.
· Entourage does not support mapping from subscribed public
folders
in Entourage to public folder favorites in Outlook.
Don't understand what you mean here either.
· Entourage does not support Outlook forms, voting buttons, RTF
message formatting, or receipt tracking.
I don't believe Outlook 2001 ever support forms or voting buttons.
Entourage supports "HTML", which is equivalent to RTF formatting in this
case.
Entourage does support receipts, but doesn't have an interface for it.
Have a look here.
· Entourage does not support password expiration notification or
the
ability to change the user account password.
Not sure if Outlook for Windows support the ability to change account
passwords either. That's all handled by the Windows OS in corporate
environments.
sp2 does support password expiration notification.
· Entourage does not support quota management.
Not sure what you mean by "management", but with sp2 you can view folder
sizes as you can with Outlook.
· Entourage does not support synchronizing Tasks or Notes to
Exchange
servers.
What I miss right now is the ability to send tasks to folks. I would
imagine these items are on the feature lists. It only makes sense.
I certainly won't say that Entourage is a replacement for Outlook
feature for feature. However, since Entourage's debut as an Exchange
client with Office X 10.1.5 or 10.1.6, it has come a long way in
providing Exchange users with the features they need and want. I'd say
that if you review the changes and updates as well as the timing, you'll
see that the MacBU is really being quite aggressive in their work to
make Entourage a good Exchange client.
Don't compare Entourage with Outlook for Windows. If you do then you're
fooling yourself. There's never been parity between Mac and Windows
clients and probably never will be due to the smaller size of the Mac
base in corporations. There has to be financial justification to bring
parity.
Go take a look at sp2 for Entourage and you'll probably be pleasantly
surprised. I dare say it will whittle down your list a little.
bill
