Benz Blog

Entourage 2004 is “OK”. It gets the job done for the most part, but it’s simply not up to par with Outlook 2003. Here’s my short list of complaints:

1. If you sync with an Exchange server, you cannot get the Progress popup window to stop popping up unless you HIDE the application. Command+W or clicking the red X doesn’t work. This is ludicrous.

2. Notes and tasks to not sync to an Exchnage server.

3. You cannot force a sync to an Exchange server. You have to wait for it to happen.

4. Can’t mark calendar entries as private.

5. Can’t block read receipts from being sent. I had someone complain that I was deleting their messages without reading them, when in fact I WAS reading every one in the preview pane and then simply deleted the message without marking it as read.

6. I have the USB Overdrive mouse driver and 3rd party mouse with scroll wheel. I have the wheel set to double click. This doesn’t always work in Entourage, but it works EVERYWHERE else.

7. Can’t customize inbox columns. Outlook 2003 handles this much better, switching between a multi-line view and single-line multi-column view as you resize the list.

8. Entourage always seems to add my signature to everything: including replies. On a long e-mail thread, my signature appears many times.

9. If you uncheck the “Display the Reminder” option in Outlook 2003 (which is buried under Tools/Options/Other/Advanced Options/Reminder Options – DUH), and you Snooze when the reminder comes due in Entourage, at some point, Outlook 2003 CLEARs the reminder, which propgates back to the server, and thus to Entourage, causing Snooze not to work. Since when does DISPLAY THE REMINDER mean CANCEL THE REMINDER.

10. As I’ve already pointed out in this post, there is some very sloppy UI work in Entourage. Here’s the screen shot again:

JUNK! It went back to the store within hours of purchasing it. I can’t stand the micro-second delay after the mouse turns off. I’m being picky – yes, but I find it very annoying.

Clicking the mouse wheel requires too much effort.

Clicking the left mouse button requires too little effort. My father-in-law has trouble with accidental clicks on his single button Mac mouse. He has big hands, so I thought this mouse might be a good fit for him, but when I accidentally clicked on something myself, I immediately knew it wasn’t going to work.

Using MICROSOFT’S remote desktop to access a Dell box running MICROSOFT Windows using the MICROSOFT mouse with MICROSOFT’S IntelliPoint software is next to impossible. I found myself scrolling documents just by moving the mouse with my fingers nowhere near any of the buttons.

Last but not least, I did not like the jittery movements of the mouse pointer in general. It did not appear to move smoothly across the screen, regardless of the settings used.

I’ve been preparing to make one last huge entry (or a series of short entries) to sum up my Switch experience, which has been overwhelmingly positive, but until I can find the time, I have to share with you an addiction – package tracking. <LOL> Isn’t this lovely? Can anyone guess what this is?

Edit: well, of course, the image is no longer available. It was a UPS shipment log for my Powerbook.