> 1) Problem: There is no easy way to jump quickly to any given date. If you
> want to see January of last year in month view, or January 3rd in day view,
> you have to scroll through every month in the mini-calendar which can be a
> slow process if you have a full calendar, waiting for each screen to update..
> Fix: There should be a "go to" command, which allows you to select a year
> and month without having to scroll.
Microsoft has previously acknowledged this oft mentioned oversight.
I don't recall whether or not there was a timeline associated with adding
the functionality.
> 2) Problem: We all know that searching for a name is way too slow. It's
> probably a major database handling issue, but all I know as a user is that
> with the Palm Desktop, I could bring up a name instantly. Entourage takes
> ages.
> Fix: beyond my scope, but must be possible... Palm Desktop did it.
Microsoft has previously acknowledged this and has stated that it should be
rectified in a point release.
A point release, for those unfamiliar in the term, essentially means the
version number changes in the third digit. So, think something like 1.0.1
(although it's Microsoft, so who knows what schema they're use).
For what it's worth, there was some weirdness at play here and I don't
believe that the super slowness is a global bug...but I do know that most of
the beta testers were like "You can view the contact list in the address
pane?" when this bug was reported...
> 3) Problem: When you open the contact list, you can do a quick search/sort
> by "Name contains" or "Company contains". Many times I've typed in a Name
> then realized that I had it set to Company, had to wait for it to finish
> sorting, then reset it to Name.
> Fix: Fourth (first!) search criteria; "Name or Company contains"
I'd call it a feature request. Therefore it's unlikely to see the light of
day until there's a feature release.
Given that Microsoft has stated that it's primarily focused on Entourage for
MacOS X (EfX, I'm gonna call it that until it catches on), I wouldn't
anticipate seeing new features until EfX.
> 4) Problem: There is no auto link feature you shouldn't have to search for
> a name when making appointments or notes as you currently do. The Palm
> Desktop had a fantastic "auto link" feature. Hit Command-L, and instantly
> the software would scan your appointment and bring up any contacts with
> matching key words. Very fast, very convenient. "Dinner with Bob at Chez
> Snooty" would instantly give you the option to link to Bob's *and* Chez
> Snooty's contact listing. Trés cool ;-)
> Fix: Implement Auto-Link feature
Neat feature. Stealing other people's good ideas is an important part of
software development.
Search speed is currently an issue; however, Microsoft has publicly noted
this and committed to improving things greatly.
Once search speed is resolved, it wouldn't be terribly difficult to build
this functionality.
In fact, one possible solution to search speed (at the expense of still more
disk space) is to index the entire database. Once indexed, "searches" and
"links" could essentially become dynamic custom views.
> 5) Problem: When a Task brings up an alarm, you should be able to dismiss
> not only the alarm, but also 'complete' the task. I use tasks quite a bit as
> reminders; "call the bank", "make appointment with bob", etc. When the alarm
> pops up, I'm reminded to do it and I do... but hitting "dismiss" only
> dismisses the alarm. If you look in the task list, it will still show up
> there as incomplete. To 'complete' it in the alarm window, you must double
> click on the event, click 'completed', and close the event.
> Fix: Include a Completed check box column in the alarm window, just like in
> the Tasks window.
> 6) Problem: Links in alarms. If an alarm pops up, "Call Bob", and you've
> previously linked Bob's contact info to the task (naturally using the Auto
> Link feature described above), you currently have to open the task, then
> select the link from the link icon to open it.
> Fix: The alarm window should have a link column, just like the mail window.
Personally, I find the PIM unappealing and the weakest part of the
application. It needs a lot of work if it's truly going to be more than a
checkbox item. Far more than I care to detail since I'm still on Tuesday
and want to sleep. ;-)
> OK, that's my list. I'm sure many of you have more, but I like what I've
> come up with ;-)
>
> be gentle
Just this once.
The thing that most annoys me at the moment is that SMTP servers aren't
Location Manager savvy. Of course, I'd go a bit further and argue that for
most people, accounts have too much information. Only 2 of my nearly 20
active accounts is actually use for incoming email. And all of them use the
same SMTP server although that SMTP server changes depending upon my
location.
This means that for 90% of my accounts all I need to set is my name (which
in my case is always the same) and the email address (since I always make
the name of the account the email address). In the same way that there's a
simplified contact window, I wouldn't mind a simplified account window.
And I'd like to be able to set a default SMTP server (or several servers)
and have accounts reference the server. And then I'd like the "default" to
be Location Manager savvy.
Then we get into the minor little thing that I want to be able to use a
centralized data store for all my data types, not just my email. But
Microsoft has heard that rant from me many, many times. But I don't want
Entourage to become Lotus Notes, so it can't suck when it's done. ;-)
Of course, Microsoft should re-invent the OpenDoc technology such that you
can have active, embedded documents in your email. Thus you can edit Excel
or Word documents in-place (a UI nightmare).
And Entourage should get a real editor which does inline display of every
attachment type. Displaying those that it can through either Quicktime, its
own display, or, in the worse case, simply displaying an appropriate icon
perhaps with a brief bit of text indicating that there is an attachment
there.
And FrontPage should get reactivated and folded into Office. That way I can
make real HTML mail. And/or edit my web page from within Office. What
idiot stopped development on FrontPage:mac? They should be taken out back
and summarily executed.
The problem with sleep deprivation is that it becomes perfectly clear to me
the way things should work. And imminently frustrating that we're still so
far away from it all. ;-)
Oh well, enough about Entourage. I've got to sleep so I can get back to
work on ensuring that the world has transparent ubiquitous broadband
wireless networking in my lifetime.
mikel
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