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Outlook 2016 vs Mac Mail - which do you prefer and why?

MainStream said:
I use both but prefer Outlook if for no other reason than the way it handles/places attachments at the top of the message under the subject.
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This is also such a nice feature of the Outlook app on iOS which other major e-mail apps lack (e.g. Apple Mail, Spark, Airmail, Boxer, CloudMagic). There is BlueMail/TypeApp, Timyo and MyMail which also offer this but they lack a lot of other features. See also my e-mail comparison for iOS/Mac here.
 
Yeah, I've done some fingagling and I've switched over my email addresses to Outlook. So, for the next few weeks I'll give it a try and see. I know what Mail is capable of, but Outlook seems interesting. And of course, your point about where the attachments go is a valid one. So, as I said, I'll see. Going to give it a try!
 
I keep a copy of Outlook on my Macbook Pro because we use Exchange at work. I open it maybe twice per year. With Mac Mail I seem to be able to process it faster. I also can control the message preview fonts (I like a larger font), which I can't do on Outlook yet. I find Outlook on Windows is still ahead of Outlook on Mac as well.

I also find that since I have the programs all divided up (one for mail, one for calendars, etc.), I now prefer this. Five years ago, I preferred Outlook's all-in-one approach. Contacts aren't great for Mac contacts or Outlook (IM0).
 
I used Outlook on Windows with an Exchange server for years. After switching to the Mac I tried Outlook for the Mac figuring it would be an easy migration. Wrong - the Mac version was significantly different. I found it easier to switch to Mac Mail instead of getting used to the Outlook differences. Now that I have an iPad and iPhone, I really appreciate the interoperability. My e-mail needs are relatively simple and Mail handles them quite well.
 
I periodically try to return to Mac mail and calendar, but inevitably end up with sync inconsistencies with the corporate exchange server. That never happens with Outlook.
 
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I use Mail with MailTags, Mail Act-On, and SpamSieve plugins. The plugins vastly increase Mail's filing, follow up, and automation features. Used Outlook during my Windows days, but several years in Linux prepared me for the one app, one function approach (KDE style). Now I prefer the split apps.
 
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Outlook gives me hives, and I've avoided it as much as humanly possible. Mail.app gives me everything I need. When my needs were more complex, I did what Kastorff did: added MailTags and Mail Act-On.
 
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Mac mail is okay in a personal setting but terrible for business use. By that I mean how it formats the emails that are received the other end and also attachments.

For the above reasons I use outlook for work.
 
Attachments in Mail are atrocious yes. When it was available I used Attachment Tamer but that is now dead. Using Outlook at the office makes me not want to use it for personal use. Then there is the issue of mobile devices. Using the Mail app keeps the user experience similar between iPhone, iPad and Mac.
 
I use both, for just light weight use Mail.app and Calendar.app. When I want to do some heavy Calendar manipulation or address book management I always seem to go to Outlook.
 
glenthompson said:
I used Outlook on Windows with an Exchange server for years. After switching to the Mac I tried Outlook for the Mac figuring it would be an easy migration. Wrong - the Mac version was significantly different. I found it easier to switch to Mac Mail instead of getting used to the Outlook differences. Now that I have an iPad and iPhone, I really appreciate the interoperability. My e-mail needs are relatively simple and Mail handles them quite well.
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How do you manage server side email rules? I switched my email accounts from iCloud and Pop3 to Exchange for just that feature. Well, that and it gives me an SMTP server that I can use...and my personal domain. Ok, there were several reason that I switched. :)
 
jagooch said:
How do you manage server side email rules? I switched my email accounts from iCloud and Pop3 to Exchange for just that feature. Well, that and it gives me an SMTP server that I can use...and my personal domain. Ok, there were several reason that I switched. :)
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I use iCloud.com to setup server side rules to sort my mail. Mailing lists I'm on go into a mailbox for that topic. Works pretty well as the majority of my email never stays in my inbox. Since it's sorted on the server it works great with my iPad or iPhone too.
 
two different goals. Outlook is for a professional work environment where everything is linked up and is a million times better for working in a team environment and not really meant for home use. Mail is primarily for home use.
 
I have used both Mail and Outlook for years. Like other posters here, I prefer Mail for email and Outlook for calendaring, especially since we started doing online meetings with Lync (now Skype for Business). We recently switched to Office 365 for corporate mail and am more seriously considering the use of Outlook since it supports the online archive and Mail does not.

Sadly, I really dislike Outlook as a mail client, so I am going to have to try to make it work for me.
 
