Microsoft Outlook 2016 - anybody using?

[Scream And Fly]

Hi all,

I rely very heavily on MS Outlook (the desktop client, not the online mail service) to manage the high volume of emails I receive. It has always been adequate, but never great. I never upgrade on every new release, and currently I'm using Outlook 2010 since its release, and it's decent, however its junk mail filtering features are not very good and overall its performance is not so good with high volumes of mail.

Is anybody using Outlook 2016? I'm thinking of upgrading and was wondering if it is an improvement worth noting.

Thanks!
Greg

[whipper]

A guy at work last night was saying how much he liked it. Thats all no specifics?

[Dave Strong]

I'm in the sme boat as you Greg, so subscribed.

Dave

[Scream And Fly]

A guy at work last night was saying how much he liked it. Thats all no specifics?

Thanks James, that does help. Every bit helps because I'm about to reformat my main workstation here so now is a good time to upgrade. Microsoft has stopped doing updates to the Outlook 2010 junk email filter years ago, and with all of the new domains that were unleashed into the market, blocking domains now is as tedious as banning addresses one by one. It's ridiculous now.

Another issue I have is all of the junk email bots that are using Yahoo and other free email addresses. Don't these companies crack down on this stuff? It's only adding to their bandwidth usage and costing them more money.


I'm in the sme boat as you Greg, so subscribed.

Dave

It looks like I will probably upgrade. Microsoft is really pushing the subscription model now, which I despise. It seems that even Windows is going into this direction and before long we'll all have 250 monthly bills to manage. If you want to buy Office outright, naturally your options are far more limited. I could go into the whole Windows 10 thing but I will try not to here.

Dave, if I upgrade I'll definitely post a full report here. It's looking like I will probably update to it this week.

I appreciate it!
Greg

[Dave Strong]

Did you do the Windows 10 thing yet? I have 7 and real happy with it. My sister had and upgraded and likes it. Seems most with 8 like the 10 upgrade but guys with 7 not really happy when they go to 10.

Dave

[Markus]

The upgrade from Outlook 2010 to Outlook 2014 was not worth it. Much buggier, but not apparent benefits.

I don't know about 2016, but if I were you, if would search for "Outlook 2016 freezes", "Outlook 2016 hangs", "Outlook 2016 bug" and terms like that to find out how much gripe it is causing (or not causing) its users.

[whipper]

Now im more interested to find out also. i have 12 and its been good so far. Ill keep checking to see what the verdict is on 16.

[Scream And Fly]

Well I did the upgrade to Outlook 2016, from 2010. Overall, my basic impression is that it was not much of an upgrade at all. This is my first day using it (and catching up on emails with it) and so far, it functions nearly identically to 2010. The junk email features remain almost unchanged, and interestingly, Microsoft has the junk email filter turned completely off by default.

What I do not like about Outlook 2016 is the Windows 8-ish look to it. I think the looks and styles of the interface can be customized, and I have not yet done so yet, but I definitely will be looking into that when I catch up on my work.

As Markus had warned, Outlook 2016 had already had a lockup, which required the application to restart. So far, only once though. I go through massive volumes of email and I've had this happen with Outlook 2010 as well, so I'll try to remain optimistic and reserve my judgement on Outlook 2016's reliability until I have more time on it. And I also agree with Markus and extend my similar conclusion to Outlook 2016, in that it does not appear to be much of an upgrade at all.

Dave, I will not be upgrading to Windows 10. I am using Windows 7 64-bit on my main workstation and on my laptop and have been 100% happy with it. It's been stellar. I have another PC with Windows 8.1 and I do not like it much at all. It seems like an smartphone interface rather than a computer. And the Microsoft store is offering apps for Ebay, Netflix, and other apps that we've always run within the browser. It's as if Windows is heading the way of iOS. Win8.1 runs well enough, but I much prefer 7.

Microsoft is giving away Windows 10 for a very specific reason - and that is, they are positioning those Windows users to eventually get into their future subscription-based Windows model. And that is definitely happening, just like it has with Office (though I was able to still buy my Office 2016 complete and not as a subscription). Microsoft isn't generous and lately they've been attempting some very alarming software licensing schemes. For example, with Office 2013 they made a change to the Office licensing in that, it would be tied to the computer it was first installed on (http://news.thewindowsclub.com/office-2013-license-tied-pc-installed-60271/). So, if you replace the computer, you would need to purchase a new copy of Office - or, you just could not install Office on the new machine. Nice, right? So please read the fine print on the Windows 10 license. There are some websites that actually explain it in great detail.

I want to also say that I am very annoyed at that "important" update that was installed onto Windows 7 months ago that reminds me to upgrade to Windows 10, every single day. Naturally, this came into Windows Update flagged as "Important", and it did not describe in any way whatsoever what it did. That really annoys me. I managed to locate and remove it, but it required some investigating. A lot of people complained about that, and rightfully so. So I think MS is, or has made changes to how they will describe updates. But it bothers me that MS keeps pushing the boundaries, with their "do first, ask permission later" mentality.

That aside, Windows 7 has been absolutely rock solid for me, both on my main workstation and laptop. Not once has it ever locked up, failed to boot, or done anything wrong. Not ever. I have a lot of applications running at once at most times, and my machines see a lot of work, and I've come to really rely on Win7. It will be very hard for me to leave Windows 7. I dare say it's been an absolute perfect performer since the first day I used it.

