So does Entourage 2008 sync Exchange tasks and categories?

[oos...@officeformac.com]

Would be nice to have that much more synchronization between my Windows Mobile phone and my home and office computers.

[oos...@officeformac.com]

never mind I found the answer... it doesn't...and that bites!

[Unknown]

Wow - thanks for asking and providing the answer. I was so sure that this would be addressed in v2008 that I was going to get it without even asking the question. Thanks - looks like it might finally be worth dumping Entourage for the Mac apps. My upgrading was based solely on the Entourage element getting significant upgrade.

[oos...@officeformac.com]

yeah I don't get it either. 4 years in development with tasks and categories being constant requests, you'd think they would have been implemented. Figures..

[Red...@officeformac.com]

I'm waiting for our site license to arrive at our campus so I can call MS and try and get full synchronization added in. I find it disheartening that once again the Mac platform still does not have full support for a product that we have paid good money for.

[Unknown]

I just called an canceled my order for 2008. Like cd said above... I'm gonna move to the mac apps. I'm not a huge Excel power user so if there is functionality missing in Numbers... I'm sure I can do without.

I really needed a full outlook client on my desktop... and once again... this falls short. I have a Motorola Q smartphone (for work) and I want everything synced to there... so I will just continue to use the MS Exchange Web Application.

Bye bye Office.

[Unknown]

I can't believe, after all this time, there's no Tasks syncing.

Entourage 08? All hype.

It looks like the best bet is when snerdware comes out with their client for 10.5.

[Diane Ross]

On 1/16/08 5:52 PM, in article ee88...@webcrossing.caR9absDaxw, "" <>
wrote:

> I can't believe, after all this time, there's no Tasks syncing.

With the new To Do flagging system you'll be able to assign
start/due dates to mail (and contacts) and they will sync to Exchange.
Since many "tasks" are based on e-mails that need action, Entourage 2008's
To Do sync is a way to get around this problem.

--
Diane, Microsoft Mac MVP (MVPs are not Microsoft Employees)
Entourage Help Page <http://www.entourage.mvps.org/>
Entourage Help Blog <http://blog.entourage.mvps.org/>

[Michael Jardine]

I've actually found this to be very useful. Of course, you can do the same
in Outlook, but it's nice to see it in Entourage now.

On 1/16/08 7:21 PM, in article
C3B4099D.EA9A%di...@invalid.entourage.mvps.org, "Diane Ross"

[William Smith]

wrote:

Please be sure to let Microsoft know you'd like to see task syncing in
future versions by using the Help --> Send Feedback mechanism in any
Office application. The more noise the better!

--

bill

William M. Smith, Microsoft Interop MVP - Mac/Windows
Entourage Help Page <http://entourage.mvps.org/>

[Unknown]

All that time you spent making MyDay so sweet is completely USELESS. I have three computers -- home, office, and MacBook (for on the road), plus my BlackBerry. If data doesn't sync between them, it's 100% USELESS to me.

Can someone from Microsoft please commit to when tasks & notes will sync? If not, as others have said, I'm going to dump my BlackBerry for an iPhone, dump Exchange Server, and just use .Mac and the Mac apps and/or maybe Google.

That's a big pain, I don't want to do it, and Microsoft will lose Exchange revenue as well as Entourage licenses. Lose-Lose!

But seriously, I talked with two Entourage people at Macworld at the Microsoft booth and it was NOT encouraging -- no one could commit to when this HUGE and fatal omission would be corrected.

Sounds like Microsoft is asking me to wait for Office 2012 (yep, that would be the next version). One of the guys told me it was a "tough problem". Geesh! Just sync the suckers with Exchange. All that manpower spent bringing crap like Messenger and it could have been done.

Microsoft isn't taking Exchange seriously on Mac. My vote is Mac.

Oh, and there's NO ability to archive Exchange data to the Mac, either. Cripes!

Either tell us when Exchange will be supported FOR REAL on the Mac, or I'm ripping out Exchange. Sync is the # 1 feature so many of us rely on, and if Office 2008 cannot integrate Macs into the groupware environment (or even sync a stand-alone user like me), something is SERIOUSLY wrong.

So how about it, can someone at Microsoft make a commitment to this? I am not waiting for the next major version. SYNC TASKS AND NOTES BY A COMMITTED DEADLINE ASAP, PLEASE!!

