Microsoft Outlook can be used to access email using the Internet Standard IMAP protocols, and the older POP protocol. In Outlook 2010, Microsoft made a number of improvements to IMAP support. Both the descriptions of what has been done and the extensive comment in this blog are interesting.
Broadly, IMAP in Outlook 2010 works reasonably, and performance against IMAP accounts feels slightly better than Outlook 2007. However, we have observed client hangs (needing product restart) and slowness interacting with IMAP servers.
The improvements to deletion, by moving messages to a "trash" folder on the server, are good. This deletion also works cleanly with Outlook rules set up to delete selected messages as they arrive.
The async download of messages is a good thing. It is a pity that they don't also download the message structure so that the user can select attachments to download, which would be helpful with large attachments on a slow link. It is disconcerting to see a message start off without an attachment and then have the attachment appear later. There is a bug with calendar items, whereby you can only see the message as a calendar item the second time it is opened (after the attachment is downloaded).
For IMAP users, there seems to be a regression in using TNEF (the Microsoft internal format, that non-Exchange users see as "winmail.dat" attachments) rather than MIME, and it does not appear possible to suppress this for message forwarding as attachment and at some other times.
For use in a mobile environment, where links are not always as fast as they should be, it is a pity that Outlook is not making more use of advanced IMAP and LEMONADE features to improve the user experience.
IMAP support in Outlook 2010 has improved, but Microsoft could do very much more.
...Steve Kille. Steve is a periodic contributor to Ferris Research. He is also CEO of Isode, a messaging and directory server software vendor.
One Comment
Thank god for Axigen.
… and Isode of course
David,
On Axigen. It is a Webmai solution. If I want Webmail, I have lots of options, such as gmail. I believe that Email is such an important app, that it makes sense to run a special purpose protocol between client and server (i.e., use IMAP/SMTP, rather than HTTP). If client/server is HTTP, it matters little what is at the backend (although an open standards backend allows easy switch to an IMAP client).
On Isode: There are a number of reasonable open standards server solultions (including Isode). There are some good clients (I think the iPhone client is a good model of using IMAP as a mobile client). A real problem is the lack of competition on the desktop. It would be great if the Google Chrome team would write a new Email client.
Steve