Mencelus said:
As it says above, which one do you use and why? Like, I've used Mail for a long time, and it's okay; quite functional, no real issues with it. I recently have access to Outlook for Office 2016, and...it seems okay. I guess. I don't really know what the differences are, and online reviews are sketchy at best as to differences. So, I'd like to ask my fellow Mac users, which one do you prefer, and why? Bonus if you use the mobile versions on iPad or iPhone (which i suppose I would; I'm the sort of person that likes to use the same set of apps on all my devices, if possible).
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I have Outlook 2011 and compared to MacMail they both have strengths and weaknesses. Outlook no question is better for formatting as I can do a copy and paste of a Word document with formatting and what I see is what I will get after the copy and paste. With MacMail this is not the case. Outlook also has more features.
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BenTrovato said:
If you're only using the two applications for email and none of Outlooks other features, then obviously Mail is better since Outlook chews up quite a bit more system resources. However, Outlook is prettier and is easy on the eyes. I use both, but when I really need to respond to a lot of emails, clean up my inbox, and move messages to different folders, then I use Thunderbird to work more quickly.
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Can you get TB to work with iCloud.com correctly?
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loekf said:
Call me old-fashioned, but after using Netscape Mail and later Thunderbird for 20 years I don't see the point of switching to the Mail app or even Outlook. Outlook is too bloated. I'm too lazy to convert all old mail folders to OSX Mail app. Thunderbird still exists, so why change.
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Does TB work with your icloud.com email?
 
jwolf6589 said:
I have Outlook 2011 and compared to MacMail they both have strengths and weaknesses. Outlook no question is better for formatting as I can do a copy and paste of a Word document with formatting and what I see is what I will get after the copy and paste. With MacMail this is not the case. Outlook also has more features.
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Can you get TB to work with iCloud.com correctly?
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Does TB work with your icloud.com email?
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Sorry.. I don't use icloud email.
 
I want to like Outlook for Mac but one big flaw keeps me from using it. If you don't use a server, there is no way to sync contacts and calendars which a deal breaker for me. Mail for Mac is far from perfect but the integration with Mac contacts and calendars make it a no-brainer.
 
jlevy73 said:
I want to like Outlook for Mac but one big flaw keeps me from using it. If you don't use a server, there is no way to sync contacts and calendars which a deal breaker for me. Mail for Mac is far from perfect but the integration with Mac contacts and calendars make it a no-brainer.
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Quite true, and one of the reasons I dropped my attempt. Having to sync contacts for all my devices with Outlook was terrible, and I never really got the Calendar interface and all that.
 
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For home users with limited funds how do you use Outlook to sync calendar data between devices? I have a Mac Mini, MacBook Air, iPhone and IPad. I use the iOS calendar apps to sync google calendars and Thunderbird with the Gcal add ons.

Sadly I can't get Outlook to do this, otherwise I would migrate my "PIM" services over to it.
 
mjt57 said:
For home users with limited funds how do you use Outlook to sync calendar data between devices? I have a Mac Mini, MacBook Air, iPhone and IPad. I use the iOS calendar apps to sync google calendars and Thunderbird with the Gcal add ons.

Sadly I can't get Outlook to do this, otherwise I would migrate my "PIM" services over to it.
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AFAIK, the only free cloud service (for individuals) that will sync calendars with Outlook is a (new) account at Outlook.com.

Google calendars work just fine with the Mac's own Calendar app.
 
I used Mac Mail for years connected to Exchange. I also used Mail Tags with it. Then when Apple updated their Mac OS, it wasn't reliably working with Exchange. Further, Mail Tags was way behind the release and was very buggy. I gave up. I used Office 2011 for a time and for specific needs like highlighting.

After waiting for waiting several months for Microsoft to get their Office 2016 act together, I liked it much better. It's missing some functions that are in the Windows version, but superior and faster than the others. Still using Exchange. I use Apple calendar because it is separate. When you're in an email, I can check a dates easier than moving within Outlook. Both Mac and Office sync with Exchange.

On my iPad and iPhone, I've found Outlook more reliable, especially syncing.
 
Here is my setup.

Email: Outlook 2010 (via parallels). Maybe its because I'm more comfortable with outlook but searching for email and filing just seems easier. Since icloud keeps the email on the server, it shows up on my phone. I will archive older emails.

Calendar: I mostly use the native calendar app now but outlook calendar will sync up with it just fine. Then again I use icloud for my calendar, not google as most people do. The main difference for me is that the native app allows you to schedule travel time and dual reminders where-as outlook does not (at lease in 2010).

Contacts: I mostly use the native contacts app now but still syncs to outlook just fine.

Reminders: If you add a TASK in outlook, it will sync to the native reminders app. I use the reminders app on my iphone a lot so this is helpful.
 
I have gone over to the dark side and purchased a WinPC (Win10). I installed Office 2016 via MS's HUP. It allows me to sync calendars via an outlook.com account. I set up an Exchange Active Sync or EAS account linked to outlook.

Then I set up the account on the iOS version of Outlook. The calendar sync function works fine across these two platforms.

I just wish that the Mac version of Outlook would do this. I'm persisting with Thunderbird for the time being on the Macbook Air.
 
Outlook 2016 hands down.

I'm a power user, hundreds of emails a day in a corporate setting (Exchange/365). I've tried Apple Mail, Outlook always gets the job done better and is more compatible with my work. Outlook formatting is so much nicer and easier to follow threads. Apple Mail looks very dated.

My only gripe which I can't believe Microsoft and Apple haven't resolved by year 2016 is the inconsistencies between font support and size across OS X and Windows.
 
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