Outlook vs Entourage

[jandrew]

I know very little about Entourage. Is it similar to Outlook, but Mac
compatible? If someone with Outlook wanted to email me a calendar,
could I read it using Entourage?

 

[Diane Ross]

I know very little about Entourage. Is it similar to Outlook, but Mac
compatible? If someone with Outlook wanted to email me a calendar,
could I read it using Entourage?

Read these two articles:

Entourage is not Outlook
<http://www.entourage.mvps.org/articles/entourage.html>

Why did Microsoft replace Outlook for Mac with Entourage?

<http://blog.entourage.mvps.org/2007/05/why_did_microsoft_replace_outl.html>

 

[Mickey Stevens]

As the site Diane referenced indicates, Entourage data and Outlook data are
in different formats. As a result, it's not always easy to transfer
information. However, e-mailing individual calendar events should work
because they are in an internet-standard format (ics).

 

[Randy Reichardt]

I wanted first to say thanks to Diane Ross for posting the links to
the two articles below. I bought my first MacBook on 29 June 2007,
and installed the Office suite soon afterwards. I realize Entourage
is similar to Outlook, but doesn't have a number of the features that
Outlook has, and which Windows users take for granted.

The one feature I can't find is the ability to add a link to text in
an HTML message. Is this functionality available, or is it something
that cannot work with Entourage? If so, why? This is by far the most
frustrating aspect (for me) of Entourage so far.

Just wondering. Thanks - Randy

 

[Michel Bintener]

Hi Randy,

The one feature I can't find is the ability to add a link to text in
an HTML message. Is this functionality available, or is it something
that cannot work with Entourage? If so, why? This is by far the most
frustrating aspect (for me) of Entourage so far.

I can't say why it's not in there. It's a really simple and, IMO, essential
feature, and it has been requested for many years now. There are
workarounds, though:

If you are using Entourage 2004, you can use Word 2004 to compose your
e-mail message, since you can easily create hyperlinks in that program
(select some text, then hit Cmd+K). If Entourage is configured as your
default e-mail client, you can, when you're done composing your message in
Word, go to File>Send To>Mail Recipient (as HTML). The downside to this
method is that once the document has been passed on to Entourage, you can no
longer modify it, or add attachments.

Yet another alternative would be to use Paul Berkowitz's free AppleScript
Make Hyperlinks X, which you can download here:
<http://scriptbuilders.net/files/makehyperlinksx2.2.1.html>

You can add your voice to the chorus by clicking on Help>Send Feedback on
Entourage.

--
Michel Bintener
Microsoft MVP
Office:Mac (Entourage & Word)

***Always reply to the newsgroup.***

 

[Randy Reichardt]

Good morning, Michael. Thanks very much for this quick reply. At the
very least, you confirmed for me that this functionality is not hiding
somewhere in Entourage. Like you, I agree that this is an essential
feature, and cannot fathom why it's not a given in Entourage. It's a
no-brainer when deciding what and what not to include in the e-mail
program. I'm curious as to why it's not there, what has prompted
either Apple or MS not to include it in Entourage.

I will investigate the two options you suggested, and again, I really
appreciate that you took the time to follow up on my query, and I will
send feedback via the Entourage function regarding this issue.

Kind regards,
Randy Reichardt.

 

[Jolly Roger]

I realize Entourage
is similar to Outlook, but doesn't have a number of the features that
Outlook has, and which Windows users take for granted.

The one feature I can't find is the ability to add a link to text in
an HTML message. Is this functionality available, or is it something
that cannot work with Entourage? If so, why? This is by far the most
frustrating aspect (for me) of Entourage so far.

Huh? If you paste a URL into an email message, it becomes a link as
soon as the recipient reads it. Try it yourself - send yourself an
email with a URL in it. When you receive the email, the URL is a
clickable link.

 

[Jolly Roger]

Like you, I agree that this is an essential
feature, and cannot fathom why it's not a given in Entourage. It's a
no-brainer when deciding what and what not to include in the e-mail
program. I'm curious as to why it's not there, what has prompted
either Apple or MS not to include it in Entourage.

But it *is* there. If you type or paste a URL into an email, when the
recipient gets it, the URL will be a clickable link!

 

[Michel Bintener]

But it *is* there. If you type or paste a URL into an email, when the
recipient gets it, the URL will be a clickable link!

Yes, URLs are clickable. Randy is talking about a different feature; but let
me warn you, it will only work with HTML messages, and I know how you feel
about those... ;-) Entourage does not have the ability to insert proper
hyperlinks: say for instance I typed the word "Apple" and I wanted the word
itself to redirect you to <http://www.apple.com/>. If Entourage had the
ability to create hyperlinks, I would need to type the word "Apple", then
select it and use some kind of "insert hyperlink" command. A dialogue window
should then appear, asking me for the address, and after closing the window,
the word "Apple" should be clickable, without the user seeing the link in
the body of the e-mail message. These are the same kinds of hyperlinks you
know from websites, and most modern e-mail clients have a built-in "insert
hyperlink" feature, with the glaring exception of Entourage.

