10 things I hate about Outlook, and you should too

Okay, so, it should be strikingly obvious that I probably hate Outlook. I stopped using Outlook in 2001, had to use it for a customer for awhile, and my love for it hasn’t gotten any fonder.

1. Non-Standards compliant. Really Microsoft? You didn’t like how all the other email programs that have been around for years have been doing it? You had to go create that MIME format crap that not only isn’t standards compliant, but that every other email program has issues with.
2. Calendar invites. Seriously? Why are Outlook’s Calendar invites so screwed up when sending them to people not on the same Exchange server as you? CALDAV anyone?
3. Exchange? Didn’t like the standards based email servers that were out there? Had to go create one? “But there wasn’t one that did all these “X” features on one server” Wa. Cry me a river. Apple did it. Yeah so what they had to invent a couple open standards and submit them.
4. Top-Posting by default?! Seriously? Lotus Notes you are guilty too, don’t think I am letting you off the hook. Although I will give you credit, Microsoft, for finally building in bottom posting into “Windows Mail”. How many years did it take you? And then, it’s only in Windows Mail!? Why not Outlook! Oh and Google, Gmail top posting? You should be ashamed. Going totally against an RFC! Mail.app for OSX. GUILTY.
5. Tasks. Really? I can drag an email to the bottom left and make a task, I can even drag an email over to the right and make it a task. I can FLAG an email and it will make it a task, but if I move the email out of the Inbox, the task goes away. Awesome job there.
6. PST -- Yet another “our own special standard” email thing from Microsoft. Good job! How about you store things in mbox? How about it? Did you know you can define a PST size up to 33TB? Are you serious? I’d love for the IT department to try and backup someone’s 33TB PST. That’s awesome!
7. Inline Picture attachments. God forbid you should actually display these inline like I told you to. Oh, and I can’t drag the picture to where it should be in the email? I have to go to Insert and do 3 menu calls? Seriously? If I drag it into the email, it places a picture as an attachment? What if I am trying to explain to someone which screen to click on, and you don’t format my email correctly.
8. No real-time Spellcheck? Seriously? You do it in Word! That means I have to select Word as my email editor? I have to launch a separate application to write an email!?
9. Contact suggestion. There is a whole painful hurt of explanation I can do about this section here... not suggesting a contact if it’s in my address book? Not knowing which people I email the most? Which email address am I sending to if my contact has multiple email addresses?
10. Spam Filter. Does one even exist? Does it work? Thunderbird’s Spam filtering kicks ASS compared to Outlooks.

Basically, if you are using Outlook, and you aren’t on an Exchange server, why are you using Outlook? Use something else. God I hate Outlook.