It is a shame that they haven't shipped support for multiple/attached PST files, for those of us stuck with Outlook on Windows with years of emails archived in PST files.
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Microsoft Launches New Outlook for Mac, Next Office for Mac Suite Coming in Second Half of 2015
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It is a shame that they haven't shipped support for multiple/attached PST files, for those of us stuck with Outlook on Windows with years of emails archived in PST files.
That is MS's goal. I have a relative who works on the O365/Exchange team (MS consultant who plans and implements Exchange). MS says it's easier to support than on-premises servers (plus the revenue, I'm sure). Unless something drastic happens, that will continue to be MS's plan.
The real desire, whether or not it happens, is cloud/subscription only one day, but that will take some convincing for clients to let go. My employer uses a hybrid model and will go kicking and screaming to a 100% cloud structure.
Truth is, Outlook for Mac would not be my preferred mail tool. However, it is the best tool when working against an Exchange mail server. So, I just upgraded. It was simple, painless, and complete. It is what it is, Microsoft Outlook, and as far as my usage goes, I have lost zero functionality and gained none. moving on now.
I used Lotus Notes for about 10 years and did I wish we could just have Outlook instead.
Yeah, so far, same impression .... 
I need to test this a little more to see if I'm missing some things ... but so far? It doesn't feel like much of an upgrade over Outlook 2011 to me, other than the visual revamp?
I still don't see, for example, a way to view multiple calendars side-by-side, like I could do in Outlook 2013 for Windows?
I still don't see an "auto archive" option on any of the menus for mail archiving?
I *hope* it has some core improvements, like more stability when working with larger-size mailboxes in Exchange. That, alone, would make it worth rolling out to our users where I work. But I'm kind of underwhelmed right now that we waited 3 years for a new version of Outlook on the Mac and this is all we're getting so far?
I need to test this a little more to see if I'm missing some things ... but so far? It doesn't feel like much of an upgrade over Outlook 2011 to me, other than the visual revamp?
I still don't see, for example, a way to view multiple calendars side-by-side, like I could do in Outlook 2013 for Windows?
I still don't see an "auto archive" option on any of the menus for mail archiving?
I *hope* it has some core improvements, like more stability when working with larger-size mailboxes in Exchange. That, alone, would make it worth rolling out to our users where I work. But I'm kind of underwhelmed right now that we waited 3 years for a new version of Outlook on the Mac and this is all we're getting so far?
Installed, initial impressions : pretty much Outlook 2011 with flat Outlook 2013 styling. Now to decide whether I migrate back to it after moving to Apple Mail fully previously. It is clean looking however.
edit .... looks like migrating is going to be a hassle as it will only allow import from Office not Mail ... ?
I hear you! Some of my clients (two of them) use it and it leaves so much to be desired. Even technically, it's one of the hardest systems to integrate with, Domino server has a very closed architecture compared to Microsoft Exchange Server.
Take a look at the built-in help - there is an article "Compare Outlook for Mac for Office 365 with Outlook 2013".
A few tables of "Yes / No" about feature differences. Quite a shame there is still such a large gap between them.
This article: https://support.office.com/en-au/ar...ook-2013-bd54cb79-d367-4c2f-89c7-3e5d16618f87
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I've been turned off from Mac Office for years. Microsoft's continuous back-dooring Mac customers making them think they are getting the same version as the Windows version since they were charging the same price, only to see that the Mac version was dumbed down with poor performance.
It's bad enough for years "Outlook" for Mac was called Entourage. :roll eyes:
It wasn't until they received bad press, lost sales and realized that they were losing money to people bootlegging the Windows version that they decided to finally cater to the Mac crowd properly. I'm still not convinced this version of Outlook equals the Windows version. I'll pass. Mail.App works perfectly for business flow.
re: Enterprises and Office
Yeah... The big obstacle I see to adopting this cloud/subscription model for Office are the institutions that don't have some of their computers attached to the Internet.
It might, increasingly, be the exception rather than the rule... but I'm pretty sure there are still systems out there in manufacturing, for example, where they use parts of MS Office (like Excel for data collection and analysis) but they're not even attached to a network. In a lot of big warehouses or shop floors, wireless isn't really feasible and it's costly to run wired ethernet to all the places out there where a computer and some machinery might be located.
In finance and banking, I'm sure there are also computers that can't be attached to the Internet for security reasons -- but may still have a copy of Office on them. Same for the military?
The need to "check in" with activation servers in the cloud poses a real problem for these scenarios.
Yeah... The big obstacle I see to adopting this cloud/subscription model for Office are the institutions that don't have some of their computers attached to the Internet.
It might, increasingly, be the exception rather than the rule... but I'm pretty sure there are still systems out there in manufacturing, for example, where they use parts of MS Office (like Excel for data collection and analysis) but they're not even attached to a network. In a lot of big warehouses or shop floors, wireless isn't really feasible and it's costly to run wired ethernet to all the places out there where a computer and some machinery might be located.
In finance and banking, I'm sure there are also computers that can't be attached to the Internet for security reasons -- but may still have a copy of Office on them. Same for the military?
The need to "check in" with activation servers in the cloud poses a real problem for these scenarios.
Second half of 2015 for the rest of office? The Microsoft Mac team has been sitting on their hands for 4 years.
More like 12.
Ok, so if I previously had Office 2011 installed, and now I signed up for Office 365.....do I need to do anything with Word/Excel/Powerpoint? Or should I just leave them alone?
I'm uninstalling Outlook 2011 and installing the new version of that.
-Kevin
I'm uninstalling Outlook 2011 and installing the new version of that.
