DISQUS

Wyatt · 2 years ago

Since cutting outlook 2007 off all day and checking mail through my phone I'm not having the random display problems that I was having before. I think it's time to downgrade.

Chris Harrison · 2 years ago

Agreed. A downgrade may be in order for me as well. It's a shame that we actually paid for this pain and suffering...

Ellis · 2 years ago

I finally gave up and went back to Outlook 2003. Unless Microsoft offers a HUGE service pack to fix all of these issues (and get the bloody flagged e-mails out of my task list) then I'll have to eventually look at some other office product going forward. (OpenOffice?)


I'll be stuck with Outlook so long as I'm tied to an Exchange server, but it won't be Outlook 2007, at least not in it's current form. The nicest thing I can say about it is I'm sure some other application sucks worse.

Chris Harrison · 2 years ago

I'm almost to the point where I'll need to downgrade myself. I'm still having data issues.

Anton Baxter · 2 years ago

What's most stupid is setting 'Calibri' as the default font for writing e-mails.
Developers of Outlook, Hello, NOT ALL MAIL RECIPIENTS HAVE 'CALIBRI'.

Chris Harrison · 2 years ago

:D You're absolutely right. While I love Calibri... it's way too small for email usage.

Mark · 2 years ago

All points agreed. Using Outlook makes me want to hit someone. Preferably someone who worked on it.

Chris Harrison · 2 years ago

I literally just lmao reading that.

abqaussie · 2 years ago

Agreed.
One example:
Open Outlook
Open Calendar, set to full week view
Open task manager so you can watch the Processor usage of the Outlook process.
MOUSE OVER the calendar and watch processor usage leap to 20%, even 50%. On a 3ghz P4 with HT turned on.
No biggie if the system isn't doing anything, but if anything else is stressing the proc a bit, outlook drags the whole system to its knees. 2003 didn't do this.
We noticed this on a variety of machines within 20 minutes of updating. Where is MS Quality Control? Testing? Anyone?

Chris Harrison · 2 years ago

@abqaussie - I've noticed the same thing. Outlook 2007 sucks royally. I can't tell you how many times I've wanted to uninstall this abomination since I upgraded from Outlook 2003. Unfortunately, I've had to keep it on my machine. Not using Web (ical) Calendars has helped, but that was one of the main things I liked about the new version. Hopefully Microsoft will address some of the serious flaws in this release.

I can't help but feel like I'm having to pay for the privilege of beta-testing this abomination for Microsoft.

abqaussie · 2 years ago

Ironically I DID beta test it at home on a spare machine, using only POP3. And posted feedback about my experience to MS.
The performance problems I see (excluding reading from Exchange stores and PST issues) were there then and worse. So while it has improved it certainly hasn't been fixed in any way. So much for the usefulness of Beta.

jane · 2 years ago

My problem with it - and I'm literally just browsing the web to find if it's just me who feels this way - is the interface. The fonts, the shininess - everything. I've customised myself to tears but I still can't be getting on with it. It's starting to make me feel autistic. I'm really struggling.

Chris Harrison · 2 years ago

Unfortunately... the fonts, the shininess is a sign of things to come from Microsoft. Those "enhancements" are a big part of Vista. :\

Have you considered getting a Mac? :)

abqaussie · 2 years ago

I'll confess I felt that way for the first week, but I am getting used to it. I can't say I like OL2007 but I can do just about everything I used to do in Outlook 2003 without wanting to hurl my machine out the window every 5 minutes. More like once an hour. And it only takes 2x the computing power and twice as long to do it.
Word 2007 however makes me feel as autistic as you apparently.

Chris Harrison · 2 years ago

I have never been more happy that I didn't get the full Office 07 package...

jane · 2 years ago

I have a mac at home and don't go anywhere near Outlook - at work though, I'm stuck with a PC and the 2007 package. And my growing inability to get anything done. It feels like a medical condition! My inability to process the visual interface is preventing me from using the software effectively (it feels like a language I can't speak), yet my whole job depends on it. I can hardly read emails... it all feels wrong. It's awful :-(

Anyway, better get used to it I guess!

Chris Harrison · 2 years ago

Jane, are you required to use it for any specific reasons? You might try out Mozilla Thunderbird...

