Customer Reviews
Mixed feelings 
2008-05-22
I have never been especially fond of Outlook, but I was willing to give it another try with this version in the hopes that my previous complaints had been addressed. I can't say I am especially impressed with this version either, though there are some good things I can say about it regardless.
I have been using Outlook in the workplace as a standard for years now. It integrates with MS Office (another standard in the office, though I use something different at home) and it generally gets the job done, though it is slow about it. I have found that Outlook 2007 is no exception in that regard - this is not a nimble application and it takes a lot of memory and resources to run well. If you have a lot of memory and space that's not really a concern, but it is something about which to be aware.
MS has always done a nice job of putting together applications with a pretty front end, and Outlook has almost always led the way in that regard. Though pretty, Outlook suffers from a very confusing layout in terms of where to find various configuration settings. Making a preference change is rarely just a couple of clicks away; invariably it either requires knowing up front where things are or it requires a lengthy search for the desired setting.
Outlook 2007 adds RSS feeds, a nice feature for those that use them. To be honest, I have not tried this feature so I cannot comment on it. That said, its availability is a nice thing and is something to consider if this capability is something you need or desire.
I fiddled with the Business Contact Manager portion of the application and to me it feels like a light CRM implementation running on the local box. This is a nice thing to have, but unfortunately it is not something I personally need. For a person who relies on keeping track of contacts, sales and other vitals, I can see this as being a very useful tool.
I do appreciate the fact that Outlook 2007 seems to be more stable than the last version I have used, but I do still get the occasional hang when connecting.
Outlook 2007 is a nice package and with the integrated BCM it is a good tool for people who need to keep close track of their contacts. It still suffers from bloat and a confusing settings layout, though it had a visually appealing interface and a nice feature set.
Good, but you might need to update your other Microsoft apps to get full functionality 2008-05-16
I picked up Outlook 2007 with Business Contact Manager because I needed a better way to track my customers' communications (I'm a work-at-home freelancer). I've been using it now as my primary e-mail client for about three months. So far, so good.
I had little to no problems installing Outlook 2007. I'm using XP, and my Office suite is 2000. I like the GUI, but not all documents (especially Word and HTML docs) render as they do in their native apps, and I'm assuming this is because my other Office apps are getting way old.
Also, I appreciate that Outlook 2007 lets you add RSS feeds. I subscribe to many newsletter and blog reports and find this feature useful. I've had no problems with just the e-mail reading/organizing capabilities; everything there works just fine.
Like many people writing reviews here, I'm disappointed that Outlook 2007 with BCM is so slow. I used to use Outlook Express as my e-mail client, which is pretty fast compared to Outlook 2007, so maybe it's just a matter of getting used to the new app.
I was hoping this app would allow me to do more with billing and invoicing, but I've read a few blogs and discovered to get Business Contact Manager to really do all it can do (which is probably a lot), you'll need Microsoft Accounting installed, too. I'm considering buying that app, but I wish I didn't have to.
The full functionality of the app is a bit beyond me at this point (again, I'm upgrading from Outlook Express, so the learning curve is no surprise), but I hope this changes with time. Right now, I find myself using the same three or four functions all the time, which is normal. It's how I generally use the other apps in the Office group.
I've found myself in the past criticizing certain aspects of other Microsoft products (Word in particular), only to find out later these apps had the ability to do what I wanted them to do all along, but I just didn't know it. In general, I wish Microsoft's apps were a bit more intuitive.
Well at least the box is nice. 
2008-04-25
I will be reinstalling Office 2003 after discovering that this was inferior. Kind of reminds me of another Microsoft product that has tanked recently.
Disastrous 
2008-04-09
First, I must say that nothing elicits "Mac-envy" so much as yet another revision to the Windows interface. This go-'round, the fine folk at Redmond have broken out the box of crayons, and writ large with the primaries. It's garish. There are some options for the Office suite by which it may all be toned down a notch, which helps. But one wishes Microsoft could get a designer on staff who has some sense of elegance+function when designing user interfaces.
