Outlook like the mail program? I used that religiously until I started using Firefox more, and realized that Thunderbird, the mail program that they offer, is even more versatile than Outlook ever was. Faster, too - and you can import all your old saved Outlook mail and address books into it. ...course if you're using a Mac that idea's screwed because I don't think they have a mac client, but you might want to give it a try if it's causing those kinds of issues with your computer.

Yeah. I just haven't really gotten around to looking at other options.

Does Thunderbird handle the Outlook formatted meeting/appointment stuff too? Meeting requests, in particular, from Outlook users... Cause I really need that functionality out of whatever client I use.

There's a calendar and scheduling program also offered by Firefox - I think Thunderbird either a: comes with a calendar or b: there's an extension thingy for it, you know those nifty little addons? Thunderbird's got a ton of those available too. It'd be worth looking into anyway - it's not going to wreck your Outlook to import the info it's got into Thunderbird and give it a tryout.

It's called Sunbird, but it's not quite ready for primetime. Last time I used it, it worked ok as long as you didn't have to share your calendar or add appointments via e-mail.

From a IT perspective, that's not the half of it.

outlook is:

1) difficult to backup
2) difficult to migrate to/from
3) unsafe (uses Internet Explorer to render html email. thusly, if there is an IE vulnerability (of which there are dozens per year), then outlook is vulnerable)

While I would never suggest that thunderbird is MORE capable (does not support syncing with a server for calendaring, no PDA integration, contact management is shit, also difficult to backup), it's a HELL of a lot safer, and mostly functional.

The safety issue is the biggest part of that. Disabling/not using internet explorer is a great first step to making a computer safe. Many people do this but continue to use outlook/outlook express, and therefore continue to be open to numerous security holes =/

...Yeah. I'm not sure what the state of our company network security is, as it relates to these sorts of insecurities, but blocking port 80 isn't exactly a viable solution, so I suspect the danger's still quite there.

blocking port 80 wouldn't really do much. about the only thing you can do is, well, not use outlook =/

the product is inherently unsafe.

So - what happens to the chair in the last half second of the clip?
And yeah, I'd totally set that up. I like my spine a little too much, perhaps, to prototype the event.

Huh, I hadn't noticed that. Good eye.

I guess they forgot to continue including it in whatever CG they used to set this thing up.

I've not tried it personally as I'm a very not-busy person but you might be interested in taking a look at Rainlendar. I don't know if it has all the scheduling features you need, though, and I'm pretty sure it doesn't even try integrating with your e-mail. Still, it's lightweight, so if your only reasons for wanting a calendar and e-mail program in one are convenience you'd probably save a good deal of system resources by using this program plus Thunderbird.