Tim Fuchs · 2 years ago

this post. That was a 'funny' thing. We used Time Zone Data Update Tool for Microsoft Office Outlook on those machines. Luckiliy it happend on a small number of computers so we were able to fix that right in place. Performance. Oh, yes. That's the deal. It is recommended for users to split the huge PST files. And we did that. That was hard, as the splitting took much excess work. But the real problem was that some users had a small PST with the size of about a couple of hundreds of megabytes. So we siced the PST onto very small pieces. A nightmare for a user.
They continued experiencing delays when opening the messages. The complete trouble was the with users that need work with cross-referenced correspondence and need to re-open old messages, then need to open new and so on. And each such opening caused the delay. At last, Microsoft released the update that patches the mspst32.dll library and the Outlook.exe. I installed it on several computers that I control on my own because it they are just a few steps away from my workplace. But I have no clue how to manage that now! How can I install this patch for other users? I know that's possible to do that via GPO and assign the patch to the specified user group. But the bad thing is that it doesn't work for me. I have to setup it exclusively and to check more parameters of the user environment. Not all our users use Outlook 2007 and what's more problematic, not all experience the trouble. And the gold rule: if it works, don't patch it. I need your expertise. How to manage their desktops? Currently what I got from googling is the link to the software that supposedly can arrange desktop management and execute patching after checking the user environment properties. I haven't worked with such tools before. If you have an experience, would you please review the link and say what you think?
By the way with that 'data file was closed improperly’ message you recieve, try checking if you use Word as the default editor for creating your messages. It looks like if you have opened both your Outlook with opened message that you are writing and the Word where you type your document separately from what you are typing in your Outlook, the winword.exe and outlook.exe images will not be closed when you will close applications. Then, if you will terminate the Outlook process, you will get this 'data file was closed improperly’ message when you will start the Outlook application again.

Reactor · 2 years ago

Um, I was just searching and came across this blog and wondered... if you have issues with daylight saving, why not disable it in the options?

Randy Mennie · 2 years ago

After spending several hours trying to format a large term paper using Word 2007, I decided to Google "I Hate Office 2007", and I landed here.

Well, misery definitely likes company. My girlfriend is sure that I have set a Guinness World Record for longest string of profanity uttered without causing spontaneous human combustion.

I cannot believe that Microsoft can dump this concoction of rotting snake bile on the planet with complete immunity. I think the EULA that Bill Gates hides behind while counting his quadrillion dollars in his snotty little hands, should be ruled illegal by SOME court SOMEWHERE!

No other industry has been allowed to dump their product on the general public and not be held accountable for the carnage left behind. If a car manufacturer put a new model on the market in which 90% of them came to a grinding halt in traffic for no apparent reason, or had a dashlight that once a week flashed "Go back to your car dealer and pick up a box of new parts to replace the defective parts that came with your car. This car will not start until you do", there would be public insurrection.

....oh...wait! I've calmed down a bit....Thanks for letting me vent.

bye
Randy

Bobo · 1 year ago

I too hate Office 2007. The computers at my school all have it, and the interface and performance absolutely suck. Thankfully, Office 2003 is still on the computers as well (for now, at least).

As for my own computer, I've stuck with Office XP since 2002.

abelnewt · 1 year ago

I'm suffering through a forced upgrade to Office 2007 at work. I'm glad there are other people out there like me.

Jane, I totally agree with the way you feel. I've been able to use Windows Classic theme to escape the offensive shininess until today. Now it feels like my senses are under assault. There's just way too much useless distractions... the glare is blinding.

I've tried customizations to make things as efficient, categorized, accessible, and color-coded as they were, but to no avail. I can't work or even think.

When it seems like I'm getting used to it, I notice some action now takes twice as long to process as it did before and my blood begins to boil. Opening messages, browsing my calendar, even moving my mouse past vast useless expanses of Ribbon seems to take forever. Not to mention the "Desktop Search" that now takes 2 hours to index my email for quick search, where before using the 3rd party tool Lookout took only 10 minutes.

I talked to tech support about rolling back, but they denied my request. I've even considered quitting my job. I hope it doesn't come to that.

abelnewt · 1 year ago

(Also, this website is fairly beautiful, but the comment system should allow double-newlines).

abqaussie · 1 year ago

Almost a year later, new machine. Dual core 2.4GHZ, 2 GB of RAM. Outlook 2007 is still miserable. Horrible. Slow. Buggy. Still has rendering issues within the UI.

Opening a link from within the app takes 30 seconds. A link. In an email. Which opens a browser. OL2003 on my old PIII 766 at home takes 10 seconds. And it can barely run Windows.

Between Vista and OL2007 I am pretty much ready to switch OSes.

I bought three new home computers this year. All of them with XP and OL 2003. And I'm perfectly happy.

Brave new world, where art thou?

Blueskyswan · 1 year ago

I upgraded from Office 2003 to 2007, because I primarily wanted the 2007 version of Powerpoint. But I'm not enjoying Office 2007. In Outlook 2007, I cannot save images from emails. If I right click an image in an email, I only get an option to copy it, no 'save as' option, as there usually is in Outlook 2003. So I chose to copy the image, it was the only option available, but when I tried to paste that into Irfanview..., bup-bow. It said no way. It's ridiculous! So I've been searching for a solution on the net, and only finding other people with the same complaint, and other people telling them the way Outlook and Word in 2007 work forbids it. I can't believe it. I did find one way around it tonight....... I saved the email with the image I wanted, then chose to open it with Word and the image was successfully displayed. In Word I was able to successfully right click, copy the image, and then paste it into my Irfanview program, without Irfanview rejecting it. From THERE I could at long last save the image I wanted to my files as a jpg. Bloody hell. What a runaround, everytime I want to save an image. Sigh. I have now been investigating getting rid of Office 2007, and going back to 2003, just for the lack of dramas. I much prefer the user interface of 2003.

