Editing Microsoft Entourage (section)

==Features==
Entourage supported some Mac OS technologies, like the [[Spotlight (software)|Spotlight]] search engine and AppleScript; however, the use of a monolithic database made it difficult to back up incrementally with Time Machine. Entourage also maintained a separate address book, but allowed synchronization of contacts and calendar events through [[iSync|Sync Services]].<ref>{{cite journal
 |last=Negrino
 |first=Tom
 |url=http://www.macworld.com/article/131563/2008/01/entourage2008.html
 |journal=[[Macworld]]
 |title=Microsoft Entourage 2008 - Superior depth of features bests Apple competitor
 |date=2008-01-21
 |access-date=2008-08-26
}}</ref>

===Comparison to Outlook===

Unlike the other applications in the Mac version of the [[Microsoft Office]] suite, Entourage did not share a name with its [[Microsoft Windows]] counterpart. Microsoft claimed that Entourage was intended "to address an entirely different audience".<ref>{{cite web
 |publisher    = Microsoft: The Entourage Help Page
 |url          = http://www.entourage.mvps.org/articles/entourage.html
 |title        = Entourage is not Outlook
 |first        = Michel
 |last         = Bintener
 |date         = 2008-08-17
 |access-date   = 2008-08-26
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20081107114248/http://www.entourage.mvps.org/articles/entourage.html
 |archive-date = 2008-11-07
 |url-status     = dead
}}</ref> Entourage had its origins in [[Outlook Express]] 5 on the Mac, as well as [[Claris Emailer]]<ref>{{cite web
 |last=Ross
 |first=Dianne
 |publisher=Microsoft: The Entourage help Page
 |url=http://blog.entourage.mvps.org/2007/05/in_the_beginning.html
 |title=In the Beginning
 |date=2007-05-20
 |access-date=2008-08-26
 |archive-date=2008-06-24
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080624084550/http://blog.entourage.mvps.org/2007/05/in_the_beginning.html
 |url-status=dead
 }}</ref> and contained "no ported code, and no Office code".<ref>{{cite web
 |last=Shahine
 |first=Omar
 |publisher=MSDN Blogs
 |url=http://blogs.msdn.com/omars/archive/2004/04/05/107468.aspx
 |title=Entourage: A journey to becoming an Office application
 |date=2004-04-04
 |access-date=2008-08-26
}}</ref> Nevertheless, Microsoft has positioned Entourage as a "similar" product for Macintosh customers on Exchange servers.<ref>{{cite web
 |publisher=Microsoft 
 |url=http://www.microsoft.com/mac/support.aspx?pid=exchange 
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050207151545/http://www.microsoft.com/mac/support.aspx?pid=exchange 
 |archive-date=2005-02-07 
 |title=Working with Exchange Server 
 |date=2004-08-04 
 |access-date=2008-08-26 
 |url-status=dead 
}}</ref>

===As a client for Microsoft Exchange===
Entourage had included support for Microsoft Exchange servers since August 4, 2003, when the Exchange Update for Entourage X was released. This early release required the use of IMAP for mail connectivity and WebDAV for address and calendar functionality. (Subsequent versions have dropped the requirement for IMAP and rely solely on WebDAV.) Users complained of the lack of a variety of functions present in Outlook for Windows and Outlook 2001.<ref>{{cite web
 |publisher   = MacWindows.com
 |url         = http://www.macwindows.com/entourage#8
 |title       = Using Entourage with Exchange Server Special Report
 |date        = 2003-08-06
 |access-date  = 2008-08-26
 |url-status     = dead
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20081011061831/http://www.macwindows.com/entourage#8
 |archive-date = 2008-10-11
}}</ref>

Subsequent versions of Entourage added some of the missing functionality. However, full parity with Outlook as an Exchange client was never available in Entourage 2008.<ref>{{cite journal
 |last=Welch
 |first=John C.
 |url=http://www.macworld.com/article/131730/2008/01/msftexchange.html
 |journal=[[Macworld]]
 |title=How Entourage 2008 fares with Exchange - Update improves Mac-Exchange relationship, though some features still undone
 |date=2008-01-21
 |access-date=2008-08-26
}}</ref> Synchronization of tasks and notes with an Exchange server was not available. Many Exchange users have been vocal<ref>{{cite web
 |last=Smith
 |first=William M.
 |url=http://blog.entourage.mvps.org/2008/01/prioritize_your_exchange_needs.html
 |title=Prioritize your Exchange Needs!
 |date=2008-01-17
 |access-date=2008-08-26
 |archive-date=2010-09-23
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100923120800/http://blog.entourage.mvps.org/2008/01/prioritize_your_exchange_needs.html
 |url-status=dead
 }}</ref> in denouncing Microsoft's omission of these features.<ref>{{cite journal
 |last       = Flynn
 |first      = David
 |url        = http://apcmag.com/7842/office_2008_for_mac_fails_to_deliver_full_exchange_support
 |journal    = [[APC (magazine)|APC Magazine]]
 |title      = Office 2008 for Mac fails to deliver full Exchange support
 |date       = 2008-01-17
 |access-date = 2008-08-26
}}{{dead link|date=January 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Microsoft claimed to have prioritized "reliability" over expanded Exchange support in Entourage 2008.<ref>{{cite news
 |last=Keizer
 |first=Gregg
 |url=http://www.computerworlduk.com/technology/applications/desktop/news-analysis/index.cfm?articleid=1094
 |publisher=[[Computerworld|Computerworld UK]]
 |title=In Mac Office 2008, reliability trumps Exchange support
 |date=2008-01-14
 |access-date=2008-08-26
}}</ref>

