Folks, I gotta 'fess up on this one. I meant to download and try this out last night but life got in the way and this is too important not to bring to our readers.
With so much talk today about Microsoft's new suite of Office Communication software products, one for the rest of us (Average Jane and John Doe) is slipping through the cracks.
Microsoft Outlook Connector lets Outlook users (2003 or 2007) grab some features that, in my opinion, rival having a Hosted Exchange service for free!
Follow with me.
Most Outlook users know, you could NOT sync Hotmail with Outlook without paying for it. That kept many people, me included, from paying or even using Hotmail. I suspect Outlook users either got used to having to check two places for their e-mail, used Hotmail for just personal use or, like me, gradually stopped using it altogether because it was not my main e-mail account and offered no easy way to check it.
Fast forward to Microsoft's current big push to connect everyone, with everybody, everywhere, in every office through their new unified communications software and the change to Windows Live Hotmail and suddenly, Hotmail has been loosed for free syncing in Outlook.
What you get is the ability to sync, with Outlook, your emails and contacts.
From the Windows Live Hotmail page
Connect your Windows Live Hotmail account to your Microsoft Office Outlook 2003 and above with the new Outlook Connector. You'll get the power of Outlook to manage and organize your Hotmail messages and contacts, plus offline access to your information.
Oh, but it gets better. Pony up $19.95 per year and you can sync Calendar, Task and Notes to be viewed and edited anywhere you have access to Outlook or Windows Live Hotmail. This is a real departure for Microsoft long wanting to keep the features of Outlook tied in pretty exclusively with their Exchange servers and keeping things like the "consumer" (read, non business) Hotmail separate.
Rob Bushway at GottaBeMobile put it this way:
This gives Windows Live Hotmail users something Google doesn't offer: full, seamless sync between calendar, contacts, tasks, and email to a local client, while also getting one-stop access to the same data over the internet.
By moving so forcefully to stay ahead of their competition, Microsoft has provided a way for the little guy to enjoy a few of the perks enjoyed by big corporations and Exchange Server users as well as putting some space between them all the current Google offering.
Direct download to Outlook Connect
I use this for my Windows Live Hotmail accounts, and it's fantastic. I just need to make better use of my personal calendar on it.
Posted by: GoodThings2Life | October 17, 2007 at 04:12 AM