Entourage vs. Mail, address book, and iCal

[the_Nong]

i have been using mail, iCal & address book since i used the mac. as i was curious of the ms entourage, i opend it and configured the preferences. i am begining to like it because of the ease and the inter-relations of the 3 components (mail,address, & calendar), but on the other hand i miss the use of the other 3 applications..

before i become more 'in' to the entourage, what are the comparission/pros-cons/preferred/more easier with the mac system? or has there been a thead re: this?



[Edited on 8-13-2004 by the_Nong]

[gonz]

It's simply personal preference, Nong. Some people like Entourage's tight level of integration and functionality. Other people prefer the simple and uncluttered interface of Mail and iCal. Personally, I didn't consider iCal ready for primetime before the current version -- it was too slow and cumbersome, also quite limited in some respects. On the other hand, some people really love iCal's capability to share/publish calendars online.

Just bear in mind that if you choose Microsoft Entourage over Apple's iCal and Mail, you will perpetuate and become a member of the Evil Empire, and we mighty Mac warriors will have to vanquish you when we next cross paths. Beware. Watch your back.

[Edited on 8-13-2004 by gonz]

[jasondv]

I bought Office X principally for Entourage (we use an Exchange server and Outlook at work), thinking that Entourage, being an MS product, would work seamlessly with Exchange and the other services that work on Outlook.

BIG MISTAKE.

Couldn't transfer my Outlook data to Entourage without jumping thorugh some hoops. Most of the services that Exchange offers for Outlook (automatic incorporation of meeting invites into the calendar, for example) don't work with Entourage. I can't send meeting invites (at least I haven't figured out how). The security settings (?) on our server are ratcheted up so high that the network admins couldn't get the server to recognize my machine to receive and send mail. And so on and so forth. Sigh.

I switched to Mail, Address Book, and iCal. No regrets. Not as tightly integrated as Entourage, but being simpler, cleaner, and easier to use, I am more productive. Oh, the search function of Mail is leaps and bounds ahead of that of Entourage in terms of speed.

But that's MY experience. Other probably have had a different one, and may even prefer Entourage. As gonz said, it's a personal preference, and in these cases YMMV. :2cents:

[the_Nong]

Originally posted by gonz
Just bear in mind that if you choose Microsoft Entourage over Apple's iCal and Mail, you will perpetuate and become a member of the Evil Empire, and we mighty Mac warriors will have to vanquish you when we next cross paths. Beware. Watch your back.

i like that one!

going back.. as in, i am back to mail, iCal & address book. i just can't figure out the how the system works. maybe takes a lot of getting used to. plus, when i sinc my mobile phone, iSinc takes over and uses the default applications.

well, i think my dilema is solved. thanks for your enlightenment..

[the_Nong]

Originally posted by jasondv
BIG MISTAKE.

..I switched to Mail, Address Book, and iCal. No regrets. Not as tightly integrated as Entourage, but being simpler, cleaner, and easier to use, I am more productive. Oh, the search function of Mail is leaps and bounds ahead of that of Entourage in terms of speed.

i agree.. you've said it all.

[El CaMOTe]

I use Entourage, and the "spam metre is set to full" and I still get 1 good email out of 10 spam messages !! Bleaaachhh !!:sick:

Wouldn't mind switching to Mail 'cept how do I transfer all my data ??:dry:

Cheers to you guys in Mail

[CooLes]

Originally posted by gonz
On the other hand, some people really love iCal's capability to share/publish calendars online.[Edited on 8-13-2004 by gonz]

True. Since I subscribed to PinoyMac events on my iCal, everything syncs perfectly even to my phone. BTW, today is PinoyMac's first anniversary! arty::beer:

[gonz]

Originally posted by El CaMOTe
Wouldn't mind switching to Mail 'cept how do I transfer all my data ??:dry:

How to import email into Mail.app

How to import addresses into Address Book

Good luck!

[gonz]

Originally posted by jasondv
I bought Office X principally for Entourage

This brings up a good point: Entourage costs mucho moolah, while Mail.app, iCal and Address Book are free with your Mac.

No matter how you look at it, "free" is a great price for the level of functionality and ease of use that you get with Apple's email/address book/calendar solution. I'll choose free every time!

[jasondv]

Originally posted by gonz
This brings up a good point: Entourage costs mucho moolah...

True, true. I got the educational version, so it cost me a lot less, but it was still money So, I'm making the most of the other apps -- Word, Excel, PowerPoint.