Apple Mail vs. Microsoft Entourage
I have recently decided to set up a program to receive my e-mail for my school account and AOL e-mail account and am wondering which program would be better for handling e-mail, Apple's Mail or Microsoft Entourage?
Also I do not have a .Mac account ... yet, I am still wondering if $100 a year is worth it, and I know if I do create an account, that Apple's Mail is of coarse a better choice.
Also I do not have a .Mac account ... yet, I am still wondering if $100 a year is worth it, and I know if I do create an account, that Apple's Mail is of coarse a better choice.
Comments
Entourage is cool, but no way as cool as the apple apps, in entourage, you can't even search a whole message.
.Mac worth it? It's all depends, I used to use .Mac for a year, and afterwards found that I only use it for email, then there are much cheaper email hosts provides the same service with much cheaper price, however, if you share pictures a lot, then yes, it is very simple to use (.Mac) for sharing photos.
I love Mail and Address Book. I love the Smart Groups feature in Address Book and the Smart Mailboxes in Mail.
Address Book is also used by many other applications I use (such as Adium)...since Entourage uses it's proprietary structure, no app can access Entourages built-in address book.
Originally posted by SPlatt886
I have recently decided to set up a program to receive my e-mail for my school account and AOL e-mail account and am wondering which program would be better for handling e-mail, Apple's Mail or Microsoft Entourage?
Also I do not have a .Mac account ... yet, I am still wondering if $100 a year is worth it, and I know if I do create an account, that Apple's Mail is of coarse a better choice.
Entourage is a steaming pile of Microsoft crap. Virtually everyday, I read new threads from Entourage users trying to cope with its quirks, "features," and frustrations. If you must access an Exchange server that is setup so as to be incompatible with Mail, then you have to use Entourage. Otherwise, leave it alone. Don't like Mail? Use Eudora, Thunderbird, or what other mail client you can find. The AOL Communicator mail client allows you to unify your AOL, POP3, and IMAP accounts.
I've used Mail and Entourage for years. I've always used Mail for my personal email, and at work I use Entourage because we use Exchange. I've noticed lots of little nuances in both over the years because I have to support both for Mac faculty and and staff of my University. It's no contest, Mail is better (for POP, IMAP, or .Mac). You have no idea how many times we've been scratching our heads and getting frustrated at the problems and design decisions Microsoft made with Entourage.
Just try searching for something. It's so much easier and better and Mail. How about a smart Junk Mail filter that actually learns what you specify Junk is? Mail's got that, Entourage doesn't. RTF email composition? Mail, yep. Entourage, nope. How about a big, proprietary mail database file that Spotlight can't index and all mail must be lost if it becomes corrupt? Mail: hell no. Entourage: hell yes.
The list goes on. Mail is designed from the ground up to be a tightly integrated, well design email program. Spotlight, Address Book, iCal integration. WebKit. Cocoa APIs (universal spell checker, cmd+ctrl+d to look up in dictionary, etc). Entourage is just Microsoft's excuse to say they have a Mac email program. It's got lots of legacy code which makes it feel sluggish, it's got lots of little interface annoyances, and don't get me started on its Exchange support.
In typical Microsoft fashion, you'll have to click though many more windows, menus and widgets in Entourage to accomplish the same task that Mail will do with much less effort. And you'll be presented with lots of annoying, confusing dialog boxes along the way. ("Are you sure you want to do that?...") Mail seems way less intrusive; it just gets out of your way and lets you do your work.
I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts, comments, suggestions and any other alternatives to Micro$oft programs .
So get a gmail account and use Apple Mail.
The only feature I miss is that I used to be able to have messages routed to a certain mailbox (for example those with 'Christmas contest' in the subject line) and then have all those respondents added to a separate e-mailing list.
It's easy enough to do the first part by Mail's rules, but I've never figured out how to have those particular people automatically added to a special group in Address Book.
Originally posted by Frank777
I switched from Outlook Express to Mail.
The only feature I miss is that I used to be able to have messages routed to a certain mailbox (for example those with 'Christmas contest' in the subject line) and then have all those respondents added to a separate e-mailing list.
It's easy enough to do the first part by Mail's rules, but I've never figured out how to have those particular people automatically added to a special group in Address Book.
Try Automator, I believe it has built-in actions to do just what you need...
Grab mail from X Mailbox.
Add Sender's to Address Book.
Add Sender's to Group in Address Book.
I also think that Entourage is the only item from the Microsoft Office package (for Mac) that works really good.
I feel Entourage to be more solid and offer a lot more options.
The ONLY thing I do NOT like about Entourage is that it does not use MacOS X Address Book for contact integration.. and with Spotlight, you cannot search the mails. MS Says they will resolve this eventually.
If you have never used either, I'm sure you'll be fine with Mail..