--
Michel Bintener
Microsoft MVP
Office:Mac (Entourage & Word)

***Always reply to the newsgroup.***

 

[Jolly Roger]

Yes, URLs are clickable. Randy is talking about a different feature; but let
me warn you, it will only work with HTML messages, and I know how you feel
about those... ;-) Entourage does not have the ability to insert proper
hyperlinks: say for instance I typed the word "Apple" and I wanted the word
itself to redirect you to <http://www.apple.com/>. If Entourage had the
ability to create hyperlinks, I would need to type the word "Apple", then
select it and use some kind of "insert hyperlink" command. A dialogue window
should then appear, asking me for the address, and after closing the window,
the word "Apple" should be clickable, without the user seeing the link in
the body of the e-mail message. These are the same kinds of hyperlinks you
know from websites, and most modern e-mail clients have a built-in "insert
hyperlink" feature, with the glaring exception of Entourage.

Okay, but you *can* type any URL into an HTML email, and on the
receiving end, the URL will be clickable.

So really the only missing feature is the ability to create *labeled*
hyperlinks, right?

 

[Michel Bintener]

Okay, but you *can* type any URL into an HTML email, and on the
receiving end, the URL will be clickable.

Yes, you can.

So really the only missing feature is the ability to create *labeled*
hyperlinks, right?

Indeed. It's a commonly requested feature, and I cannot imagine that it must
be that difficult to implement. For the time being, the two methods I
mentioned should do the job, though they are nowhere near as elegant as a
proper "insert hyperlink" command would be.

--
Michel Bintener
Microsoft MVP
Office:Mac (Entourage & Word)

***Always reply to the newsgroup.***

 

[Jolly Roger]

Yes, you can.


Indeed. It's a commonly requested feature, and I cannot imagine that it must
be that difficult to implement. For the time being, the two methods I
mentioned should do the job, though they are nowhere near as elegant as a
proper "insert hyperlink" command would be.

Agreed.

 

[Diane Ross]

The one feature I can't find is the ability to add a link to text in
an HTML message. Is this functionality available, or is it something
that cannot work with Entourage? If so, why? This is by far the most
frustrating aspect (for me) of Entourage so far.

Since you are new to Entourage, I also want to point out to you the scripts
that insert URLs into a message from your browser. There are scripts
available for the popular Mac browsers. For links and more into see:

³Insert URLs into a message²

<http://blog.entourage.mvps.org/2007/07/insert_urls_into_a_message.html>

Finally, info on using complex HTML with Entourage:

HTML Newsletters, Messages & Signatures

<http://www.entourage.mvps.org/faq_topic/html_msg.html>

It's difficult to change applications on the same platform, but to learn a
new operating system and a new application creates it's own set of problems.

 

[Randy Reichardt]

To JR and Michael: Yes, what I was asking about was the ability to
insert a hyperlink over top of text in a message, which is standard
fare in Outlook. I am aware that if you insert a link into an
Entourage message, it will be clickable upon receipt, but thanks for
confirming that, JR.

Michael, I tried downloading and installing the script you mentioned,
<a href="http://scriptbuilders.net/script_rating.php">Make Hyperlinks
X</a>, but it didn't seem to make any difference in my Entourage,
which is ver 11.6.3 070618. I sent an e-mail to the author, Paul
Berkowitz, and advised him that it isn't working in this version
(unless I installed it incorrectly, but I don't think that happened.)

- Randy

 

[Randy Reichardt]

Since you are new to Entourage, I also want to point out to you the scripts
that insert URLs into a message from your browser. There are scripts
available for the popular Mac browsers. For links and more into see:

³Insert URLs into a message²

<http://blog.entourage.mvps.org/2007/07/insert_urls_into_a_message.html>

Finally, info on using complex HTML with Entourage:

HTML Newsletters, Messages & Signatures

<http://www.entourage.mvps.org/faq_topic/html_msg.html>

It's difficult to change applications on the same platform, but to learn a
new operating system and a new application creates it's own set of problems.

Thanks for this information, Diane, which I will investigate further.
I really appreciate the responses from the experts here, which is
great fgor us Mac newbies.
- Randy

 

[Jolly Roger]

I tried downloading and installing the script you mentioned,
<a href="http://scriptbuilders.net/script_rating.php">Make Hyperlinks
X</a>, but it didn't seem to make any difference in my Entourage,
which is ver 11.6.3 070618. I sent an e-mail to the author, Paul
Berkowitz, and advised him that it isn't working in this version
(unless I installed it incorrectly, but I don't think that happened.)

You must have done something wrong then. It works fine here.