One major shortcoming of Entourage was its inability to handle complex HTML. While messages could be received and viewed correctly, they could not be forwarded without all formatting being stripped out. As an example, an airline confirmation received from, say, Imaginary Airlines, could not be forwarded without all of the pictorial information being reduced to links, rendering the e-mail unreadable. A workaround for this was to choose "Forward as attachment" which forwarded the message as a [[E-mail#Message format|message/rfc822]] file, and preserved complex HTML formatting.

An additional limitation was the inability to attach what is referred to as an "Item" in Outlook to a message while it was being composed since there was no menu choice to allow this. Instead, a user needed to find the item to be forwarded, i.e., a Contact, select it, then choose Forward as vCard from the menu.

It was also not possible to create or manage server side rules on the Exchange server, so filtering only worked when the Entourage application was running.

===Limitations===

Entourage could not natively read [[.pst|Outlook Personal Folder files]] and could not read Outlook archived emails without first re-importing them back into the main Windows Outlook database.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.microsoft.com/mac/help.mspx?target=1210e1d5-8d1c-47fc-8bd8-d14ce8d490de1033&clr=99-2-0&parentid=c47a6d08-471b-43bf-acfe-f530d36d939e1033&ep=7&CTT=Category&MODE=pv&locale=en-US&usid=26149fe0-9f81-4b5d-aa86-9e5daf5d02ec |title=Microsoft Office Help & How-To's &#124; Word, PowerPoint, Excel and Outlook Help |publisher=Microsoft.com |access-date=2013-06-15}}</ref> As a result, it was impossible to directly transfer email data from Outlook (Windows) into Entourage (Mac).

Although Microsoft had released a PST Import Tool for Entourage,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=9B95CFE2-EA2B-4088-AF2C-2FD497E2A6F8&displaylang=en|title=Download PST Import Tool for Entourage from Official Microsoft Download Center|publisher=Microsoft|work=microsoft.com}}</ref> this did not directly solve the problem of exporting data from Windows to Mac, because this utility could only import PST files from Outlook 2001 for the Mac.

One could import a Windows Outlook 2000 compatible PST to Mac Outlook 2001, and then use the utility to import into Entourage. To address this, Microsoft made Mac Outlook 2001 available for free download.

This wasn't a solution for all Mac users, because Outlook 2001 only runs in the [[Classic Environment]], which cannot run in OS 10.5 or on any Intel Macs. Outlook for Office 2011 for Intel Macs, is able to import Outlook .pst files from Windows;<ref name="Introducing Office for Mac 2011: The Quintessential Teammate">{{cite web |title=Introducing Office for Mac 2011: The Quintessential Teammate |url=http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2010/feb10/02-11msmacworld2010pr.mspx |url-status=dead |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20100722000000/http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2010/feb10/02-11msmacworld2010pr.mspx |archive-date=2010-07-22 |access-date=2010-07-09 |publisher=Microsoft.com}}</ref> however, data will be stored as many individual files, rather than in a single database such as .pst or the Entourage database.

Macworld indicates that Windows Outlook messages can be transferred to Apple Mail or Entourage by using [[Mozilla Thunderbird]] as an intermediate agent.  Thunderbird on Windows is used to import the mail from Outlook.  Then the converted mail file is moved from the Windows Thunderbird directory to the Mac and the import feature is used on Mac Mail or Entourage.<ref>{{cite journal
 |last=Breen
 |first=Christopher
 |url=http://www.macworld.com/article/133118/2008/04/workingmac2506.html
 |journal=[[Macworld]]
 |title=Evade E-mail Exasperation - You've got e-mail problems. We've got answers.
 |date=2008-04-30
 |access-date=2008-08-26
}}</ref>
However, message attachments will be lost in the conversion to Thunderbird.{{Citation needed|date=August 2010}}

Commercial third-party software (e.g. Emailchemy)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.weirdkid.com/products/emailchemy/|title=Emailchemy - Convert, Export, Import, Migrate, Manage and Archive all your Email|author=Weird Kid Software LLC|work=weirdkid.com}}</ref> is available to facilitate the transfer of Outlook data to Entourage. But those using the mbox format will not be able to respect any subfolder hierarchy since the mbox format doesn't support it.

Other alternative solutions include synchronizing: to an iPod Touch or iPhone through iTunes; using Apple MobileMe service; using an IMAP-enabled email provider; using a Microsoft Exchange server.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.entourage.mvps.org/cross_platform/win_mac.html |title=Convert Mail from Windows to Mac |publisher=Entourage.mvps.org |date=2013-04-16 |access-date=2013-06-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100208094622/http://www.entourage.mvps.org/cross_platform/win_mac.html |archive-date=2010-02-08 |url-status=dead }}</ref>