[Unknown]

Just one more voice of a disappointed user who was waiting for Office 2008 JUST for Entourage to be able to do the basic operations I take for granted in Outlook. Looks like they're not there, which means no upgrade for me.

Guess I'll use iWork instead (which I already have) and run Outlook (2003 on XP - no upgrade revenue there) in Parallels. MS have truly dropped the ball on this one.

One more user done with Office!

[Andy Ruff]

Ted,

It would help us to know which Exchange features you’re interested in for Entourage so that we can prioritize them with our development.

-Andy

Lead Program Manager, Entourage
Macintosh Business Unit, Microsoft

[Unknown]

ditto to all that was said above! :)

[Unknown]

I ordered the upgrade and just cancelled based on this information. I use a BB and wanted o sync tasks using Entourage. Now I really see no reason for me to upgrade. I make very light use of the other programs. I am disappointed.

[Jay.Ea...@gmail.com]

On Jan 17, 12:26 pm, <> wrote:
> I ordered the upgrade and just cancelled based on this information. I use a BB and wanted o sync tasks using Entourage. Now I really see no reason for me to upgrade. I make very light use of the other programs. I am disappointed.

My Day is USELESS without exchange server support to most, if not all
users!

[Andy Ruff]

My Day will show your Exchange flagged mail, contacts, and events, all of
which synchronize with Exchange. I agree it's a limitation for tasks, but
it's not completely useless for Exchange users.

-Andy

On 1/17/08 10:32 AM, in article
cd839cd7-865b-4ead...@l32g2000hse.googlegroups.com,

[Unknown]

Could someone at Microsoft please be accountable and commit to when "sync Exchange tasks and categories" issue will be resolved or at least give us an explanation as to why it was not added?????

[Michel Bintener]

You should keep an eye on MacMojo, the official company blog. In the mean
time, click on Send Feedback on Entourage inside Entourage's help menu to
send Microsoft your feedback.

On 17/01/08 19:56, in article ee888...@webcrossing.caR9absDaxw,
"Frustrated!!!" <Frustrated!!!> wrote:

--
Michel Bintener
Microsoft MVP
Office:Mac (Entourage & Word)

*** Please always reply to the newsgroup. ***

[Red...@officeformac.com]

Giving feedback for Office is kind of hard to find when you don't have Office installed on the computer. I tried looking for a link to the feedback page off of the Office 2008 site and could not find anything.

Anyway, for anyone who wants to know: The web site is http://www.microsoft.com/mac/suggestions.mspx

[Unknown]

I was looking forward to TASKS and ToDo lists syncing with Exchange so that I could get them on my BlackBerry. So now what. I'm the IT guy for a company of 65 and we are rolling out more and more MacBooks.

I did hear today that IBM Will be rolling out Lotus Notes Sutie and their Server for Mac. Maybe they will get it right.

[Unknown]

I'm an IT manager and our company can see absolutely NO REASON to upgrade to the new client. We're definitely going to look into "alternatives" to the Entourage suite.

This is ludicrous that they still haven't done anything to correct a problem that every single Entourage User has been pining for almost a half a decade. Wouldn't this be the FIRST thing you would do?

Microsoft - SHAME ON YOU.

[Unknown]

and now will not. This is a major issue for me. I was hoping to get rid of outlook on parallelis and now it seems like impossible without tasks and notes...

[Unknown]

I was going to buy the upgrade for me and several folks in our office. If it does not sync tasks and notes and EVERYTHING I can do in Parallels with Outlook 2003, then why in the world did they even release an upgrade.

I have been waiting for years for this upgrade and now find out it is not what I need.

I will pass.

[Andy Ruff]

Half a decade ago, Entourage did not even talk to Exchange.  We have been consistently and regularly adding Exchange functionality to Entourage, many of them in regular, free updates.  2008 brought a number of new features:

• Out of Office
• Kerberos Single Sign-on
• Free/Busy Detailing
• To Do flag sync
• Delegation over HTTP
  

We realize there are shortcomings and some of them are painful.  However, we want to make sure we build a reliable product.  Not just check features.  We stepped back from features and took the time to improve the app’s quality and reliability.  Without doing so, it would have been much harder to deliver more Exchange functionality in the future as we plan to do.  You will find Entourage 2008 much more reliable when using existing Exchange functionality such as calendaring and mailbox synchronization.

