Outlook 2003 = CRAP

[Helevitia]

My company is jumping on the exchange server bandwagon and so I thought I'd just conform now and switch to Outlook 2003 to start "getting used to it".

OMG, it's like sticking daggers in your eyes to use it. I absolutely hate this program in almost every way. After a week of fighting it, I finally got it to a point where it feels almost usable. Though I am sad to say that some of the most annoying things I can't find a resolution to or one doesn't exist. So instead of totally bad mouthing it (i know, too late) to death, I thought I'd post a few issues here and see if in fact I am screwed or someone might have a resolution to my problems.

First of all, let it be known that I use IMAP. Admittedly, a lot of my problems would be solved if I use POP but I dont because I need to check my email from several locations throughout any given day. But why offer IMAP support if it sucks??? Anyway...

1. How do I stop the personal folders list from "maximizing"? I want it to stay minimized all the time. Better yet, how do I delete the entire personal folders list? From what I've read in the help, you can't.

2. Is there anyway to get rid of the favorite folders? I know you can click on folder list and it will temporarily disappear, but I never want to see it ever again. I've also looked up the help on this and apparently you cant delete that list either?

3. Favorite folders again - I know you can remove items from the favorite folders list, but they come back when I start up outlook again! AAAHHHH!

4. If I have to ahve the personal folders list up there, how can I change the Inbox (under personal folders) to be my IMAP inbox? Why the F*ck do I have to have a seperate Inbox for IMAP stuff? This is so retarded. So now I have this useles Inbox folder sitting there doing nothing. How much stupider can it get?

5. Why do I have to "subscribe" to IMAP sub-folders? Every other email program I have ever used allows me to just create the sub-folder and it automatically works.

6. Deleted items in IMAP show up as crossed out mail rather than going to the trash. This is somewhat understandable because that is how IMAP works, you mark a message as deleted and then you expunge (delete the message permanently). Every other mail program sends the mail to trash, which makes the most sense to me. In outlook, you have to open the advanced tools and select an option that says "hide messages marked for deletion". This is dumb. On top of that, if you wnat this to work the same way in each sub-folder, you ahve to select this option for each sub-folder. Another dumb move!

Oh btw, to "expunge a message, there is no real hotkey, so you have to either hit alt-e, then S or you need to add the expunge button to the icon list. I have done the latter but I only figured that out by luck. Most people wouldn't even know how to do the former. See how dumb this program is.

If anyone knows of better solutions ot my problems, I would love to hear them.

There are many more problems, but these bug me the most.

Dave

[dbdg]

I was thinking about buying Outlook as well.

Time to reconsider.....

[Chucky Cheese]

Dave,

i had the same problem with the maximizing thing...mine was solved when i used the save/restore windows position in the matroxHF driver interface...try sizing the window the way you want it > close it > open it right back up a couple of time...more if neccessary(...like training it, its dumb remember)

the favorites i think you can turn off through the taskbar properties > Start Menu > Customize > Advanced list and within all the office apps.

good luck

cc

[Gurm]

I do think that for POP, Outlook2k3 is just fine.

[Helevitia]

I was thinking about buying Outlook as well.

Time to reconsider.....

If you are going to use POP, it may serve your purpose, but honestly, why buy this program when there are so many for free that do just as good of a job or better. I've been using Thunderbird for a while now and it is simply the best email program I've used.

[Helevitia]

Dave,

i had the same problem with the maximizing thing...mine was solved when i used the save/restore windows position in the matroxHF driver interface...try sizing the window the way you want it > close it > open it right back up a couple of time...more if neccessary(...like training it, its dumb remember)

the favorites i think you can turn off through the taskbar properties > Start Menu > Customize > Advanced list and within all the office apps.

good luck

cc

The "training" didn't work. Even if it did work, the list pops back open when one of my filters moves an email to the "deleted items" folder. Yet another retarded feature

Stupid question, but where is the taskbar properties?

Thanks,
Dave

[Helevitia]

I do think that for POP, Outlook2k3 is just fine.

If you say so

[agallag]

Outlook is designed primarily for connecting to exchange. The POP and IMAP (IMAP particularly) seem to be afterthoughts.

If you're using exchange, it's quite good. Otherwise, there are much better programs out there.

[DGhost]

I use it for both a POP3 and IMAP email clients. the only reason it works fairly well is because it does keep IMAP entirely seperate from the rest of the program.

