Outlook

Microsoft: Google Apps’ Outlook sync breaks Outlook

You could see this coming down the pike.

Last week, Google announced Outlook synchronization for Google Apps–a very important addition for business email users. This week, Microsoft takes to it’s Outlook blog to say that Google’s Outlook sync breaks Outlook. Or at least disables the search in Outlook.

From the blog:

The installation of the Google Apps Sync plugin disables Outlook’s ability to search any and all of your Outlook data. When a Google Apps user installs the sync plugin for Outlook, the plugin modifies a registry key which disables Windows Desktop Search from indexing and providing search functionality for all Outlook data, not just the Outlook data being synchronized from GMail. Because Outlook search relies upon the indexing performed by Windows Desktop Search, Outlook search functions are broken as a result. It is also important to note that uninstalling the plugin may not fix the issue.

 

This tidbit comes just as Microsoft gets some of the first good news its had in search in, well, in years. Search-numbers freak Comscore reports once again that Microsoft’s Bing search engine–oh, that’s supposed to be decision engine–has increased the company’s Web search popularity for the second straight week!

Microsoft’s search penetration in the U.S. hit 16.7% for last week, up 3 points from the prior week, according to Comscore. In Bing’s first week on the job, Microsoft’s U.S. search penetration hit 15.8%, up from 13.7% for the last week of the PB (pre-Bing) era.

Lessons of the great Gfail saga

It’s been just a few hours, but it’s safe to say that the February 24 Gmail outage will go down in history as the day that proves that people get what they pay for.

Kneejerk reaction was that Microsoft, home of the great paid email Exchange colossus, will make hay about Gfail. But then again, Microsoft freebie Hotmail and its Exchange/Outlook duo have weathered their fair share of complaints. In fact, the most laughable tweet this morning was “Gee, Hotmail never goes down.” Oh, really??? You, my dear, have a short memory.

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