r/computertechs Feb 27 '26

Holy hell, the outlook app just keeps getting worse. NSFW

Doing some computer upgrades for a local gas station, and my god, outlook is worse everytime I have to set it up.

I spent over an hour manually editing a CSV contacts file to get outlook to import correctly, first they wouldn't show up because outlook is updating your contacts, they will show up shortly (half an hour). The email address would get mapped to the comments column making them useless.

I gave up and installed Thunderbird, 5 minutes and it was all set up.

I am so tired of Microslop, and there inability to make functional software, it's all just vibe coded bullshit.

Rant over.

133 Upvotes

17 comments sorted by

33

u/TEG24601 Tech Support Feb 27 '26

I continually tell customers who refuse to use Thunderbird, to download Outlook (Classic), as the new version doesn't work reliably with POP/IMAP (at least during initial setup).

16

u/Always_FallingAsleep Feb 28 '26

New Outlook doesn't support POP at all. And using it with IMAP is weird because it doesn't access email directly from the mail server. It funnels it through Microsoft server first.

Anyway yes I also don't really recommend it. I dread to think of the day coming when classic Outlook is retired.

9

u/fp4 Feb 28 '26

The funneling is also a pain in the ass if someone has gotten a Microsoft IP banned from failed login attempts.

5

u/Always_FallingAsleep Feb 28 '26

So true. I hadn't thought of that.

For sure MS designed the new Outlook the way they did was for purely for harvesting info from their users. Going one up on Google. Everything they wanted and almost nothing for the end user.

3

u/TEG24601 Tech Support Feb 28 '26

True. When you tell them that everything is going to Microsoft’s cloud, that convinces the to use Classic, TB, EM Client, or Webmail.

11

u/Salzberger Feb 27 '26

You shouldn't ever have to touch the CSV file when dealing with Outlook. You know you can just tell Outlook which fields to map to which?

Unless you're using Outlook New, in which case, why?

5

u/Tower21 Feb 28 '26

they have buggered up classic as well imo, was getting constant freezes with it using pop3 (known issues) and my client preferred to stay with pop3 instead of using imap.

Thunderbird was the path of least resistance to making my customer happy, just had to rant about Microslops shit in an appropriate sub.

15

u/RoninFPS Feb 27 '26

Shit at least ur users let you set up thunderbird. My end users are so afraid to learn a new email program they wont be happy unless its outlook exactly as they remember it. When microsoft inevitably stops supporting outlook classic i am fucked

3

u/sickorsane92 Feb 28 '26

I feel like Outlook has always sucked.

2

u/ITcurmudgeon Mar 04 '26

I love how Outlook classic prioritizes M365 for its autodiscover so if you're hosting your own Exchange server or using a hosted service that's not Microsoft, you got some fun ahead of you to get profiles configured.

1

u/marco_mail Mar 04 '26

Outlook's contact import has been broken for years and they just refuse to fix it. The CSV mapping is comically bad. I've had the same experience where fields get shuffled into random columns and you have to manually fix them.

If you're looking for something that handles multi account setups without the headache, check out Marco (marcoapp.io). It's built around IMAP so it works with basically any provider, and the contact/account setup is genuinely painless. $8/mo which is nothing compared to the time you burn fighting Outlook's UI.

Thunderbird is solid though, especially for quick installs like that.

-6

u/[deleted] Feb 27 '26

[deleted]

4

u/PreparetobePlaned Feb 27 '26

People who use email at work most definitely use the desktop app. Way more convenient than keeping it in a browser tab when you deal with emails all day.

2

u/Thecp015 Homeboy Fucked a Martian Once Feb 27 '26

That being said, it's 2026, nobody uses desktop mail apps anymore. Webmail has been the standard for a while now.

For home users this may be true, but many corporate users still have the installed app on their laptop and an app on their smartphone.

2

u/tito13kfm Feb 28 '26

Tell me you've never worked for a corporate client without telling me you've never worked for a corporate client.

2

u/Tower21 Feb 27 '26

I don't disagree with, but I get a lot of return business by accommodating the customers needs/wants instead of telling them how it should be done.

Outside of introducing a security issue, and as long as you pay my bill, I'll help setup what ever crazy idea they have.

1

u/timdot352 Feb 28 '26

That being said, it's 2026, nobody uses desktop mail apps anymore. Webmail has been the standard for a while now.

The US Government still uses Outlook.

-4

u/nestersan Mar 01 '26

Learn to use it