Mail vs Entourage???

[Tom R]

Just purchased new 17" MBP and am wondering what e-mail program you all prefer??? We are coming off many years with Outlook.

I set up Mail and it seems "OK" but I then discovered that Office 2008 has Entourage (I thought it was only in the Business version) and I am contemplating moving to Entourage before I invesnt more time in Mail.

We have two e-mail addresses and two different homes that we use our laptop at...with different ISPs...thus need a couple of different configurations.

From past reading I have heard not too positive comments on both Mail and Entourage...what are the issues with each???

Thanks...Tom R...on the Mac "learning curve"

 

[Sky Blue]

I use Mail personally, Entourage is garbage. Set them both up and try them out, see what you prefer.

 

[jzuena]

I have always used Mail at home. I used to use Entourage at work, since we require Exchange support. But once Snow Leopard's Mail supported Exchange (your server has to be running Exchange 2007, though), I switched over. Mail syncs seamlessly with my iPod touch and Mobile Me. Both Mail and Entourage will work fine with multiple email accounts. Entourage is slow starting up, but has its calendar integrated into the same app. Mail relies on iCal for calendar functions rather than having it built in.

One other option is to live with either one and wait for the next Office for Mac. Microsoft has promised to replace Entourage with Outlook for Mac which would be more comfortable for anyone switching from Windows.

 

[wrldwzrd89]

I love Mail. Never used Entourage. Have you tried Thunderbird? It's an interesting alternative to these two.

 

[Tom R]

I love Mail. Never used Entourage. Have you tried Thunderbird? It's an interesting alternative to these two.

I used Thunderbird briefly when I was having ISP problems and my ISP wanted me to get out of Outlook to see if that helped.

Any particular issues with Mail from your experience? Thanks...Tom R

 

[Tom R]

Entourage is garbage.

Is it "garbage" compared to "Outlook"...or do you just not like it...or Outlook in general?

We are OK with Outlook and have quite a few years of experience with it.

Again...what are the negative points of Entourage...vs PC Outlook????

Thanks...Tom R

 

[wrldwzrd89]

I used Thunderbird briefly when I was having ISP problems and my ISP wanted me to get out of Outlook to see if that helped.

Any particular issues with Mail from your experience? Thanks...Tom R

Only one issue I've encountered with Mail... when I set it up to interact with my GMail account, it needlessly downloads all my messages from the server. I wish I could turn this behavior off for GMail. Other than that, it has worked great!

Is it "garbage" compared to "Outlook"...or do you just not like it...or Outlook in general?

We are OK with Outlook and have quite a few years of experience with it.

Again...what are the negative points of Entourage...vs PC Outlook????

Thanks...Tom R

Based on what I know, Entourage is, at best, a half-hearted attempt at an Outlook client. It does not support 100% of Outlook's features on the PC side, which is a shame for those who need full functionality. Additionally, it does not interact well with Time Machine, Spaces, and several other Mac OS X features, though these may have been initial release bugs and may have been fixed by now.

 

[nutsnbolts]

On the "learning curve" path as well. Just got my MBP and installing applications that "mac versions" of what I had on my PC.

Installed Office 2008...Great!

Wondered about Mail, I am an Outlook user and although I haven't played with Office 2008 yet, I will be setting up my mail in the next few days.

Is Mail = Outlook?

Or is there a Mac Outlook or is Outlook = Entourage?

 

[wrldwzrd89]

On the "learning curve" path as well. Just got my MBP and installing applications that "mac versions" of what I had on my PC.

Installed Office 2008...Great!

Wondered about Mail, I am an Outlook user and although I haven't played with Office 2008 yet, I will be setting up my mail in the next few days.

Is Mail = Outlook?

Or is there a Mac Outlook or is Outlook = Entourage?

Right now, the closest you can get to PC Outlook IS Entourage, if you're using Office 2008. However, if your Outlook server meets the requirements for Mail's Exchange support, and you're running Snow Leopard, give the new Mail a try.

 

[Tom R]

Is Mail = Outlook?

Or is there a Mac Outlook or is Outlook = Entourage?

Mail is an Apple application that comes with the purchase...you should see it on the bottom..."docking station"? It is not Mac version of Outlook.

Office Mac 2008 has Entourage which should also be one of the icons on the bottom of your screen. I believe Entourage is a Microsoft attempt to create a Mac e-mail app that PC Outlook users will recognize? From my reading it does not appear to be a very thorough "eqivalent" of Outlook...others have said next upgrade of MS Office Mac may have a better version of Outlook.

FWIW...certainly just learning...Tom R

 

[Tom R]

Right now, the closest you can get to PC Outlook IS Entourage, if you're using Office 2008. However, if your Outlook server meets the requirements for Mail's Exchange support, and you're running Snow Leopard, give the new Mail a try.

Thanks...I have set up Mail and have it working fine...will probably work with it a bit...looks OK...Tom R

P.S. The new MBP is wife's laptop...she loves the "sound" of the e-mail "flying" off to the recipient Tom R

 

[nutsnbolts]

Mail is an Apple application that comes with the purchase...you should see it on the bottom..."docking station"? It is not Mac version of Outlook.

Office Mac 2008 has Entourage which should also be one of the icons on the bottom of your screen. I believe Entourage is a Microsoft attempt to create a Mac e-mail app that PC Outlook users will recognize? From my reading it does not appear to be a very thorough "eqivalent" of Outlook...others have said next upgrade of MS Office Mac may have a better version of Outlook.

FWIW...certainly just learning...Tom R

Interesting, I guess I will be doing this as well. Tom I haven't begun researching my options between Entourage versus Mail, heck, mail applications in general for the Mac, I just installed Office 2008.

Until I have stumbled on this post (don't meant to hijack) I was like I might as well start here.

From your research between Entourage and Mail (also aside from Exchange support), Any of the two more poweful over the other, functionalities wise?

I can always keep Mail for home/personal use, and if I ever encounter needing Exchange for work, I can always use Entourage as a secondary mail specifically for work. I'm assuming I can do this. I know I'll be using two apps, hence, why I'm wondering whether Mail trumps Entourage in the functionality department.

It seems like aside from Entourage's quirkiness, functionalities are similar between Mail and Entourage? Am I warm?

 

[DKatri]

I have had my MBP for about 2 and a half months and have been using mail.app since i got it.
I installed office over the weekend so i decided to check out entourage, and its alright. Has a lot more features than Mail but for what i need (I'm just an average guy who wants to check his emails and send a few out to friends) Mail does it all and looks a bit nicer IMO.
Both are really good and if I am gonna be using my calendar more i think entourage might be the better option.