-Andy

[Andy...@officeformac.com]

Hey folks, I'm the Lead Program Manager for Entourage. Here's the deal...

We know you want task and notes sync and we are planning on delivering them. Since Exchange was first introduced into Entourage four years ago, we've regularly delivered features often in free updates. This iterative process has let us get them out there and learn from you about your expectations of Entourage within your business.

In 2008, we decided to take a step-back from pounding more features into the application and focus on making the app more reliable and robust. For example, calendaring in 2008 is far more reliable than it was in the past. The focus on quality and reliability was aimed to provide a stronger foundation for where we'll go next. You may not agree with this way of building the product and I certainly hear your frustrations, but we want to make sure that we're delivering reliable solutions, not just feature checklists.

[Unknown]

I use Outlook 07 all day at work ive just installed Mac Office 08 at home and feel cheated. Sort out the sync issues above or the Mac community, a lot of who got a Mac to get rid of the blue screen of death, will simply abandon you.

Mac Office 08 does not look or feel fresh, merely an update, more like Office 06.

So please make it feel and look similar to Office 07 for PC and give it the same functionality at least, is that so much to ask?

[Unknown]

Microsoft Guys,

I have only been using a Mac for about 15 months. However, when I first setup Entourage 2004 I was sure that I had done something wrong as none of my categories synced over. After some research, I discovered that not only will I have to forget about categories, I lost to-do sync as well. I thought, Wow, that unfortunate, but surely 2008 will have this functionality (since it is all over any forum that you read about this product). I just don't understand how you guys missed this. But hey, at least there is a little floating reminder box...

[dantr...@officeformac.com]

You should keep an eye on MacMojo, the official company blog. In the mean time, click on Send Feedback o Entourage inside Entourage's help menu to send Microsoft your feedback.

-- Michel Bintener Microsoft MVP

Michael, Andy Ruff & others on the Office:Mac team,

This can't be a serious statement from Michael...? I don't mean any disrespect, but your Entourage community has been screaming bloody hell about it's poor Exchange and synching support for FOUR YEARS. We waited FOUR YEARS for this upgrade, and Microsoft failed miserably to meet the demands of its users.

Serious question...is this because you're the Macintosh Business Unit at Microsoft? Are you guys just not taken seriously and appropriately prioritized within the company for obvious reasons? Or is this just another massive oversight?

I've worked in engineering for years, so I know all too well that what seems like a simple change is not necessarily simple. But FOUR YEARS is a long time to be screaming about something and then still not have it implemented.

SmartArt and nice templates in Word are beautiful, and it's nice to have that consistency with Office System 2007. But there's an underlying foundation of functionality that we are STILL waiting for.

Click on Send Feedback? With all due respect, you must be joking. What on earth would make you think anyone in this community would continue to bother after your team fails yet AGAIN to deliver what we've ALREADY been sending feedback on for FOUR YEARS?

What's the point? Clearly, program management has been unsuccessful in prioritizing needs of the market versus engineering timelines. I'm quite sure this market would have even preferred no new release until you could get it fixed than to be miserably disappointed yet again.

Apple now commands 8% of the market, and we all know that number is growing. No one here is stupid enough to think it will ever come close to Microsoft Windows' dominance, but it is still growing. More importantly, cross-platform usage is growing within corporations. I work for a 100 person tech company that is doubling every year. Half of our team uses Apple and half uses Windows. Most of the 8% of the market expect to have to use some level of Parallels, Virtual PC or some other virtualization service since not everything is available for our platform of choice. But why continue to demonstrate Microsoft Office's complete lack of commitment to cross-platform compatibility?

The Microsoft Silverlight team got it right with cross-platform compatibility. Why can't the Entourage team?

Regards,
Dan

["lewis" @gmail]

On 18-Jan-08 18:08, in article ee888...@webcrossing.caR9absDaxw,
"dantr...@officeformac.com" <dantr...@officeformac.com> wrote:

> Serious question...is this because you're the Macintosh Business Unit at
> Microsoft? Are you guys just not taken seriously and appropriately
> prioritized within the company for obvious reasons? Or is this just another
> massive oversight?

I think it's that MSFT does not want a fully working Mac client for exchange
servers since that might translate to users running screaming from Windows
Vista, thus impacting MSTF sales figures.

--
Bart: This is the worst day of my life.
Homer: This is the worst day of your life SO FAR.

