Why Does Anyone Use Desktop Email?

Big Dan

EQ Forum Moderator
Howdy Folks,

We don't have much actual discussion just lots of help requests. Maybe this will kick start some healthy debate. :)

Last week I switched from Dropbox to Sky Drive. I was paying Dropbox $10/mo for 100 GB of Space. Office 365 / Sky Drive comes with desktop access to Word, Excel, Outlook, Access, PowerPoint and 1 TB of online storage for that same $10/mo.

I've been using Outlook 2013 as my primary mail client for a week now and keep kicking myself in the pants. The interface is bloated and it's overkill for *just* email IMHO.

Gmail's web interface is lean and fast. I cannot see why anyone would use Outlook 2013 unless it's an organizational thing.

What about you?
 

EQ Admin

EQ Forum Admin
Staff member
I use Microsoft Outlook 2013 at work. I use Gmail for my personal email.

I have both of the above accounts configured in my iPhone mail app.

When testing email accounts or I need to use a personal desktop email program I use Mozilla Thunderbird.

How many email accounts do you have?

You could have gone with Google Apps for Business (with our coupon code).

Yes, Microsoft Outlook tends to be the supported email program within companies.

I recently had to start using Microsoft Lync too and have to say that it's been great as a chat, file sharing, and team meeting program.

If you're not a company you probably don't need Office 365 and could have stuck with cheaper Google Apps with Gmail for 1 account (with free forwards) and Open Office for compatibility with the rest of the Microsoft Office desktop programs.
 

foggy

Valued Member
Hi, Dan!

I myself have Office 2007 on my desktop and have used Outlook 2007 in the past for emails. It's certainly got a ton of bells and whistles — way more than I'd ever need — but I imagine that's because, as you say, it was more "organizational," more for business use or for those individuals who really wanted that much functionality with their email client. IOW, it likely was never meant for those who wanted "just" email. As you know, way back when it was Outlook Express that was MS's own offering for those who didn't need all the extra office features with their desktop client.

But in general you may be comparing apples and oranges here: MS desktop vs. Google webmail. If you don't like using Outlook 2013 for email, have you tried their Outlook.com webmail? I'm guessing that you'd be able to have all your other online Office 365 programs as well as SkyDrive/OneDrive all accessible from the one MS account. ?? That way you'd get less bloat in your email client (by using Outlook.com webmail instead of the more business oriented Outlook 2013) while still having reasonably good integration with your other programs (OneDrive, Office 365, etc.). (I say "reasonably good," because in my limited past experience MS had not been as good at having all their products play nice with each other as Google has been with theirs. :rolleyes:)
 
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EQ Admin

EQ Forum Admin
Staff member
I have seen a few references of Outlook Express coming before Microsoft Outlook recently.

Outlook Express is the mail program that came before Windows Live Mail.

Outlook Express was bundled with early versions of Windows and sometimes upgraded by Internet Explorer installs while Microsoft Outlook came with Microsoft Office.

Their existence overlapped for a long time. It was more of a home desktop vs. business desktop relationship.
 

EQ Admin

EQ Forum Admin
Staff member
A warning about Office 365, at least some of their email offerings do not support IMAP and only support Exchange ActiveSync connections for mail programs and devices.
 

Big Dan

EQ Forum Moderator
Hi, Dan!

I myself have Office 2007 on my desktop and have used Outlook 2007 in the past for emails. It's certainly got a ton of bells and whistles — way more than I'd ever need — but I imagine that's because, as you say, it was more "organizational," more for business use or for those individuals who really wanted that much functionality with their email client. IOW, it likely was never meant for those who wanted "just" email. As you know, way back when it was Outlook Express that was MS's own offering for those who didn't need all the extra office features with their desktop client.

But in general you may be comparing apples and oranges here: MS desktop vs. Google webmail. If you don't like using Outlook 2013 for email, have you tried their Outlook.com webmail? I'm guessing that you'd be able to have all your other online Office 365 programs as well as SkyDrive/OneDrive all accessible from the one MS account. ?? That way you'd get less bloat in your email client (by using Outlook.com webmail instead of the more business oriented Outlook 2013) while still having reasonably good integration with your other programs (OneDrive, Office 365, etc.). (I say "reasonably good," because in my limited past experience MS had not been as good at having all their products play nice with each other as Google has been with theirs.

I expected haphazard comparability too. MS doesn't have a good track record with me either Foggy but One Drive is surprisingly well integrated. Even the Android app is decent.

I'm irked that Google killed the sync app for free users. You need a third party tool to sync Google Calendar and Tasks with Outlook. Maybe I'd find it more useful? I'd like to just upgrade my Google account to a business account without needing to mess with my MX records.

A warning about Office 365, at least some of their email offerings do not support IMAP and only support Exchange ActiveSync connections for mail programs and devices.

The version I have supports IMAP. I'm checking 3 Gmail accounts over IMAP and 1 domain based via IMAP.
--

I guess what really gets my goat is that a full featured web client like Gmail is snappier than a native application like Outlook.

I do like Open/Libre Office but it's interface is stuck in the 90s. I'm enjoying using the full MS Office for a change.
 
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peviha

Valued Member
I've used Thunderbird for many years, followed by a switch to the free version of Google Apps for some years.

Abut about a month ago, after I discovered that Microsoft has implented IMAP and a decent account migration tool, I took the plunge and switched to Outlook.com.

I have to say it's a pleasure to use on a daily basis, and this comes from someone who's hated Hotmail for decades and wouldn't touch it with a 10-foot pole. The way the outlook.com webmail interface works and the way OneDrive integrates into Windows on my laptop really has me convinced that I'll be keeping this account for a long time.

Out of curiosity, does anyone know what the Office365 webmail interface looks like? Does it look like OWA (Outlook Web Access), Outlook.com, or is it something else entirely?
 

longcall911

New Email
I have used Outlook since Outlook '97. I store emails by topic. I have probably 150 different folders. On my desktop, I have a full folder view pane, email list summary pane, preview pane, and calendar pane, all open simultaneously. I don't sit and wait for web pages to update. Bouncing around is instantaneous. Plus I can categorize emails, add follow up flags and so on.
 

THERESA

Customer Service
The only reason I ever get on my desktop to check my email is to check an account that is not connected to my phone or I would probably never use it.
 

winston

New Email
I prefer webmail. Or checking mail on the phone. It's really a set-up thing: I couldn't be bothered to install any web client or set up IMAP or whatever. Login and go. Thats as much as I want to do.
 
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