Microsoft Outlook can friggin' DIE AND ROT

[oneirophrenia]

Generally, I love Microsoft Office--any and all versions. Particularly Microsoft Outlook, which prettymuch serves as my auxiliary brain, remembering for me all the phone numbers, appointments, tasks, and activities that my wetware brain simply cannot retain due to its inate forgetfulness as well as the damage done by years of hard drankin'. I'm not so fond of Outlook as an email program, but, hell, since I use it for everything else, might as well use it for that, too, right?

Well, lemme tell y'all....Microsoft Outlook as an email program blows. Not so much because of functionality--it does everything an email program really should do, after all, so I've no complaints there--but because it's just so goddamned buggy. Even the latest version, 2003, is full of weird quirks and screw-ups that come up at random and cause all manner of friggin' annoyance. Just yesterday, in fact, I was sending out a batch of about twenty emails to various friends and colleagues and whatnot, and the program crashed so goddamned hard (for no apparent reason) that I had to reinstall the bitch just to get it properly rolling again. Fortunately, my Outlook data files weren't damaged, and even if they had been it's not like I don't keep frequent backups...but nonetheless, the hassle was the last thing I needed.

Some time today I need to go through my "sent" folder and see if I've received replies to any of the emails I was sending when Outlook decided to commit sepuku because I apparently demanded more of it than it could possibly handle. That way I'll know what made it through and what didn't so I can resend those that never made it out. If anyone ends up getting the same message from me twice, though, just delete the extra.

OK. Back to grading now.

Comments

[alternakittyn.livejournal.com]

1) Consider switching. Not only is Outlook hella insecure virus-wise as well, there are just better programs out there. Perhaps see if Eudora will meet your needs?

2) Next time we're both online, remind me and I'll give you that song.

[oneirophrenia.livejournal.com]

Outlook security issues don't really bother me that much, since I have my computer firewalled and antivirused to hell and back with *five* separate security devices--but nonetheless, I'm getting tired of using it. Hell, the only reason I started in the first place was for convenience sake, since I use Outlook for so much else.

I think I'm just going back to a little program called PocoMail that I used to use for a loooooooooooong time beforehand: it does everything I'd ever need an email program to do and then some. The only problem with it is that it's hella difficult to backup email messages from PocoMail to my laptop and vice versa, since its mailbox format is kinda ganked up. At least with Outlook, all I ever had to do was copy my Outlook data files from one machine to the other....

I'm actually going to check out the newest version of Eudora and see how easy it is to swap mail-files around with it. Hell, if it splits the difference between Outlook and PocoMail, color me sold!

(And furthermore: Mmmmm...Disney techno. Hook a brotha up!)

[eolh.livejournal.com]

I stopped using Pocomail because the newest version had several major bugs that really annoyed me. I've been using Mozilla Thunderbird since and have been relatively happy with it.

[shad0ws.livejournal.com]

i've also been using Thunderbird (i recommended it to <lj user="eolh", actually.. heh), and i think it works really well for email. i used Eudora for years, and quit primarily because it's really-uber-mega-bad with IMAP email -- i don't know if you have to deal with that at all, but it was incredibly clunky once i came to Pitt. i guess it was fine for POP mail, though Thunderbird is just a much more streamlined, simplistic interface that i've taken to using it for everything.