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We were very surprised to see Gmail announce last week that they'll soon end support for Exchange ActiveSync (EAS), unless of course you're willing to pay Google for your email. It means that many people currently using Gmail for free are facing a situation where they might have to degrade their mobile email experience by downgrading to an older protocol that doesn't sync your calendar or contacts, doesn't give you direct push of new email messages and doesn't have all the benefits of Exchange ActiveSync.
So if you want a better email, especially on your phone or tablet, it's time to join the millions who have already made the choice to upgrade to Outlook.com.
To learn more about how to get started with Outlook.com, check out the technical spec for Exchange ActiveSync in Exchange 2013 just follow these simple steps:
To learn more about setting up Outlook.com on your mobile device, see our simple instructions here.
For those still on the fence, a quick introduction to why EAS is so important for a seamless experience across devices could be helpful. There are many protocols for sending and receiving email. POP and IMAP were designed decades ago, were considered state-of-the-art at the time, and are still used by millions of people. Both were created before mobile phones really even existed. To have a great email experience in 2012, a protocol needs to do more than just send and receive messages on a PC. It needs to work really well on a variety of mobile devices, to sync not only email but also your calendar and contacts, to do this automatically, and in a way that preserves battery life.
Exchange ActiveSync was first introduced in 2002 as a way to help you have a great mobile email experience. Since then, it has continued to improve, with a number of optimizations specifically for mobile devices, including tablets:
You can read more about these innovations and a whole host of other nitty-gritty details in the history of Exchange ActiveSync. It's because of these advanced consumer benefits that many devices choose to natively support Exchange ActiveSync-whether that's a Windows Phone, iPhone, iPad, or even a number of Android devices. You can see more detail in this chart of some of the other devices that support EAS.
We hope you have a wonderful winter holiday. As you enter the New Year, we encourage you to seize the opportunity to upgrade your mail to a service that puts the consumer first and gives you a great mobile email experience.
--Dharmesh Mehta, Senior Director, Product Management
Comments: (84) Collapse
I am strongly considering this. I am a Windows Phone customer and I do really love Windows Phone. But I also use a Mac, and that is not going to change anytime soon. It doesn't appear that I can use your services with Mac Calendar or Contacts like I can with Google. Also, Outlook.com doesn't even offer IMAP, only POP. I'd need at least IMAP with Apple Mail to consider making the switch. Both sides are too closed now and that's really too bad. Microsoft does have an opportunity here though to gain a lot of customers for their on line services if they are willing to be a bit more interoperable. You are 80% there.
I think you guys should finish implementation before trying to get everyone to switch.
If an email was sent to me at my gmail address, I cannot respond from outlook.com and have it come from my gmail address. It would come from my outlook.com address / on behalf of my gmail address.
Once you have the ability to respond from the same address to which the email was addressed (i.e. proper multiple account management) then you'll be ready for this big push to get people to switch.
I believe Snow Leopard introduced support for Exchange...
I'm with Chris. This is great, but the Mac OS X versions Mail, Calendar, and Contacts don't work with Outlook.com (except for POP mail which is not acceptable). That's the missing piece of the puzzle. Mac OS X only supports EWS for Exchange (I think), and Outlook.com only supports EAS. Solve that somehow and I'll get on board.
Tony also has a great point about multiple account support. That's a pretty big Gmail feature that would be nice to have with Outlook.com.
Definitely shocked by Google's move by Outlook.com needs to step up their game as well like others have mentioned. Just drop POP3 access for IMAP altogether and you'll have a winner. Until then, you're kind of in the same boat as Google when it comes to non-Windows systems (iOS, OS X). Other than that, I'm with you. Switched a while ago...
I think the deal is Mac OS X has support for Exchange Web Services (EWS) but it doesn't support Exchange ActiveSync (EAS). In terms of Apple products, only iOS supports EAS.
I would love to give Outlook.com a serious try, but I can’t because there’s no way to use it on my Mac. Even your own Outlook 2011 won’t connect to an Outlook.com account. Crazy!
forums.wpcentral.com/.../208638-%5Bhow-%5D-switch-completely-gmail-outlook-live-com.html
What you are asking for is already available if you connect GMail to Outlook.com (though I don't think this article is about 'keeping' your GMail).
Now, no more silly excuses, I want to see you really give this a go, like you implied.
I would love to switch to outlook... if you just add proper two-factor authentication like is ALWAYS requested when you ask what features people would like to see implemented next (and then ignore it).
Just commit to supporting CalDAV and CardDAV so we can move on with our lives. Life is too short for petty protocol squabbles especially when the one you refuse to support is a completely open standard.
I do agree that Microsoft should commit to supporting it... but they should squabble over better. Customers deserve better. That said, I want to point out that Google does NOT support the open standard as it is. They mangle and contort it to suit their own needs. That's not the definition of OPEN. Also, a good company doesn't rip the rug out from under their users just over that so-called protocol squabble.
Seriously !! What is Exchange Activesync, a proprietary way of exchanging data. Now compare that with open standards such as CalDav and IMAP, through which standardized data exchanges can happen and anyone can adopt them without licensing fees to Microsoft. It makes perfect sense for Google to remove support for these non standard stuff. Best of luck with your summer cleaning
So what about Outlook.com "send-on-behalf" snafu? It makes it impossible for people with custom domain names to switch. I went thru the effort to register my custom domain and I pay for it so I can send mail with nice address. It is NOT acceptable to send people mails from "live_HASHTAG@live.com on behalf of my@address..xy"
Sure you can respond from outlook.com and have it come from your gmail address.
We'll see what happens. Will Google's decision hurt EAS, or will it hurt Google? After all - proprietory or "open", EAS is the most sophisticated and most popular sync-all-everywhere-just-works protocol out there...
Comments: (loading) Collapse