Where Outlook is better than Gmail

One of the most promising aspects of Google’s Gmail is that there is no need to synch multiple email inboxes across different devices.

Because it is a web-based client, you can see exactly the inbox whether you connect from a PC, tablet or handheld device.

Gmail also makes it easy to consolidate various email accounts in one place.

This was my goal when I set out to test Gmail in more detail.

Straightforward

In practice, this was successful and relatively straightforward. I routed my Gmail, POP3 and Yahoo mail accounts through a single inbox. It gave me easy access to the same messages across three different hardware devices through a consistent and straightforward user interface.

The test was so successful there was no going back to dealing with multiple mail systems and clients.

Yet Gmail has one weakness. Ironically for a company built on search, there is no way to include Gmail messages in a system-wide integrated search.

Gmail internal search is first class

Gmail’s built-in internal search is significantly faster and more efficient than search in Outlook. You get better results and they come quickly.

But Outlook integrates well with Microsoft Windows. It allows you to search your email messages along with Word, OneNote, text and HTML documents from a single, central location.

With older versions of Windows, being unable to do this was inconvenient, but is was not a deal breaker.

Windows 7 tips the balance back to Outlook

Then, Microsoft Windows 7 arrived with its significantly improved integrated search.

Windows 7 search is noticeably better than Vista search and works even better with Outlook 2007. So much better that I’ve reinstated Outlook 2007 as my primary email hub.

I can use Outlook 2007 on my desktop and laptop, but not on my Palm handheld. This hardly matters, as it’s not the best device for writing emails (though it’s a good tool for reading them). And anyway, I suspect my trusty old Palm TX is not long for this world.

Update: I forgot to mention another bonus: Outlook 2007 integrates seamlessly with OneNote, while moving messages to and from Gmail to the application is a pain.