Tech Talk

Syncing with Outlook 2011?

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Written by Russell Kirkpatrick

Considering Outlook 2011 for your Mac? Well, if you own a mobile device, such as a blackberry, you may consider holding off for awhile - syncing Outlook’s data is very limited at the moment.

To better understand why, it is important to know that just like PC, Mac has its own natural fitting solutions for mail, calendar and address book. These applications on a Mac perform a unity that efficiently transcends to mobile devices. Among these devices, Apple’s own iPhone has paved the way for these synchronization possibilities.

Microsoft’s Outlook 2011 is new this year, as a rookie it is eager to provide solutions but doesn’t have enough to make it to the majors, yet. Going against the grain of Mac’s natural fitted solutions is not an easy step – this includes providing synchronization solutions for mobile device. Naturally there are no applications on a Mac to synchronize directly from Outlook to mobile device. There are no third party software’s that do this, at this moment in time.

The only way Outlook 2011 can provide a sync solution is to first synchronize its calendar and address book with Mac’s own calendar and address book – once that is done you can naturally sync your mobile. So what would you really gain by using Outlook? And just to let you know, only the address book is capable of syncing. The calendar solution is slated to come as an update for Outlook 2011, later this year.

For those with BlackBerry devices, I have found that RIM is in the process of developing a solution that will allow their devices to sync directly with Outlook 2011. It is unknown when this solution will be available.

In my humble option, Outlook 2011 is a perfect solution for those using Exchange and its synchronization capabilities, otherwise somewhat useless to those needing synchronization. As with any new application to hit the market, we see a lag for third-party solution to support relevant devices.