Toward a Microsoft-less set-up

[jasondv]

In the seven months that I've had my PowerBook, I've slowly been working my way toward a Microsoft-less set up:

• When I upgraded to Panther, I chose not to install Internet Explorer and rely on Safari and Opera instead
• I use a Palm Tungsten|T2, and in the last few months I've been HotSyncing with Address Book and iCal (via iSync) instead of MS Entourage
• I used to use WMP for the Mac for viewing .wmv files, but now I use VLC instead

The only exception is MS Office X. I bought a licensed copy a couple of months ago, mainly because I have to share a lot of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files with Windows users and it's easier to send them .doc, .xls, and ,.ppt files that they can open right away.
Entourage, though, is another story. I thought it would work almost exactly like Outlook, but the I never got it to talk properly to the MS Exchange server here at work. Entourage now basically functions like a POP mail client for me, pulling out my messages from the server via POP3 and sending out messages via SMTP. It doesn't work for stuff like automatically scheduling meetings and other admittedly cool grousp working funtions that Outlook was known for.
I'd like to drop Entourage completely and shift to Apple Mail. The problem is, even after setting up an account with exactly the same settings that I had for Entourage, I can't get my mail from the Excahnge server, even when I'm logged on from within the network.
Is there anyone who has made the same switch (Entourage --> Apple Mail)? Any tips from network admins who work with both Macs and Windows networks running on MS Exchange at work?

On a related note, perhaps some people can share their experience in replacing other MS apps with other apps?

[tdbur]

Just a comment about Entourage and Exchange.. I had the same problem during my OJT in Ayalaport. Had to get entourage working with the ayala exchange server. Turns out.. you need to be using the newest version of exchange server and download the update to entourage for it to work.

[jasondv]

Thanks for the info. I have the Exchange update but I'll have to check with the admins here at work to see if they are using the latest version.

[tdbur]

One other possible way to do it is to run Outlook for OS9 under classic mode. Had a few setup problems (something to do with creating a host file) but got everything working without a hitch. Good luck!

[berniej]

Originally posted by jasondv
In the seven months that I've had my PowerBook, I've slowly been working my way toward a Microsoft-less set up:

• When I upgraded to Panther, I chose not to install Internet Explorer and rely on Safari and Opera instead
• I use a Palm Tungsten|T2, and in the last few months I've been HotSyncing with Address Book and iCal (via iSync) instead of MS Entourage
• I used to use WMP for the Mac for viewing .wmv files, but now I use VLC instead

The only exception is MS Office X. I bought a licensed copy a couple of months ago, mainly because I have to share a lot of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files with Windows users and it's easier to send them .doc, .xls, and ,.ppt files that they can open right away.

We had the same idea when I upgraded to Panther. However I made do with NeoOffice/J in lieu of MS Office X and VLC for viewing videos in general. The only Microsoft product I have installed is RDC since its an essential whenever I need to remotely control any of my Windows 2000 servers.

Entourage, though, is another story. I thought it would work almost exactly like Outlook, but the I never got it to talk properly to the MS Exchange server here at work. Entourage now basically functions like a POP mail client for me, pulling out my messages from the server via POP3 and sending out messages via SMTP. It doesn't work for stuff like automatically scheduling meetings and other admittedly cool grousp working funtions that Outlook was known for.

We also have the same problems. To work around it, I sync my Tungsten|T to my office desktop (a fugly IBM NetVista) and when I'm sure that I got all my schedules on the Palm, I synch it again to my iBook via iSync. As for the mails, I just leave them all on my desktop. For those mails where I need a copy on-hand, I forward it to my @MaPalad.org account and download it via Apple Mail.

I'd like to drop Entourage completely and shift to Apple Mail. The problem is, even after setting up an account with exactly the same settings that I had for Entourage, I can't get my mail from the Excahnge server, even when I'm logged on from within the network.
Is there anyone who has made the same switch (Entourage --> Apple Mail)? Any tips from network admins who work with both Macs and Windows networks running on MS Exchange at work?

On a related note, perhaps some people can share their experience in replacing other MS apps with other apps?

My solution of syncing my MS Outlook schedules to my Mac may not be an *elegant* solution but it works for me -- mainly because my iBook sits beside my office desktop whenever I'm working. As for personal mails, I created a rule on the MS Outlook on my desktop to forward all personal mails (or at least mails that are addressed only to me) to my @mapalad.org mails so I can download them to my iBook.

With regards to .DOC and .XLS files, I just do them in NeoOffice. I'm not a "fancy" writer when doing technical documents for work so it suffices. Besides, my target readers here at the office are more interested in the contents of my papers/documentations/reports than the formatting that they have.

[directX]

The OpenOffice.org Tech Preview available at Apple's Software download page is far better than NeoOffice. I highly recommend using it instead of NeoOffice, which is really slow.

Anybody successfully installed the MPlayer plug-in to Safari? Might work the same way as the WMP plug-in. This will make it easier for me to remove it entirely.

[vicicasas]

As much as I'd love to say I'm Microsoft-free ... I have to admit, I love my Xbox!

[CooLes]

Originally posted by vicicasas
As much as I'd love to say I'm Microsoft-free ... I have to admit, I love my Xbox!

Yup. Same setup as this film director I talked to. The only thing MS in his home is his Xbox. Now am waiting for Xbox 2.

Appleworks seem to import and export MS files like Word and Excel pretty well.

[alfiesy]

Citibank Online Banking can be accessed through a Mac only via MS Internet Explorer. And even with the last version of MS IE, PDF electronic statements cannot be viewed nor downloaded.

[ginoledesma]

The only true Microsoft Outlook client for the Mac is "Outlook 2001 for Macintosh," which was released for Mac OS 9.x. MS Entourage is not a true Outlook equivalent, and its MS Exchange support is limited, and requires configuration on the part of MS Exchange to get it to work properly (web access).

I use OpenOffice at work, but I find that OpenOffice 1.0.1 for Mac is really lethargic compared to the 1.1.x releases available for other platforms. I still haven't gotten used to the formatting change here and there, but for basic requirements, OOo does the job.

I am still debating about Keynote as a replacement to PowerPoint. I still find it rather, limited, for some tasks.