[Andy...@officeformac.com]

Dan,

Four years ago Entourage didn't:

- Support multiple calendars and address books
- Allow you to set permissions on Exchange folders
- Open shared calendars, folders, or address books
- Quickly access public folders
- View non-mail public folders
- Use smart cards for encryption
- Search via Spotlight
- Delegate to other Exchange users
- Get detailed information about users in the GAL
- Keep your Exchange contacts and calendars seperated from personal
- Mark events or contacts in shared folders as private
- Reschedule events regularly
- Cancel recurring meetings
- Set the Out of Office Message
- Synchronize todo flags and dates
- Automatically configure your Exchange account
- View the quotas on your Exchange server
- Conversation grouping/threading
- Be notified of upcoming password expirations
- Synchronize with .Mac, iCal, Address Book, or your devicees
- Authenticate with Kerberos
- See free/busy details when scheduling meetings
- Respect compliance folders on your server
- True, multi-threaded sync with more user control

All of those things came between 2004 and today. We did not sit idle. Entourage has gotten several large, free updates. 2008 continues with an interval of improvements. If you have an original 2004 CD, try installing that and compare that to where you are today. Then tell me that we haven't done a lot to try and address these issues. We know you want more, we plan to deliver. But do not deny the fact that we haven't been working hard to do so for some time.

As for prioritizing, please keep in mind that what you want isn't necessarily the same as what others want. I'm sure you would be happy to lop off some of the above items, but that doesn't mean a) that's what other customers are telling us or b) that the engineering cost of those features is equal to your requests.

[Unknown]

It is an entourage that with all that development time MS have managed to forget what people want. The key thing people wanted was a fully operational exchange client prohram(thats what the extra money is for ????) teh ability to send complex HTML messages, better HTML tools and the ability to edit a message that has been sent to you, What the hell is going on. I am now thinking that we will move to using outlook in Parallels, and certainly will not bother "upgrading????" to 2008. Bell whistles and disappointment !

[Unknown]

I use tasks and categories a lot. That they are missing from Entourage makes my life slightly more difficult. Many of my colleagues do not use tasks, but they all use the calendar and contacts. It's unfortunate that some features did not make it into 2008, but I think you made the right choice.

The real question is if synchronized tasks will make it into a future upgrade.

[joba...@officeformac.com]

To not include a conduit for me, and everyone else, to sync their Palm/Treo devices is asinine, honestly.

I don't mean any personal disrespect, but it is incredibly frustrating to learn that, at a minimum, I can't even count on the sync ability Entourage 2004 had with my Treo smartphone.

I'm sort of dead in the water here. You've got to address this, like, immediately.

[Unknown]

As one of the largest solution providers in the country Future Tech is trying to integrate Apple into our large customer base. The challenge that we have which we thought would be addressed was similar functionality so that corporate america can take advantage of multiple platforms in their organizations. Since we have not accomplished this with the current release is there any timeline you have that you can share with everyone related to tasks. I will tell you most of the organizations we work with utilize this feature. Lets stem the tide of the complaints and see how we can address the challenge moving forward. I am sure if you said ok there will be an update in 90 days many more people would buy the product.

[garr...@officeformac.com]

Recurring tasks won't work

I believe the problem is related to the synchronization of Entourage to iCal. I'm able to replicate the problem consistently when synchronization is enabled.

Problem
-------

• Open Entourage preferences and enable the synchronization of events and tasks to iCal
• Create a new recurring task and save it
• Wait a few minutes for Entourage to sync the task to iCal
• Open the task and observe the recurrence has been removed
  
  The above described issue never occurs if the synchronization of events and tasks to iCal is disabled.
  
  This problem has been around since the release of Leopard. I can't replicate the problem in Tiger.
  
  I've built a brand new system using a clean install and a fresh installation of MS Office 2004 & 2008, but still have the same problem.

[Steve de Mena]

disgruntledandbummedout wrote:
> I'm an IT manager and our company can see absolutely NO REASON to
> upgrade to the new client. We're definitely going to look into
> "alternatives" to the Entourage suite.

What is the Entourage "suite"?

> This is ludicrous that they still haven't done anything to correct a
> problem that every single Entourage User has been pining for almost a
> half a decade.

And that problem would be....???

Steve

[Steve de Mena]

Lotus Notes has been out for the Mac for years.

Steve