-Kevin
thats just, like, your opinion, man.
i think iWork and Mail are much more enjoyable to use than MS counterparts. simpler for the common joe, which is what i use their tools for. i love, love the cloud-based documents and that its free. i do light computation in Numbers for my work, nothing major so its fine for me. presentations are great in Keynote. Pages is a billion times more workable than Word for me so its value is higher.
Those damn ribbons
This is just an expression of personal taste, but I loathe Microsoft's ribbon-based interface. Ever since the introduction of OSX, the Mac aesthetic has been based on simplicity and an absence of clutter, and I for one find it hugely atractive. For somebody with a 27" iMac, clutter is simply an aesthetic downer. For somebody with a 11" laptop it is far worse, since every square inch of available workspace is a precious commodity. A major reason for AOL's failure was that its software engineers could never get it through their heads that interface complexity and visual clutter was a Bad Thing, and so America voted with its feet. Word 5 was a thing of beauty, perhaps the best word processor ever built, and the other parts of its suite were equally good. Then the Ribbon Gang showed up and ruined the whole thing. One wonders if these bozos were out-of-work AOL designers.
This is just an expression of personal taste, but I loathe Microsoft's ribbon-based interface. Ever since the introduction of OSX, the Mac aesthetic has been based on simplicity and an absence of clutter, and I for one find it hugely atractive. For somebody with a 27" iMac, clutter is simply an aesthetic downer. For somebody with a 11" laptop it is far worse, since every square inch of available workspace is a precious commodity. A major reason for AOL's failure was that its software engineers could never get it through their heads that interface complexity and visual clutter was a Bad Thing, and so America voted with its feet. Word 5 was a thing of beauty, perhaps the best word processor ever built, and the other parts of its suite were equally good. Then the Ribbon Gang showed up and ruined the whole thing. One wonders if these bozos were out-of-work AOL designers.
Nope. Nothing to see here. Carry on.
From Outlook help:
Cant sync Outlook for Mac with calendars and contacts in Outlook.com, iCloud, Gmail accounts
Outlook for Mac does not currently support CalDAV or CardDAV. This means that it is not possible to synchronize your Outlook.com, iCloud, Gmail calendar or contacts with Outlook for Mac. However, Outlook for Mac does support iCloud Mail. For more information, see Microsoft Outlook for Mac compatibility with Apple iCloud
Gee, just like OS X
Kind of like the rest of OS X does already? Why do I need a dedicated app for that? Hmm...
Kind of like the rest of OS X does already? Why do I need a dedicated app for that? Hmm...
Any other way to get the executable other than via the downloads page on your Office365 account?
Our admin has turned off the ability to download the software from there, because we are still on Office 2010 for the PC's and they don't want people installing 2013.
But, for the Macs (or for home) we are left out being able to get what we need.
I have a valid O365 license, just need the software.
Our admin has turned off the ability to download the software from there, because we are still on Office 2010 for the PC's and they don't want people installing 2013.
But, for the Macs (or for home) we are left out being able to get what we need.
I have a valid O365 license, just need the software.
It all comes down to what you need, and what you want. Like Photoshop and Illustrator. Pixelmator comes close to matching it on features, and Affinity looks like it'll work great as an Illustrator alternative. But if you need those missing features, or you want your various programs to play well together, there's really nothing out there that directly compares to the entire Creative Suite. For those people, paying $50 a month works better for them than paying a one time charge of $80 for a set of programs that are close but a little lacking in some areas.
It's kind of the same thing with Office 365. For me, it's overkill. I'm using Libreoffice right now, and I'll likely end up moving over to Pages and Numbers when I get my Mac here soon. But if you need all the features and power Office provides, you've got it for $10 a month.
It's all just one option among many. I think of subscription services as a good thing because, for one, it provides a lower barrier of entry to people who want to play with higher end programs, and two, it spurs on other developers to make better alternatives for people who don't want to pay that sub fee.
Also, one thing you're not keeping in mind with Office is that you're not subbing to individual programs, you're buying into a suite. That $10 a month gives you every Office Program, and (now) unlimited Skydrive storage. Now if all you wanted to use was one program out of the bunch, and never use Skydrive, it wouldn't be worth it to you. Just use something else. But at the same time, that's not that bad of a deal at all. It's more like you're paying for Skydrive, getting Office for free.
#1 missing feature still missing
It looks like it is still missing the biggest problem with all versions of Mac Outlook / Entourage going back since the Classic >> OS X conversion: native MAPI protocol to talk to exchange.
It's still a glorified web front end for Outlook Web Access, and suffers from the same issues.
Outlook for Mac back in the day actually used MAPI, the same as Windows. Why can't we have this?
It looks like it is still missing the biggest problem with all versions of Mac Outlook / Entourage going back since the Classic >> OS X conversion: native MAPI protocol to talk to exchange.
It's still a glorified web front end for Outlook Web Access, and suffers from the same issues.
Outlook for Mac back in the day actually used MAPI, the same as Windows. Why can't we have this?
I'll echo what others have said, this new version is a disappointment in the feature department. It really does seem like a reskinned 2011. Probably the biggest disappointment for me is that there have been no visible improvements in the formatting options of new messages. For example, you still cannot resize an inserted image, something that the Windows version has been able to do for ages.
But it does look nice!
But it does look nice!
I use Outlook 2013 on Windows via Parallels strictly because Outlook for Mac has never had a To Do Bar for all my tasks and calendar appointments. I love seeing everything in one view. I thought maybe just maybe the new version would have added this functionality. Nope. No To Do Bar in the new version of Outlook.