[bferriot]

>>My only complaint about it is that [My Day] isn't very configurable...color, sizing doesn't stick, etc.

You are correct. I sent feedback to MS to at least make it auto hide to the screen edges since it snaps to them already. It's really quit large and obtrusive. I'm not happy that everything is purple, either. I'd like the ability to change it to gray or white.

[bferriot]

>>Actually one other flaw, is that My Day doesn't seem to properly
display all-day events. As a physician who works in the hospital, I
note which service I am attending on for the day as an all-day event,
and it doesn't show them on My Day.



As a designer, I use all day events to track my projects from day to day, becasue I can drag and drop between days when jobs don't get done (drag it to the next day). Which brings me to the question...what's the difference between Tasks and To-Do's? Isn't it the same thing?



Another thing I notice with My Day is I have 3 appointments coming up this Friday and it's only showing the first appointment. What's up with that? I'd also like a mini calander available in My Day, that would have been nice.

[GulfCoast]

I'm still trying to figure out, having read the review twice, where Mr. Negrino feels Entourage is "deeper" than the the Apple trio for those of us who don't need Exchange functionality. He mentions more fine-grained Rules, and he's right, Entourage is stronger there. But he doesn't cite much else, and complains of a dearth of updates on Project Manager, Address Book, Tasks, and so on, and then asserts there are a wealth of features that beat out the Apple trio. (Perhaps he means that there is something like Project Manager in Entourage, which doesn't exist in Apple Mail, but I've yet to find anyone who really uses and sticks with Project Manager. It seems a good idea in search of a better execution--just like My Day.) I hope he will be more specific in future articles about these features. I used Entourage happily for several years, switched to Mail about a year ago, had an annoying issue with Mail about a month ago, and so switched back to Entourage 2004. . .and then switched back within a couple of days. Mail was just easier (at least for me) to use, although it's not one of my favorite tools. But I was very eager to see if Entourage 2008 would be a major advance over Mail, because I would switch if it was. I would very much like to see a detailed comparison between the two products. I guess I could sit down and do it myself, but this is why I am a Macworld subscriber.

I'm also trying to figure out what makes Entourage rate four stars, given bugs that were serious enough to find during the review process and a cited lack of useful updates.

[bigpics]

Coming over from WinWorld and Outlook Express, which I managed but never loved, I spent a few months trying to get Entourage (and Apple Mail) to do something useful for me.
Like in the case of e-mail, sync with my then brandy-new gMail account.
No matter what I tried (and after many discussions on forums, Apple's, Google's, etc.) I never could get a working link to that account in either program. And on Entourage even linking to MS Hotmail was very flaky -- my two accounts there worked differently somehow in Entourage.

(Note: once Google added IMAP support, Apple Mail can now link to my account)
I tried some of the other Entourage corp-oriented tools like projects and calendars and found them the antithesis of intuitive, massively frustrating, not productivity enhancing and dog slow (if you have an old fat, lame dog).

And then, as a user of multiple computers, it began dawning me as I got used to the (continually improving) gMail interface and tool set (linked to google calendar and google docs, etc) -- where I also record all my contact info -- why do I need to be mucking around by importing everything into my hard drive in an interface I don't find as useful as GMail's automatically threaded formin the first place??

I do download my GMail so in the rare event I'm not connected and need some info I can access it -- but otherwise I see no value that either MS or Apple adds to that experience. My calendar needs are simple and the way I approach the multiple tasks in my life makes a simple easily editable simple text document my best "To Do" list and a yellow pad, supplemented by some Numbers tables my project manager.

Note: I use the free Yahoo Calendar for appointments I fear I'll forget, since it will send me TWO TXT MSG reminders beeping away in my pocket, at intervals before the event that are customizeable per event from days to minutes in advance. Last I checked neither iCal, Entourage nor any "g-program" was doing that.

On the other hand, there seem to be so many committed to at least the native Mac tools I wonder what I'm missing here. There must be some rational reasons all this ware still engages the many to continue to use it. Enlightenment is always appreciated, and I'll happily re-consider the Apple tools if shown the life-changing benefits.

On the other hand, I doubt anything will get me to invoke the hydra-headed monster that is Enourage again. Fewer Microsoft products in one's life is most often a cleansing experience. And I'd drop using Word for Pages TODAY if Apple had made the .doc format an option for default saves, instead of forcing two extra clicks to export every single re-save of document. I do have to exchange docs with the non-Pages using world and sometimes to often re-edit on the fly on a PC or Mac that only has Word, so another "only works with my niche product" file format is the last thing I need.