What you need to know about Outlook 2007 is the following:
1) It is slower that its predecessor.
2) It is MUCH MUCH slower if you aren't running Vista
3) While it introduces a handful of minor, but helpful new features such as color categories, it manages to make the Rube-Goldberg apparatus of an interface into an even more confusing mess. Understand - this is not due to the much-maligned new Office 2007 "ribbon" - it is due to a whole host of new peculiar UI elements. Good luck sorting it all out.
...And perhaps most importantly,
4) Pieces of it will become disabled after Windows Update does its thing. For instance, after allowing Windows Update to proceed, my rules disappeared, as did the "Rules and Alerts" item in the Tools menu. This resulted in the complete inability to create rules. Perhaps you don't use rules. I use rules a great deal. This has rendered Outlook 2007 unusable for me. I've put a lot of hours into attempting to sort the problem out - while I've found a number of people who had the same thing happen to them, I've found no solutions. Microsoft's resources are no help at all.
BOTTOM LINE: Do NOT install this piece of software. Its improvements are negligible at best, it is slower and more difficult to use, the interface is inelegant and kludgy, and worst of all, parts of it will, in effect, disappear.
A prettier version of Outlook 2003, improved BCM, but a little slow at times 2008-03-28
I have been using this program on a PC with Office 2007 installed, and upgraded from Outlook 2003 with Business Contact Manager (BCM). Two POP3 accounts were managed, and about 100-125 business contacts were tracked. I have four years' worth of E-Mail stored, amounting to thousands of E-Mail messages.
For those contemplating an upgrade from Outlook 2003 with BCM, you should do so. BCM is a good idea, but the 2003 version (even after the service packs) were not as good as they could have been. The 2007 version is definitely an improvement in every way except speed, but I'll get to that in a moment.
The E-Mail features of Outlook 2007 are pretty good. The ability to set up rules to auto-process incoming messages is very good, much like the 2003 version. The search folders and new flagging options are very handy to make it easier to find messages according to a variety of filters/searches. The fact that you can flag a message for follow-up at a later time, and have that appear as a notification and on your to-do list is very handy. I have yet to make full use of all of those related features to the best of their potential.
Spam filtering is a weak point, but no worse than in the 2003 version. The simplified profile-based filtering with the ability to set up white lists and black lists is very basic compared to more sophisticated bayesian filtering available in other packages. I installed the SpamBayes add-on filter (freeware) which uses Bayesian filtering, and it's much more flexible in classifying spam messages. Spam filtering is so important these days, and when freeware packages do it better than a $100+ product from the likes of Microsoft, the people at Redmond should be embarrassed.
The BCM works very well. Being able to track E-Mail messages, calendar events, to-do items, and other items to customers is very cool. I've not used other contact managers, so I don't know how it compares, but it serves my needs, so I haven't looked elsewhere.
Its limited spam filtering ability is nothing compared to the speed issues encountered when incoming messages are retrieved from my two POP3 accounts. When the messages are being retrieved, Outlook stops cold. If you are typing a message, you can forget about continuing until the incoming messages are processed. It's incredibly frustrating to see a well-equipped machine brought to a halt, but that's exactly what happens. It's not a result of high CPU usage; a look at the CPU meter shows that neither processor meters is pegged when it happens.
It was really bad in 2003, and just a little better in 2007, but still not acceptable. I have tried many different things, including archiving more messages into the archive.pst file instead of the outlook.pst file, but the improvements were only minor.
Some would consider Outlook to be the embodiment of evil. As a person who came from using unix-based E-Mail (pine and elm anyone?), to PMMail for both OS/2 and Windows, I didn't have any problem getting used to Outlook and appreciating the extra features it brought to the table. Like anything, it's more often the operator behind the keyboard than the software on the computer.
Outlook 2007 with BCM is a good product, but it could, and should, be better.
