This week I’m giving you a double dose of geek goodness. Instead of writing one longer article, I’ve decided to write two smaller articles. I’m doing this because I wanted to write part 2 of the Hackintosh post, but there just isn’t enough information to fill a full article. Be sure to check out the Hackintosh article here. But for now, let’s talk about Microsoft.

You all know I’m an Apple fanboy. Well, that’s not entirely true… I’m a fan of great design; Apple just happens to get it right 99% of the time. As an Interaction Designer, I place a high value on design and the user experience. It’s why I own a Dyson. It’s why I like Affliction Clothing. It’s the reason I use a Mac. It’s why I love my iPhone so much. But recently, I even shocked myself: It’s why I like Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac.

After beating my head against the wall for years using Windows on PCs, I’ve come to loathe Microsoft. Every time I have to install or use Windows, it makes my blood boil and I hate them that much more. That’s why it came as such a shock when I started using Office 2008 for Mac. I initially installed it because, working from home now, I wanted a separate email program to manage my work email. Since the Artez office is run on Microsoft servers and they use an Exchange server for email, I though using Entourage, Microsoft’s name for Outlook on the Mac, would be a logical choice. Don’t let the similarities between Outlook and Entourage fool you. To the naked eye, it appears to just be a pretty version of Outlook, but its beauty is more than skin deep. Entourage, and by extension the entire Office suite (though slightly less so), is just brilliant. The Mac developers at Microsoft really put a lot of effort into making Office integrate seamlessly into the Mac environment. They did such a great job that Office 2008 for Mac is light years ahead of Office for Windows! How ironic is that?!

So what makes Office 2008 so great? First and foremost is Entourage. It is really the heart of the entire suite, as it controls your email, files, projects, calendar, tasks, address book, and notes. Everything else is just an extension of Entourage. Using Entourage allows me to be completely organized and efficient in what I do; After all, that’s what an Office suite is supposed to be right? For years, release after release of these so called “Office Suites” just made small steps in the right direction instead of getting it right. Office 2008 finally got it right. First, let’s take a look at how Entourage on its own helps manage my work day.

The layout of Entourage is great. You can see from the screenshot on the right that there are several icons in the top left corner of the application. This allows you to quickly switch views between your mail, address book, calendar, etc. This means you to have access to all the important information you use on a daily basis, while only having one window open. Email is clearly organized, and easy to read and access. The overall layout is very conducive to being productive.

The real treat, however, is in how everything is tied together. One amazing feature included in the new Entourage is Project view. Projects allow you to keep track of all aspects of a particular project you’re working on. This is especially useful for me, as I am often doing work for several clients at once. Getting dozens of emails a day for three different projects makes it hard to keep track of which email belongs to which project. Project view allows you to set up and define a project, with start date, due date, keyword tags, and members. Once the project is set up, it will automatically import all emails from your project members into the project. You can store all related files in the project file manager, you can glance at calendar items that are related to that particular project, create a schedule timeline, and even track all your notes and tasks for the project. Want something even cooler? Ok. Let’s say I have a Live Messenger chat session with a co-worker about the project. When I close the chat window, it will ask me if I want to associate the chat transcript to a project. I select the project, and BAM, the chat is stored in my notes for future reference. Everything is perfectly organized and color coded across the entire application. That way when I’m in my email, new email that comes in is tagged with the project color so I can quickly see which emails are important to me.

Of course, all of this means squat unless I’m in front of my computer right? Wrong. Enter the iPhone. Everyone knows the iPhone rocks. The interface is amazing, and syncing is as easy as popping it into the dock. Unfortunately, it only syncs with Apple’s iCal and Address Book. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, as they are both very capable applications, but since Entourage does such a great job of organizing my work, it would be a shame to let all my meeting requests from other Outlook users sit only on my computer. If only there was a way to sync the Microsoft Entourage calendar with iCal. Oh wait… there is! Microsoft actually included Address Book and Calendar syncing with the Apple applications. Now, when someone sends me a meeting request from Outlook, I can accept the request in Entourage (just like in Outlook), it gets added to the Entourage calendar, synced up to iCal, and in turn synced to my iPhone (and my .Mac account as well so I can see everything when I’m traveling). Pure genius.

I have to commend Microsoft for not only designing a good application, but going the extra mile and letting it play nice with the Apple software too. This solution makes Office 2008 and the iPhone an indispensable and powerful business tool for anyone who needs to stay organized, connected, and in control. Kudos to Microsoft.

A7

Tags: 2008, design, entourage, good, ical, integration, microsoft, office

This entry was posted on Monday, March 31st, 2008 at 4:19 pm and is filed under Geek. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.