1. Make sure you have the two script files in these locations (~ means
your home folder, /Users/you/):

~/Documents/Microsoft User Data/Entourage Script Menu Items/Make
Hyperlinks Add-Remove X
~/Documents/Microsoft User Data/Entourage Script Menu Items/Make
Hyperlinks X/Make Hyperlinks X

2. Create a new outgoing message in Entourage.
3. In the body of the message, enter one or more URLs (do not add
labels for the URLs to the body).
4. From the Entourage menu bar, select (Script Menu) > Make Hyperlinks X.
5. Follow the prompts to assign labels to each of the URLs in the body
of the message.

Note: The script automatically sends the message once you've assigned
labels to all URLs in the message.

 

[William Smith]

On 26/07/2007 20:17, in article
2007072613172427544-jollyroger@REMOVEpoboxcom, "Jolly Roger"

Indeed. It's a commonly requested feature, and I cannot imagine that it must
be that difficult to implement. For the time being, the two methods I
mentioned should do the job, though they are nowhere near as elegant as a
proper "insert hyperlink" command would be.

This is just my take on the HTML subject.

You may have noticed that Entourage does not have Rich Text Format, but
Outlook does. The HTML in Entourage is more equivalent to Outlook RTF
rather than what we would consider HTML.

To create a composition engine that allows for GUI HTML creation (a la
GoLive or Dreamweaver) would take a lot of work, which the MacBU has
plenty of already. I'm sure a big part of their development for Office
2008 is simply converting to XCode so they can deliver a universal set
of apps.

Entourage is not a port of Outlook and so they can't simply port over
Outlook HTML creation support. Entourage can and does take advantage of
Mac OS X's Webkit framework to _display_ complex HTML, just like Safari
or Messenger. But neither of those allow for HTML composition. I don't
think Apple's Mail does either for that matter.

My understanding of Outlook's HTML composition creation abilities is
that it uses Word's ability to do this. Outlook itself can't really
create "complex" HTML messages. And not even that is nearly full-featured.

So what am I really getting at? The complex HTML that folks _think_
Entourage or should have isn't widely available in most Mac E-mail
clients to begin with (Thunderbird is one exception). It's also not
effective when folks (like me) set our E-mail clients to view everything
in plain text. Leave the HTML to the browsers.

I'm not an expert at this stuff so take this with a grain of salt.

--

bill

William M. Smith, Microsoft Interop MVP - Mac/Windows
Entourage Help Page <http://www.entourage.mvps.org/>
Entourage Help Blog <http://blog.entourage.mvps.org/>

 

[Randy Reichardt]

Hi JR. Thanks for the information. I double checked my folders, and
I installed the two script files as follows:

~/Documents/Microsoft User Data/Entourage Script Menu Items/Make
Hyperlinks Add-Remove X
~/Documents/Microsoft User Data/Entourage Script Menu Items/Make
Hyperlinks X

This is slightly different from what you listed below, I think you
listed "Make Hyperlinks X" twice. The "Read Me" document that comes
with the two scripts says the following:

"Put Make Hyperlinks X and Make Hyperlinks Add-Remove X scripts into
the Entourage Script Menu Items folder in the Microsoft User Data
folder in the Documents folder of your user folder ("Home") in the
Users folder on your OS X hard disk."

With regards to your instructions, let me again say thank you - please
forgive me, as I was *not* familiar with the Script Menu in
Entourage. Once I discovered it, your instructions worked fine. I am
grateful for your patience, and that you took the time to help a
newbie with Entourage.

Kind regards,
Randy.

 

[Jolly Roger]

I double checked my folders, and
I installed the two script files as follows:

~/Documents/Microsoft User Data/Entourage Script Menu Items/Make
Hyperlinks Add-Remove X
~/Documents/Microsoft User Data/Entourage Script Menu Items/Make
Hyperlinks X

This is slightly different from what you listed below, I think you
listed "Make Hyperlinks X" twice.

Oops - yes. Good catch. I actually created a sub-folder called "Make
HyperLinks X" in the script folder and put both scripts into it. This
way the script menu shows those two scripts in a sub-menu automatically
like so:

(Scripts)
Make Hyperlinks X
Make HyperLinks X
Make Hyperlinks Add-Remove X

Sub-folders are an easy way to organize your scripts menu in Entourage!

With regards to your instructions, let me again say thank you - please
forgive me, as I was *not* familiar with the Script Menu in
Entourage. Once I discovered it, your instructions worked fine. I am
grateful for your patience, and that you took the time to help a
newbie with Entourage.

Don't mention it - glad to help. : )

 

[William Smith]

Entourage can and does take advantage of Mac OS X's Webkit framework.

I need to retract this statement. Entourage 2004 uses Tasman and not
Webkit. Tasman is actually the same rendering engine as the old Internet
Explorer 5.x for Mac.

Thanks, Michel!

--

bill

William M. Smith, Microsoft Interop MVP - Mac/Windows
Entourage Help Page <http://www.entourage.mvps.org/>
Entourage Help Blog <http://blog.entourage.mvps.org/>