Decent features + Upgrade 
2008-07-07
This version is not very different from the current 2003 Outlook that I use. It's better to think of it more as an upgrade. The new features include:
1) Business Contact Manager
2) RSS Feeds
Also, this version is compatible with my older version of MS word so no problems there.
Good tool but not for XP 2008-07-02
I have years of experience with contact management software from ACT to Microsoft CRM. I was excited to try this version as it included many new marketing related tools.
I am running a fast XP machine as I am not ready to undertake the pain necessary to switch to Vista yet. Installation on my machine was simple yet time consuming. It took more than half an hour to install the product. That should have been a clue.
Once installed it configured easily and was very comfortable to use if you are used to working in Outlook. The contact lists and ability to schedule activities worked well. Virtually every aspect of the software worked as expected.
The biggest problem is that it used a huge amount of resources to run. Other applications slowed to a crawl when I would open Outlook. It took forever to load outlook when you opened it. Literally at least 1 minute to load the app each time.
The additional marketing tools worked well but ultimately I had to uninstall this as it was too much of a drain on my system.
I am certain my review would have been different had I been running a Vista machine. However there is noting on the MSFT website nor on the packaging that indicated I would have any issues at all running it on XP. Although there was some very helpful information on the product pages that assisted in setting up and using the contact manager functions.
Bottom line, if you're interested in CRM type functionality in Outlook, and are running Vista, you should take a look at Outlook with Business Contact Manager.
good product with many benefits if 2008-06-25
This is a very good product but you need to integrate it with the other Microsoft 2007 products. Microsoft 2007 products are designed to run on powerful PC. If you do not have one, any of the products will run but slowly. These products are designed to be installed as a group usually under Vista. Once more, if you are not doing this, problems are possible. Lastly, with any new product functionality has changed. Microsoft considers it to be improved. What you and I think can be something else. All the functions are there. Some moved and some are in another product. I am relearning Microsoft Office 2007, Outlook 2007 and 64-bit Vista. This can be unpleasant, time consuming and frustrating. If you work through this, you will have the "state of the art" version of the product.
Microsoft 2007 products are designed for ease of use. Outlook 2007 has largely done this. The product requires a learning curve but has rewards for those that spend the time learning the new interface. BCM is not for causal home use but is invaluable for a home based or small business. This is a good product with many benefits if you have the PC, operating system and other 2007 products.
Awsome Simple Business Contact Manager 
2008-06-13
Microsoft has done it again! Outlook with Business Contact Manager 2007 is a very solid, simple, and intuitive small business platform to work from. I have been in sales for over 10 years and have used a variety of solutions, including ACT and I like Business Contact Manager the best so far. If you enjoy actually selling as opposed to updating information continually, this is the solution for you. For instance, ACT has many useless and cumbersome bells and whistles that require input of information multiple times in multiple screens. Microsoft left these out...thankfully. In fact, I spent more time updating information in ACT than actually using it to be productive. Act is also prone to databases corruption. Our data in ACT was corrupted at least 2-3 times in a year. ACT Synchronization is finicky at best. And ACT integration to accounting software is cumbersome and expensive. Microsoft has trimmed the fat and created a very streamlined platform that gets the job done. No corruption of data thus far. Accounting software integration is a breeze-I use Microsoft Accounting 2007-also a very solid small business solution if you don't need automated Payroll-a less expensive option to QuickBooks. Only having to enter information once, simple customization, and seamless 2-way integration with accounting software is why I gave this a 5. It is not perfect but it is the best I have used thus far. Highly recommended. You will not be disappointed.
Great Product 2008-06-13
I love the way the new interface looks! It works perfectly and is pleasant to look at. My only issue with it is that I am an everyday user of voice dictation software because I have a physical disability and I'm not able to type anyway for some reason when I am dictating an e-mail it does not dictate text in the proper location, I have just copied and pasted e-mails into the documents but it's still kind of annoying!
