MS Outlook is a key product of Microsoft. It was developed to be used on various Windows based system. MS Outlook is an important part of MS Office package and provides a variety of emailing features. It can either be used as an independent application or can be used with MS Exchange Server. Today, MS Outlook is the most widely accepted email clients, mainly due to its compatibility with MS Windows. MS Outlook 2013 is the latest version of MS Outlook that is being used. However, MS Outlook 2010 is also one of the most common applications. The choice of the application totally depends upon the user preference and the platform he is using.
However, with the growing popularity of Mac OS, Microsoft initially launched MS Entourage for older Mac based systems. It was later replaced by MS Outlook for Mac 2011 for later versions of Mac.
Both of these are primarily used for emailing purposes. In addition, they provide other features including Calendar, Notes, Tasks, Journals, etc. However, there are some differences and issues including the email size issue in Outlook 2010 for Windows and Outlook for Mac 2011. Some of the key differences are mentioned below.
- Both MS Outlook for Windows and MS Outlook for Mac can be used with MS Exchange Server. However, there are some differences as mentioned below.
| Features | Windows Application | Mac Application |
| Communication with Exchange | Outlook 2010 for Windows communicate with Exchange using MAPI | Outlook for Mac 2011 communicate with Exchange using Exchange Web services |
| Multiple Exchange Accounts | Supports connecting Multiple Exchange Accounts | Supports connecting Multiple Exchange Accounts |
| Offline Address Book (OAB) | Access to OAB | Access to OAB |
| Server Side Rules | Can Change or Create | Can Change or Create |
| Server Distribution List | Manages SDL | Do not manage SDL |
| Sync of Personal Distribution List (PDL) | Does not Synchronize | Does not Synchronize |
| Sync of Categories | Does not synchronizes categories | Synchronizes Categories except for the Master Category |
| Sync of Contact Photos | Synchronization is not applicable | Synchronizes contact photos and S/MIME certificates |
| Retention/Compliance | Can be applied by a user | Can not be applied by a user |
| Support for 32 bit/64 bit | Support for both 32 and 64 bit | Does not support 64 bit applications |
| Voice Mail Previews | Supports Voice Mail preview | Supports Voice Mail preview |
| Voice Mail Messages | Supports | Supports |
- Mail features also form a part of both MS Outlook for Mac 2011 and Outlook 2010 for Windows. However, they differ in some aspects as mentioned below.
| Features | Windows Application | Mac Application |
| Outlook Forms | Supports Outlook forms | Does not support Outlook form |
| Outlook Voting Button | Supports Outlook Voting Button | Does not support Outlook Voting Button |
| Outlook Receipt Tracking | Supports Outlook Receipt Tracking | Does not support Outlook Receipt Tracking |
| RTF Format | RTF Message formatting is enabled | RTF Message formatting is enabled |
| Threaded View for Conversation | Supports Conversation View | Supports Conversation View |
| POP/IMAP | Supported | Supported |
| Advanced Searching Mechanism | Supports | Supports |
| Clean up and Ignore action | Supported | Not Supported |
| Import PST | Supported | Supported |
| Attachment Previews | Attachment previews are enabled in mail messages | Attachment previews are enabled in mail messages |
| Display Photos | Display Contacts Photos in mails and calendar | Display Contacts Photos in mails and calendar |
| Message Recall | Supported | Not Supported |
| Expand Distribution List | Distribution List can be expanded into individual members | Distribution List can be expanded into individual members |
| Calendar Properties | Calendar can be enabled to display week numbers | Calendar can be enabled to display week numbers |
- There are few parts of Calendar features that can be implemented in Outlook for Mac 2011 and few can be implemented in Outlook 2010 for Windows. However, some of the key differences are mentioned below.
| Features | Windows Application | Mac Application |
| Connection with external Calendars | Shares external Calendar Information | Does not share external Calendar information. |
| Overlay | Multiple Calendars can be seen vertically using the new Group Schedule view. | Multiple views are possible except for the side-by-side view |
| Calendar Previews | Calendar preview automatically displayed in the meeting requests | Calendar preview automatically displayed in the meeting requests |
- Some of the other features in which MS Outlook 2010 for Windows differ from MS Outlook for Mac 2011 are mentioned below.
| Features | Windows Application | Mac Application |
| Calendar Synchronization | Calendar Synchronization is supported | Calendar Synchronization is supported |
| Mail Synchronization | Mail Synchronization is supported | Mail Synchronization is supported |
| Tasks Synchronization | Tasks Synchronization is supported | Tasks Synchronization is supported |
| Notes Synchronization | Notes Synchronization is supported | Notes Synchronization is supported |
| Categories Synchronization | Categories Synchronization is supported | Categories Synchronization is supported |
| Contacts Synchronization | Contacts Synchronization is supported | Contacts Synchronization is supported |
| Drafts Synchronization | Drafts Synchronization is supported | Drafts Synchronization is supported |
| Deleted Items Synchronization | Deleted Items Synchronization is supported | Deleted Items Synchronization is supported |
| Sent Items Synchronization | Sent Items Synchronization is supported | Sent Items Synchronization is supported |
| Junk E-mail Synchronization | Junk E-mail Synchronization is supported | Junk E-mail Synchronization is supported |
| Find feature using the ribbon interface | Supported by using the menus and toolbars from the main window | Supported |
| Integration with Communicator | Supports Integration with Communicator | Supports Integration with Communicator by seeing the person presence. Communication can be started either with messages, voice call, or video call |
| Information Rights Management Policies | Supports Information Rights Management Policies | Supports Information Rights Management Policies |
| Contacts and Tasks display in Offline mode | Does not display Contacts and Tasks when Outlook is not open | Displays Contacts, Tasks, etc even when the Outlook is closed by making use of the My Day application. |
Possibility of Migration from Outlook 2011 to MS Outlook:
With increasing popularity and ease to use interface, a lot of users are planned to move from Outlook 2011 Mac to MS Outlook on Windows PC. However, both email clients are serving distinct file system so conversion becomes necessity. Some Microsoft certified vendors are providing advanced OLM to PST converter software i.e. basically designed for migration from one email client to another.
