Microsoft Office for Mac 2010 kills off Entourage, replaced by a Mac version of Outlook. What took you so long, Redmond? David Coursey of PC World opines:
For a decade, Mac users who needed access to Microsoft Exchange servers were given a truly second-class client, Entourage, to do it with. It has been part of MacOffice since 2000.
Alright, I was a Mac Office user for 10 years, loved Entourage to death because there was nothing better on the Mac. That was then and this is now. OS X’s Mail, iCal, Address Book work well together. OS X Snow Leopard brings Microsoft Exchange support, so who needs Outlook?
At any time, Microsoft could have created a real Outlook for Mac, fully Exchange-compatible, but chose not to, apparently hoping the lack of tight Entourage support would hobble the Apple platform. And it did.
What has happened to Mail, iCal, and Address Book in recent years is subtle. Exchange support in Snow Leopard is not subtle. That alone provides a bigger door into the enterprise for Macs.
Apple began developing replacement programs—Mail, iCal, and Address Book—that despite their success never reached full Exchange compatibility. That is, until the release of the new Snow Leopard OS. In a matter of weeks, Macs should become full players on Exchange-based e-mail systems.
Outlook for Mac is not the big news. Exchange support in Mac OS X Snow Leopard is the big news.