But my conclusion on Outlook 2016, and Office 2016 as a whole, so far is that I have gained nothing that will make my work any faster or easier. Maybe that will change when I use it more, but Outlook 2016 seems no better than Outlook 2010 at all.

Greg

[Dave Strong]

Thanks Greg, confirmed what I thought. I to have 7 64bit and also never had a problem other than the annoying "upgrade to 10 update". Will find and remove that myself. ;)

Dave:)

[Markus]

Windows 7 has been absolutely rock solid for me, both on my main workstation and laptop. Not once has it ever locked up, failed to boot, or done anything wrong. Not ever. I have a lot of applications running at once at most times, and my machines see a lot of work, and I've come to really rely on Win7. It will be very hard for me to leave Windows 7. I dare say it's been an absolute perfect performer since the first day I used it.

But my conclusion on Outlook 2016, and Office 2016 as a whole, so far is that I have gained nothing that will make my work any faster or easier. Maybe that will change when I use it more, but Outlook 2016 seems no better than Outlook 2010 at all.


I think that sums it up quite well.

Windows 7 is the new XP.

Microsoft Office has entered an era of stagnation.

Windows subscriptions and Office 365 is the future.

[Scream And Fly]

I think that sums it up quite well.

Windows 7 is the new XP.

Microsoft Office has entered an era of stagnation.

Windows subscriptions and Office 365 is the future.

I agree completely. I fear that Microsoft will, in their effort to cattle-herd their users to Windows 10+, end support for Windows 7 sooner than what the current timeline states. Once we lose security updates to Windows 7, that's the end of using it. Interestingly, Microsoft is still supporting XP, but only on a paying basis now for companies that still use it. Any security fixes for XP are only accessible to companies paying a ridiculously high price for it, since their systems are so embedded into XP that they're being held ransom by MS because upgrading to a newer version of Windows for them will also be extremely costly in terms of downtime and system costs for the transition.

MS Office has, for the most part, been largely unchanged for at least ten years now. I'll be completely honest and say that there are no features in Office 2016 that I absolutely needed above what I had in Office 2000. I usually upgraded every few versions, mainly because MS is getting increasingly stingy with their end-of-life timeline. Right now, a fresh install of Office Professional 2010 will encounter problems with Windows Update, due to Microsoft issuing updates for patching it in the wrong order. Rather than correct the actual problem, MS released some tool to download and install that is supposed to fix the issue after it occurred and you have failed updates in your Windows Update log. I've run into this issue with clean installs of Office 2010 on my laptop, and patching it (pre-SP1) is not a pleasant experience. That is another reason for upgrading to Office 2016.

You are totally right in that Windows and Office will be subscription-only affairs. Adobe's products are already there now. I dread the day when I will have to pay fifteen separate monthly or yearly charges just to use my PC.:nonod: As much as I am wholeheartedly against software piracy and I never use pirated software, this kind of heavy-handed nickle-and-dime licensing is going to drive more people to other products or justifying piracy. I hope it really does drive people to use competing products, because Microsoft needs a reality check. I've already begun the contemplation of possibly switching to Apple in the future (assuming they do not follow the subscription model, which they might).

I would gladly use a competing product for any of the Office applications, however for me, there is no simple alternative to Outlook. I have fifteen years of Outlook database backups and I can only access those using Outlook. I've strongly considered Mozilla Thunderbird in the past, however sadly, that product is now at end-of-life, and they are ending development of it. That really hurts, because I saw Thunderbird as a real alternative to Outlook.

Greg

[whipper]

i just got a new custom computer and put windows 7 Premium on it. :D I like it. Had Xp Professional and it had issues last week.

[Dave Strong]

i just got a new custom computer and put windows 7 Premium on it. :D I like it. Had Xp Professional and it had issues last week.

You will like 7. ;)

Dave :)

[Scream And Fly]

i just got a new custom computer and put windows 7 Premium on it. :D I like it. Had Xp Professional and it had issues last week.

James is right, you will really like 7. Absolutely the very best version of Windows I have ever used. I use my computer day in, day out for everything imaginable and Win7 has been rock solid, 100%. There's a reason that Win7 is the all-time most popular version of Windows in its history. Win7 is essentially Windows Vista with all of its issues corrected and enhanced. A lot of people disliked Vista but I liked it once it was patched fully.

It's also good that you got off XP - it's pretty unsafe to run a computer with XP nowadays, especially connected to the internet or a network.


As for Outlook, I do have a comment to report for now - in one respect, so far, Outlook 2016 is outperforming Outlook 2010. It's far more responsive in moving and deleting large volumes of email. Outlook 2010 would struggle with this task at times, but 2016 moves through hundreds of messages very easily. Right now, that's the only benefit I have encountered.

Greg

[Scream And Fly]

After more time with Outlook 2016, I thought I would give a quick update.
Overall, it's faster in all tasks requiring bulk actions, such as moving or deleting large batches of mail. It seems to handle large volumes of data much better and more smoothly. Its junk mail filtering seems little better than Outlook 2010, however, and I do not prefer its Windows 8-esque appearance, but at least aspects of the interface and fonts can be modified. For example, I set it up so the sender text of all new mail is now bold and larger.

Overall, still not much of an upgrade over Outlook 2010, but somewhat better.

Greg