In case you haven't heard, Google (the current king of internet search) and Microsoft (the current king of Windows apps) are still at war with each other.  A couple of days ago Google announced a new application that they said would take the place of a Microsoft Exchange Sever.  Well, as soon as I read that I started laughing.  This new application was supposed to allow you to sync Outlook (2003 or 2007) with your Google contacts, calendar, etc.  Well, as usual this new application falls far short of promises made. 

Number one in my book is it doesn't sync added user fields.  Doesn't seem like a big deal, but because Outlook can be expanded by the user (and after market add-ons like our RealeSeller software) it is a big deal.  If Microsoft Exchange Server did not sync these new fields then it would make adding extra user fields pointless.  So, if you are considering using the new Google plug-in, think again.  Google's new app also seems to have problems with some of the common Outlook plug-ins like Outlook Connector and an Acrobat program.  Google also appears to be turning off the search and indexing features in favor of their own... thanks for asking Google.

A few quotes:
The Wall Street Journal
"Microsoft Corp. and Google Inc. clashed as the two giants traded barbs over a new Google software offering. Microsoft said Google's new Apps Sync software disables the search capabilities of Microsoft's popular Outlook email program."

Direct from Google:
"Unfortunately, some plug-ins don't yet work with Google Apps Sync for Microsoft Outlook, and we wanted to take this opportunity to highlight a few of the more common ones:
• Microsoft Office Outlook Connector
• Acrobat PDF Maker Toolbar
• Outlook Change Notifier"

(Notice the words "a few of the more common ones" in the above statement.)

Direct from Microsoft
Microsoft’s Outlook product manager, Dev Balasubramanian, writing in an official Microsoft blog, said Apps Sync includes a “serious bug/flaw” which disables Outlook’s ability to search data such as e-mail and contacts. He also provided a fix which involves editing the Windows registry, something many users may not wish to do.

Well, if you use Outlook and sync your phone, which also means you might even use a Microsoft Exchange Server to sync multiple computers, don't run out and install this new Google application thinking it will save you something... it won't.  Simply put, even if the new Google application played nice with other things, it still wouldn't be syncing "all available Outlook fields" except the basic ones which in my book makes it a waste of time.

Most people know that I'm not some big Microsoft fan-boy, but wake up and smell the coffee Google.  If you're going to take on the Giant, make sure you write a Giant Killer Application... right now it's going to be a footnote in a list of software bombs.  And let's have some "truth in advertising" for a change.  Using a reference to your sync software in the same sentence with Exchange Server is completely ridiculous because it doesn't begin to do anything other than sync a few fields in Outlook.

 Larry Perry
 RealeSeller™ Transforms Outlook Into a "Genuine Real Estate CRM Application"
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 Phone: (972) 514-3218
 Email: Larry@realeseller.com
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 Blog: The Real Blog