Microsoft to replace Entourage with Outlook. Nice idea but kind of too late
I should have been excited to hear that Microsoft is finally replacing its stale excuse for an e-mail program for the Mac - Entourage - with a shiny new Mac version of Outlook, due out late next year.
But I wasn't - excited about it, that is. You see, I'm already looking forward to my update to Snow Leopard, the new version of Mac OS X, next month. One of the upgrades to that OS is support for Microsoft Exchange in Apple Mail.
Actually, I'd be a happier guy if my company got on board with Google Apps and I could just run Exchange there. After all, I already keep my personal and work calendars in Google Calendar and manage my contacts through GMail. And, seeing how Google is Web-based, gaining access to work e-mail wouldn't have been such a big deal earlier this month when I had to use a loaner machine while the IT guys did some upgrade work to my Mac.
But I digress...
What struck me as interesting is the spin that Microsoft is putting on this announcement, like they've been working in the lab for some time now and have had some technological breakthrough that allows them to bring Outlook to Max OS X. Microsoft Mac Business Unit general manager Eric Wilfrid tells Macworld.com that Outlook for the Mac will be built on the "most modern OS X frameworks to make Outlook beautiful, to make it high performance, and to make it well integrated with the OS." From the Macworld.com post:
Wilfrid said that Microsoft will create Outlook for Mac using Apple’s modern Cocoa development frameworks, rather than the older Carbon system used by previous Office applications because of their legacy of having been originally developed for the Classic Mac OS.
Seriously? Developed for the Classic Mac OS? You know, the OS from the 90s.
What was it, Microsoft, that suddenly made you realize that it was time for an Entourage replacement and e-mail makeover? Was it the fact that Apple is going to offer support for Exchange in its own Mail product? Was it the rise of Google Apps as a competitor to old client-based mail software?
Microsoft is talking about software that won't even be out for another year. A lot can happen between now and then. For me, maybe one of those things will be a Google Apps future for my company. It doesn't really matter, though. As soon as I get my hands on Snow Leopard, I'm routing my corporate mail through Apple Mail.
After that, Entourage will become another Microsoft Office program that I'll never have to open again.