08-22-2002, 10:20 PM
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Executive Editor
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 29,160
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Outlook XP will no longer come free with a Pocket PC
...but Outlook 2000 will. There's been some buzz lately about Microsoft pulling Outlook from the Pocket PC bundle. This made no sense to me, or many others, because ActiveSync can only talk to Outlook (perhaps it's more of a mumble). How could Microsoft ship a Pocket PC without a desktop client to sync against? The answer is, they aren't going to. They are, however, going to downgrade the software from Outlook XP to Outlook 2000. Fujitsu-Siemens shipping the Loox with NO version of Outlook was an error on their part.
Why is Microsoft doing this? There are many reasons, but ultimately I believe it comes down to this: the team responsible for Outlook XP feels the value of their product is diluted when it's bundled with something else rather than sold on its own or sold as part of the very expensive Office XP suite. Also, with the next version of Outlook sporting a radically new UI, I think they want to drive the perceived value of Outlook up rather than keeping it bundled.
This is not a decision the Mobile Devices team made, it's a decision made by the Outlook team. Apparently in the surveys they did, most Pocket PC owners already had a copy of Outlook. It makes sense to me - I never install Outlook off the Pocket PC CD because I already have it installed from Office. If Pocket PC users want Outlook XP, they'll have to pay $99 US to buy it - there is no upgrade for Outlook (that I could find).
Right off the bat, the repercussions are fairly minor - I can't think of any features that XP offers that differ from 2000 in terms of what the Pocket PC can take advantage of. However, I see two problems that may crop up based on this decision:
1) Microsoft doesn't support old software forever. Being one notch behind the software curve means you have to deal with the bugs that they will have (hopefully) fixed in the current version of Outlook.
2) What will this mean for future versions of ActiveSync? Let's say Outlook 2003 supports a great new feature that the ActiveSync team wants to use, but Pocket PCs are shipping with Outlook 2002. Will our future ActiveSync experience be hampered by not having the latest version? What about those of us that will have the latest version of Outlook - will we be held back by the lowest common denominator of what comes in the box?
Tell me what you think and cast your vote in the survey.
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08-22-2002, 10:33 PM
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Neophyte
Join Date: Aug 2002
Posts: 7
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Funny you mention the "Outlook team." My father, Microsoft employee, once worked on Microsoft Exchange (server software) which often interacted with the Outlook team. Throughout the entire time he worked there, the Outlook team and there product was a standing joke. Whenever anything went wrong, it was Outlook's fault. Everybody made fun of Outlook programmers. And somewhere in the middle of Microsoft Exchange code my dad left the //comment "Outlook Sucks."
Their decision to bundle in Outlook 2000 may have been a result of some lasting childhood drama.
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08-22-2002, 10:47 PM
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Ponderer
Join Date: Oct 2004
Posts: 64
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Does that mean that future versions of Outlook may not be supported in Activesync? I always upgrade to the newest version of Office... I would hate to not be able to use the newest version of Outlook because my PPC says I can't.
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08-22-2002, 10:52 PM
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Pontificator
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 1,466
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This seems like a rather anti-competitive move for Microsoft. Bundling PPC with crippled PIM software is going to cast a dark shadow on an otherwise good product. Hell, even Palm offers the latest version of its PIM to all users at no charge. Yet Microsoft wants me to shell out another $100 just to get the software that SHOULD have come with my handheld in the first place? I think not.
I hate Outlook anyway. What I would really like to MS do is bundle a beefed up version of Outlook Express (with simple calendar and Address book features built-in) for consumers. Something like Entourage for Mac. Then leave Outlook for the corporate market...where it belongs.
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08-22-2002, 10:53 PM
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Pupil
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 27
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MS certainly isn't the first vendor to allow a prior version of software to be bundled with another product.
In the end, I suspect this will not be a detriment to PPC sales. I can't think of many users that I know who bought the hardware to get Outlook.
Further, I plan to upgrade to Office XP even though Outlook XP was included with my iPAQ. However, finding that XP was bundled gave me "goodwill" feelings as a customer - a nice measure of intangible value for MS. (In fact, I probably won't install Outlook XP until I upgrade office)
__________________
Brian Cooksey
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08-22-2002, 11:07 PM
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Executive Editor
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 29,160
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by ojlittle
Does that mean that future versions of Outlook may not be supported in Activesync?
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I would seriously doubt it - that would be incredibly foolish of them to do. :? Nah, they're smarter than that...I think. :wink:
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08-22-2002, 11:09 PM
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Executive Editor
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 29,160
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Foo Fighter
Bundling PPC with crippled PIM software is going to cast a dark shadow on an otherwise good product...
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Oh heavens Foo, you are SO melodramatic! :roll: What exactly is "crippled" about Outlook 2000? Name one Outlook XP feature that a Pocket PC user would NEED that Outlook 2000 doesn't offer?
I don't think this decision by Microsoft is very nice to consumers, but I also don't think it's catastrophic either - let's keep things in perspective shall we? 
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08-22-2002, 11:15 PM
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Pupil
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 42
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Hello,
Funny thing....
It was my original palm-size pc that got me to start using Outlook in the first place - I was originally using Netscape Mail to store contact information. Outlook was available to me through work - but I did not have a copy at home. When I upgraded to pocket pc and got outlook at home in that manner, then I was also finally able to sync with outlook at work and home.
I think that this new plan is a mistake for Microsoft. I would guess that most people are like me - outlook available at work but not at home. I would say that:- 1. the cost of a ppc is high enough that the latest version of outlook should easily fit within it
2. not bundling the XP version means Microsoft is not putting its best foot forward
3. it will be confusing to non-technical people to have multiple outlook versions and the differences in UI that accompany different versions. Usually its programs get easier to use with each new version. Also, most of my non-technical friends/family members try to use the same programs at home and at work - because that simplifies the whole process for them and lets them get on with achieving their work goals - instead of fiddling with their computer's oftentimes confusing parameters.
Jason: thanks for clearing this up.
Julio
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08-22-2002, 11:22 PM
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Ponderer
Join Date: Jul 2002
Posts: 72
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Foo Fighter
Hell, even Palm offers the latest version of its PIM to all users at no charge.
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Hmm... "PIM"..I suppose, if you want to call it that. And they most likely bundle it, because apart from giving it away, nobody sane would ever pay for it. :wink:
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08-22-2002, 11:25 PM
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Pontificator
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 1,466
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Jason Dunn
Oh heavens Foo, you are SO melodramatic! :roll: What exactly is "crippled" about Outlook 2000? Name one Outlook XP feature that a Pocket PC user would NEED that Outlook 2000 doesn't offer?
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The fact that this isn't the latest version of Outlook makes it crippled from a value standpoint. I wouldn't buy a PDA based on the desktop software it comes with, but one would expect to get Outlook XP with their PPC, considering that Outlook 2000 has been dead and buried for quite some time now. Will Microsoft continue to bundle O2000 even after the next generation of Office hits the market? That's not going to look very good.
Quote:
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I don't think this decision by Microsoft is very nice to consumers, but I also don't think it's catastrophic either - let's keep things in perspective shall we?
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No, it isn't catastrophic, but it is definitely a negative when you are paying a premium price for premium hardware.
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