[Gurm]

It's good for what it is - an integrated mail/task/calendar/scheduler/thinger.

If you want something to read mail with... y'know, there are lots of mail clients.

*shrug*

[Jammrock]

1. How do I stop the personal folders list from "maximizing"? I want it to stay minimized all the time. Better yet, how do I delete the entire personal folders list? From what I've read in the help, you can't.

File -> Data File Management...

You add and remove PST (personal folders) there. Which view do you use? Email only or Folder List?

You have to have some form of PST/OST in Outlook 2003 unless you disable cached mode ... which you can only do if you are connecting to an Exchange 2003 server But if you for some reason have multiple PST/OSTs you can consolidate into one using various methods. Is IMAP your only email service at work?

2. Is there anyway to get rid of the favorite folders? I know you can click on folder list and it will temporarily disappear, but I never want to see it ever again. I've also looked up the help on this and apparently you cant delete that list either?

answer = SOL

[ripped from MS]You cannot rearrange the panes. For example, Favorite Folders is available only in the Mail pane and cannot be removed, hidden, or resized. It also cannot be displayed in other panes, such as Folder List.[ms sucks sometimes] Use Folder List, or delete all the folders out of the Favorite Folders to make it as small as possible. If I find some time I'll see if there's a reg hack.

3. Favorite folders again - I know you can remove items from the favorite folders list, but they come back when I start up outlook again! AAAHHHH!

Didn't do it for me ... ? Did you right-click "Remove from Favorite Folders" or use the del key?

4. If I have to ahve the personal folders list up there, how can I change the Inbox (under personal folders) to be my IMAP inbox? Why the F*ck do I have to have a seperate Inbox for IMAP stuff? This is so retarded. So now I have this useles Inbox folder sitting there doing nothing.

Been a problem for all versions of Outlook. Once the Inbox, COntacts, etc. folders are in a PST they cannot be removed...ever. You can change the default email delivery loction by doing the following (MS should pay me for doing this $#!*):

Tools -> Email Accounts
"View ... e-mail accounts" -> Next >
On the bottom of the next window you have the "Deliver new email to the following location:" rop down box. Change that to you PST/Personal Folder of choice.
Restart Outlook.

How much stupider can it get?

A lot apparently.

5. Why do I have to "subscribe" to IMAP sub-folders? Every other email program I have ever used allows me to just create the sub-folder and it automatically works.

Not sure what you mean?

6. Deleted items in IMAP show up as crossed out mail rather than going to the trash. This is somewhat understandable because that is how IMAP works, you mark a message as deleted and then you expunge (delete the message permanently). Every other mail program sends the mail to trash, which makes the most sense to me. In outlook, you have to open the advanced tools and select an option that says "hide messages marked for deletion". This is dumb. On top of that, if you wnat this to work the same way in each sub-folder, you ahve to select this option for each sub-folder. Another dumb move!

Oh btw, to "expunge a message, there is no real hotkey, so you have to either hit alt-e, then S or you need to add the expunge button to the icon list. I have done the latter but I only figured that out by luck. Most people wouldn't even know how to do the former. See how dumb this program is.

If anyone knows of better solutions ot my problems, I would love to hear them.

There are many more problems, but these bug me the most.

Dave

Not familiar with IMAP functionality in Outlook 2003. If I could get my hands on an IMAP account to test with I might be able to figure it out. However, you can try good old shift+delete, which should automatically and perminently delete (expunge?) the email. Don't know if that would work for IMAP though.

Jammrock

[Jammrock]

Sasq hooked me up with an IMAP account...you're pretty SOL using IMAP in Outlook 2003. It looks like MS put in there so they could say they supported it, but wrote the code as kind of an afterthought.

Does your work use IMAP for email?

[Gurm]

Hey, at least IMAP works AT ALL in 2k3. In Outlook 2000 it would routinely corrupt your IMAP box.

[Kurt]

's why you don't have Hotmail support for O2k...

[Helevitia]

Thanks Jammrock for helping me out but as you already found out, IMAP is horrible in Outlook. So I want to end this by saying if you use IMAP, DO NOT use Outlook.

I'm not sure if we are actually goign to use Exchange or stick with IMAP/POP3 since the full rollout isn't done yet. They are jsut prepping everyone for the future by having us switch to Outlook now.

Dave