I dumped a good friend today.  One I have likely known for nearly 20 years.  Today, I said goodbye to Microsoft Outlook.

I don’t normally write in my blog about something as mundane as computer software, but I felt compelled.  Outlook has been on my desktop for years.  It is the place I go to gather emails, keep a calendar, and manage some tasks.  I wake up each morning and “manage my day” with this screen.  Microsoft was way ahead of their time when they brought these tasks together in one killer app.

But alas, my friend has gotten bloated, misdirected, and unable to play with other friends.  Thus I had to sever ties.  For those who are not Outlook users, you can probably sign off here.  Let’s face it, it is just blah, blah, blah for the non-users.  But for those of us who have been faithful users for years, it is a painful admission.  The latest version, Outlook 2013, has just tried to do too much.  And in making this attempt, they have made simple things quite complicated.

And don’t get me started about the ongoing battle between Microsoft and Google (type in Google search “sync Google Outlook” and you will see pages of stuff).  They have both been fighting for dominance among email and calendar users – and it came to a head with the recent Office 2013 release.  In so doing, they have made it nearly impossible for Gmail and Outlook to shake hands.  The little user has been the one trampled by the tussling elephants.  Shame on both sides.

The battle ended with me over an .ost file that got corrupted (if it sounds technical – it is).  I lost four hours of work trying to get the whole thing back.  Microsoft technical support was MIA.  I thought, There just has to be a better way!

So I said goodbye to an old friend.  But alas, I have said hello to a new friend.  I began using eM Client (www.emclient.com).  It is an Outlook look-alike, but much streamlined.  And the good news is that it shook hands with Google on the first try.  Little more than five minutes and it was configured!

So now my computer, cloud, and smart phone are all “sync-ed.”

Things change, I get that.  But a little piece of familiarity can sure bring a simple guy like me some satisfaction.