I realize I could do my belt and suspender interim saves as a Pages document and export a final to Word, but that leaves multiple file copies and necessitates trips to the finder to many ferrett out and delete the .pages versions after each document.

Apple, you come so close, but always give into that "proprietariness" gene in your corp culture that leaves me on the outside looking in. Ditto for no included code migration path from iWeb.....

[Walt_Basil]

That was the one functionality of Entourage that I found useful that wasn't available with my Mail/iCal/Address Book combo. Gads, it has been so long since I have even thought of that. That was quite a useful feature. But something that I quickly learned to do without. And I haven't thought about it since - until you brought it up here. I still say I don't need it. My want of the beauty and elegance and functionality of Mail/iCal/Address Book far outweighs any of the linkage I once enjoyed.

[samrod]

10.5.1

[bferriot]

and to add to that...



Flagged to-do messages in the inbox do not show up in My Day. Interface that handles flagged to-do messages is different then interface for to-do items and My Day to-do items, causing confusion and limiting editability of flagged to-do messages.

[steve2008]

After many hours working with the new and improved 2008, and discovering that I have lost sync capabilities with Treo, I believe I am ready to take the plunge to the apple and leave MS Entourage behind. I made the mistake of syncing with apple address book and lost all categories. I was able to rebuild using a backup database, but does anyone know of a way to transfer categories from Entourage to address book and mail, etc? I am told by MS that categories cannot be imported. There must be a way to avoid manually entering categories for thousands of contacts. Any ideas would be appreciated.

[pwfb]

I bought the product, albeit prematurely in retrospect and have not yet installed it. I depend heavily on the need to sync my calendar/address book/notes/tasks with my Blackberry via PocketMac. Apparently there is no update to PokcetMac for the sync to Entourage '08, so, I can not install it yet. No one seems to know if/when there will be an update :-(

[Kreece123]

Does Entourage Test only have the capability to "execute email script" to a calendar item? Usually, in the test version i would right click on the email and it would add it to my calendar (with email script included in the notes portion). However i just bought and installed the new Office 08 for Mac and this newer Entourage doesnt allow for that script to be included in the calendar item.
At least, i havent found out how to do it, if in fact it does?!
Help?
THX

[mainstreamx]

Up to now I used Entourage X.
It is some work to transfer alle the mails, and contacts, tasks, notices to the Mail /iCal / Adressbook, but with some tricks, it works.
concerning contacts: Bento (trial version) is of good help. It's much more stable than address book importer. Just import into Bento Address Book Library, it is at the same time imported into Address Book.

[scotte75ky]

I'm pretty impressed with the new office 08 for the most part. Entourage 08 is a much better application then the previous version. I must give Microsoft some props on this release. They've made some mistakes in the past, but seem to have really stepped it up for this new release.
I've also noticed .pps files being much more compatible on this version.

[pwfb]

Wouldn't know if this new release is impressive or not. Without the ability seamlessly sync my Blackberry to Entourage, I can't install what I wastefully purchased. Come on PocketMac and Microsoft, wake up!

[ubla]

I have been using NowContact UpTodate 4.5.1 on tiger with no problems and Entourage mail.
Now Contact i4.5.1 is net superior to Entourage and Address Book and ICall and id a decade old application
Now handles duplicate removal
In Now one could create any form letter label fax ? this is limited in the others. Entourage would not add the Job Title of Department to an address ? imagine that my letter instead of going to the CEO goes to George Willis the doormen.
Now Date merge features to Word are excellent
Now calendar is superior to Entourage or iCal
Now is fastttttt and sinks to my Treo 650 palm with full functionality and Now is 10 year old application. I have tried Now 5.0 is a junk.
Now?s database is searchable like a true database not like Entourage or Address Book both are jokes
I have imported in Entourage 2008 9 gigs of emails from Entourage 2004, Now calendar and 4000 contacts also from Now.
Entourage is slow when switching between email and contacts and then when searching contacts there are many seconds of lag it is unusable.
Also in I had to rebuild numerous times my database in Entourage 2004.
In spite of the fact that Apple?s Address iCall and Calendars are not only subpar but also idiotically infantile (no corporation will ever adopt such garbage), I because of my small business will go with Apples trio only because of the iphone I am planning for.
If the iphone is to sell 10million copies Apple will have to urgently develop the Address Book and iCal unless will hit a brick wall . Also a true calendar must have time management included.