I did an update on my computer today and all of a sudden I seem to have Outlook available. I've been using Outlook Express for my email for years, but I'm wondering if I should change that. Are there any benefits or drawbacks to switching over?

I looked in Outlook and it seems to be designed more for people in offices than stay-at-home moms, but I suppose it could be customized to some degree... and I could use a calendar program.

Any thoughts?

PJ

I tried out Outlook at one point, but it just seemed to me that the only difference between it and OE was that Outlook had a lot of features I didn't really need or want to use. So I went back to Outlook Express and was perfectly happy.

LabRat (who says Pam should ditch both and try Mozilla Thunderbird instead <g>)

Agreed -- Thunderbird for e-mail. But anyway....

Outlook can be really handy in an office environment, because it supports a lot of shared stuff. If all you want is e-mail, it's massive overkill. It can be a good calendar program, though -- that's the main reason I used it for as long as I did. Now my life is quasi-simple enough that I just don't use a calendar program anymore. ;-)

I switched one of my AOL accounts over to Outlook several months ago because I finally able to get a hold of copy of that program that actually worked!

I love using it because of the Calendar feature and the tasks feature. I like having everything outlined for me at my fingertips.

It's also very helpful for businesses. I run an amateur fan magazine for Lord of the Rings, so it helps me keep track of orders, payments, submissions etc.

My advice is use it if you really feel it will help you. You don't neccesary need to run a business in order to benefit from it.

How do I learn more about this? I want to be able to share (or transfer) the contents of my contact list (and maybe my calendar) to another user on the same network. How do I do that?

Hmm.... Mostly, when I've used that part, there's been a company-run server for the addresses. I think there's a way to export some of that -- a PST file, I think? It's been a while since I've had Outlook.

There was a class at the community college I earned my Office Assistant and Communications Assistant certificates. Unfortunately, I just finished them up, so I won't be able to take that class. Part of me wishes I did because I probably could've answered your question.

The change from OE to O is pretty easy and doesn't require much knowledge and work. But if you ever want to take the step back to OE, don't ever think about using O at all.

I use Outlook at work and TheBat! as a worthy alternative at home. In my opinion, you should better keep using the free Express version since it's as safe as the commercial one and the most basic features are available as well. What makes Outlook a great eMail client - despite all of Microsoft's security leaks - is the symbiosis of several features like said dayplanner/calendar with an eMail client.

... but can (need?) you use all that as a stay-at-home mom?

Rivka,

It depends on what version of Outlook you have and whether your company runs Microsoft Exchange Server. With an Exchange server you can share info very easily. Without Exchange there are also ways to share but some are a bit clunky. IIRC, for versions of Outlook prior to Outlook 2000, you definitely need either Exchange or some third party plugin. I think there are ways to make Public folders without Exchange in all versions of Outlook from 2000 on.

Our office upgraded from Outlook 98 to 2003 with Exchange Server in March and most people in my office still have no idea how to use the public folders I set up (not for lack of trying to teach them ), but those who do use the sharing and public folders really like it.

AmyN

My company of at least 8,000 employees just ditched our old calendaring program, Meeting Maker, and switched to Outlook. So most of us have switched to Outlook for email as well.

So far, it's been a complete disaster. Outlook is buggy, crashing on occasion. The calendaring has been terrible. People have ended up going to meetings that didn't exist, not going to meetings they were invited to because it didn't show up, missing meetings that were moved but not updated on anyone's calendar, and so on. At least Meeting Maker only crashed on us.

For home use, Outlook is even worse. I run multiple email accounts: 2 IMAP4 accounts, 1 POP3 account, and my work Exchange account. When the work account is set to automatically detect connection settings, Outlook locks up for about two minutes if I don't have VPN running and therefore can't find the Exchange server. So I have to sit there and wait forever before I can retrieve mail for my other accounts.

If I set my work email to work offline, SMTP stops working for all my other email accounts regardless of which SMTP server I'm using. Email I send will just sit in the outbox and will never be picked up.

Frankly, Outlook stinks. I've never tried OE, so I can't say anything about that.

LOL. Bingeley Bingeley Beep? <g>

Sorry, just been re-reading some Terry Pratchett and couldn't help but be reminded here of Vimes's Disorganiser.

LabRat

I thought you couldn't have Exchange and IMAP active at the same time on Outlook? Or have they finally fixed that ridiculous "feature" in later versions?

AmyN, I am fairly certain we use Outlook 2000. As for Exchange . . . how would I figure out if we have that running? I know that we have something running that syncs files from my computer to the other computer I want to share this info with. But I wasn't the one who set it up (nor was I in the office at the time) so I don't know what program it is. (Having googled Exchange, I don't think that's it.)

Is this something that I, a fairly tech-savvy user but definitely NOT a pro, can safely try to set up myself?

You cannot have two Exchange accounts running on Outlook 2003 but you can have as many IMAP accounts as you need coexisting with the single Exchange account.

Oh, one more bug that Outlook 2003 has. To log into the Exchange server, it requires my username/password for my work domain. Since my home machine is NOT on that domain, Outlook does something really stupid. Instead of caching the last username/password used for the Exchange account, it instead passes the default login name for the computer it resides on, i.e. my home computer's workgroup\username and password. Now how dumb is that? The consequence is that it ALWAYS asks me for the password for my work email because it tries the wrong authentication first. I confirmed this behavior with my work IT department as "normal behavior."

Are you trying to set up an Exchange server?

Rivka,

Try looking at this article http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=195867
If your company has Outlook set up in Internet Mail Only or Corporate or Workgroup mode, you should be able to create and use Net folders for sharing.

AmyN

Roger, I don't know. I don't think so?

AmyN, that looks like something I can do. (Not this week, as I'm taking off three days to move, but maybe next week.) I'll let you know after I try it -- thanks!

Thanks for all the input, everybody; you've been very helpful. I don't really *need* anything Outlook can do, but I'm playing with the calendar & tasks features. I have a feeling I'll end up ditching it within a week, but who knows, maybe it will help me stay organized. My e-mail, however, is staying in Outlook Express.

PJ

Ok, so it actually took about 6 weeks. The beginning of the school year is just a tad busy . . .

Anyway, it didn't work. Apparently we have Outlook 2003, and Net Folders are not supported past Outlook 2000.

Any other alternatives?

Without Exchange Server it is much harder to share info in Outlook 2003 . There are ways -- you can export data from one pst to another or use third party solutions. I suggest you check out the following site: http://www.slipstick.com/outlook/share.htm for info on options available.

Good Luck.

AmyN

Thanks. I will look that over.

I appreciate the help.