Disclaimer

The content of this blog is my personal opinion only. Although I am an employee - currently of Nvidia, in the past of other companies such as Iagination Technologies, MIPS, Intellectual Ventures, Intel, AMD, Motorola, and Gould - I reveal this only so that the reader may account for any possible bias I may have towards my employer's products. The statements I make here in no way represent my employer's position, nor am I authorized to speak on behalf of my employer. In fact, this posting may not even represent my personal opinion, since occasionally I play devil's advocate.

See http://docs.google.com/View?id=dcxddbtr_23cg5thdfj for photo credits.

Thursday, May 28, 2015

Using Outlook/Exchange email faster on IOS/Android than on Windows!!!!

I just sent email to my coworkers saying that I am about to give up on using Outlook on my PC (currently Windows 8), in favor of reading all of my company email on my iPad.

Why?

a) in part because my company's IT department requires us to use VPN to access our Exchange servers, requiring me to type in extra passwords and adding connection delays when the VPN connection times out due to inactivity - whereas they allow mail reader apps on cell phones and tablets, both Android and iPhone, to access without VPN, using ActiveSync.

(Note: I know that IT can configure Exchange to be accessed across the net without VPN - my company did so before it was acquired.  But apparently our IT department does not trust that, whereas it was compelled to provide ActiveSynch for mobile devices.
     I also have at least one email reader on my iPhone - Triage - that requires VPN.  A big reason that I do not use that email reader any more.
     Apparently Microsoft does not allow PC mail readers to use ActiveSync.)

b) also because of a recent Outlook problem, whereas it is unable to connect to the Exchange server until 15-30 minutes has passed - unless I reboot.


This probably is not big news to Microsoft - but this is something that Microsoft MUST fix, if they want people to continue using PCs.

All things being equal, I would prefer to read my email on my PC laptop, with its big screen, trackball, etc.  (Let's leave aside the question of Linux/Windows or which mail reader - Outlook or Thunderbird or ...  - since AFAIK all PC or Mac mail readers have the same problem, in that they would have to go through VPN to access the Exchange servers, whether as native Exchange or iMAP.) 

(Hmm, is there an ActiveSync mail reader that can work on a Linux PC?   Or is ActiveSync non-open software?)

But if using my PC is so much slower than using my iPad - well, that's one less Microsoft customer.

I have been considering a Microsoft Surface Pro or similar Windows 10 machine as a convertible tablet - capable of doing real work using PowerPoint and Excel.  But AFAIK the Surface Pro will suffer the above mentioned problems that slow down my PC email.   If it is slower than an iPad or Android tablet at reading email....   one less Microsoft customer.