Due to reformatting and upgrading of PC's I ran out of valid license keys for MS Office 2010 which became the driving force to switch everything over to Google. Since leaving my last job and losing access to an Exchange server, I have been slowly migrating all my Office activities to Google Docs and Gmail. After 20 years of learning, working and migrating from version to version with MS Office the culture shock is daunting.
Everyone hates change and even though I am always involved in change one way or another, I am no exception. I guess it’s easier on me since I am usually preparing change for someone else. It just takes a little patience and time.
So far everything I can do with MS Outlook I can do with Gmail. Cross referencing the terminology is the killer part. Folders in Outlook are Collections in Gmail and the All Mail collection is really an archive of already read mail.
In Outlook I keep my inbox as a working folder and when finished with an E-mail message I would move to an All Ready Read folder. I did this by creating the folder and a rule in Outlook.
In Gmail an Archive button exists so if a message did not fit specifically into a Collection I created I can select the Archive button. I also created several rules to direct mail to specific Collections such as my Bellsouth E-mail. Since it did not make any sense to check two E-mail boxes I configured my Bellsouth / AT&T mail to forward to my Gmail.
Another cool feature is chat integrated into Gmail and being able to open browser windows and slide them among any of my three monitors which is really productive. Also, now that Gmail has offline capability everything that exists in Outlook I have in Gmail. I can access Gmail and Docs from any of my six devices with no problem.
Everyone hates change and even though I am always involved in change one way or another, I am no exception. I guess it’s easier on me since I am usually preparing change for someone else. It just takes a little patience and time.
So far everything I can do with MS Outlook I can do with Gmail. Cross referencing the terminology is the killer part. Folders in Outlook are Collections in Gmail and the All Mail collection is really an archive of already read mail.
In Outlook I keep my inbox as a working folder and when finished with an E-mail message I would move to an All Ready Read folder. I did this by creating the folder and a rule in Outlook.
In Gmail an Archive button exists so if a message did not fit specifically into a Collection I created I can select the Archive button. I also created several rules to direct mail to specific Collections such as my Bellsouth E-mail. Since it did not make any sense to check two E-mail boxes I configured my Bellsouth / AT&T mail to forward to my Gmail.
Another cool feature is chat integrated into Gmail and being able to open browser windows and slide them among any of my three monitors which is really productive. Also, now that Gmail has offline capability everything that exists in Outlook I have in Gmail. I can access Gmail and Docs from any of my six devices with no problem.
I did not go into detail about Goggle Docs but it is worth mentioning that there is offline capabilities. I'm still learning the little nuances.
So I am officially no longer using Office or Outlook. The time is coming when we can close the book on Microsoft.
I wonder how long it will take before Microsoft OS is just a footnote in history. Anybody remember Netscape?
~Richard
So I am officially no longer using Office or Outlook. The time is coming when we can close the book on Microsoft.
I wonder how long it will take before Microsoft OS is just a footnote in history. Anybody remember Netscape?
~Richard
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