Thing is I still want the 2007 version of Powerpoint...... I wanted to do a custom install of Office 2007 originally, installing only Powerpoint, but it wouldn't let me. So. Do you think it would be possible, to go to add/remove programs, choose change, and delete everything from Office 2007, BUT for Powerpoint. Then install Office 2003, choosing to ONLY install Word and Outlook (as that's all i want) from Office 2003, and still end up with my Powerpoint 2007???? I'd appreciate any opinions or feedback about my idea before I go ahead and try it. I might be just dreamin here, but, it seems to make logical sense to me, lol.
thanks in advance.

The Chard · 1 year ago

I'm not sure if I should laugh or cry, if I should be happy that there are others out there like me or angry that this is a REAL problem not something made up in my head. I like microsoft products for the most part but do have to say that I HATE outlook 07. Every time I go in to edit an event in my calendar it turns it into a repeated event... for no reason! Oh yeah and it takes 3-4 seconds to recognize the simplest button click! I'm running vista with 2gigs of ram and I do not have any slow problems with any other program. I talked to Microsft and they basically said that it's an oem product and to call Dell! Man I'm pissed! I'd throw it out the window but I'm not sure what else I can use that'll hook up to my blackjack II!

CKR · 1 year ago

I HATE OUTLOOK 2007--I am not a techie, sorry. But, all the e-mails I send are blank and all the e-mails I receive are blank. Sometimes, clicking on REPLY will open them.

Also, the stupid paragraph mark and proofreading characters appear when I am composing an e-mail. Yes, I have it turned off in Word, Style, toolbar, etc. It keeps coming back and this program will change styles on me and revert to displaying it.

It is running on XP. There were no problems for four months then, it started. Our ISP put everyone they serve into a group at Google mail. Maybe there is a different way to configure our set up because of that.

I send out a news letter each month, in HTML, and people can't see it. If anyone has any ideas, they would be welcome. Setting up a new profile was impossible because of loosing all my contacts. I am not enough of a techie to reconfigure (and I shouldn't have to) my contacts, etc. after changing profiles.

While I am at it. Why doesn't Microsoft have updated directions. If you are looking for direction in Outlook 2007 there is a step that is skipped or the function is called by another name. That burns me up. If I pay for Microsoft 2007, I want the directions to be for it not another program!

Thanks, I feel better but, my problems are not solved. Waiting for the other shoe to drop......

mark · 1 year ago

The auto-formatting is the absolute worst. It was bad in OL03, but has now gone to a whole new level of invasiveness.

Some very basic things have been shuffled about and recategorized and what once took 1 click now takes 3. And so on and so forth.

It's called QA microsoft, you might want to investigate some best practices.

It is quite the swine on resources as well.

Downgrade time.

Aaron · 1 year ago

I'm going to go the other direction and say that I LOVE outlook and office 2007.

I doubt I'll have DST problems as I don't sync anything with online calendars, so when DST comes around, I'll be happy the times are updated.

Performance wise, this runs great. There was no performance drop in 2003 in the slightest. There has been no data corruption, no long loading times, no massive CPU or disk usage at all. I watched my CPU usage while running it and playing with the calendar, mail, etc. The highest jump I saw was 8% with an average of 2%, and most of that is probably system and background apps! Someone else was complaining about clicking links and having them open in a browser taking 30 seconds. In actuality, it so quick it's almost instant. If the browser isn't running currently, then yes, it takes approximately 0.5 seconds. You must be running on a 200 MHz Celeron or something. My machine is ok, a core 2 duo @ 2.4 GHz with 4 GB of ram, nothing too high end or special.

As for internet calendars, who cares. It's called Exchange server, and it works like a charm. If you're wanting email in a non-corporate setting, use something like Thunderbird. That's what I use at home, and I love it.

Otherwise, I love Outlook 07. Overlaying calendars on top of each other is a great feature, and the calendar views seem cleaner to me. Tasks are much more improved, especially how they line up in your calendar view so everything is integrated together. The built in viewers for office docs, text, and images right within messages are great.

I honestly have not run into a single issue after upgrading Office to 07, and will never go back. It's an update well worth doing.

Chris · 1 year ago

Aaron, I'd imagine you're in the minority. I was happy with Outlook 2007 when it worked, but when it didn't it was simply unacceptable for me. I'm glad it works for you and your setup. It didn't work for me and it hasn't worked that well for countless others.

(For the record, I was using it on machine with a 3.0 Ghz Pentium 4 HT with 3Gb RAM and a 256Mb video card.)

abqaussie · 1 year ago

Aaron - I referenced the hardware I was running in both my previous posts. Two separate machines both with horrible performance issues only in 2007 that were not visible in 2003. 3ghz P4 (I neglected to mention 2GB of RAM on that machine) and my current Dual core 2.4GHZ, 2 GB of RAM.

I can work with manipulations on 20MB images in Photoshop more quickly and efficiently than I can performa basic email tasks. It's not the hardware.

With a product that doesn't have flaws we should be seeing one person who's having problems among dozens for whom the app works flawlessly, not the other way around.

Telling people to use Thunderbird is missing the point - why can MS not deliver a product that works for a large part of their market, corporate or otherwise, better than a free app?