Office 2011: Outlook FAQ | Office | Macworld:
“Does Outlook for Mac 2011 allow you to manipulate Exchange server-side rules, as the Windows version does?
No.”
Want Proof…
Despite what the good folk at Macworld said, I had to try it myself. So this morning I exported all 50 of my old exchange rules that were rather broken and still forced me to check my trash and junk folders more often than I wanted. Since going Mac at Work over 6 months ago, I have been using mail and waiting patiently for Outlook for Mac 2011 to come and make my mail management a lot easier. Even though Outlook is rather clever with it’s iPhone & GMail like conversation view and it’s unified inbox. However, and as usual there is always a however, the Exchange integration is still not there yet. When you click on edit rules, the Exchange account shows ups and you get the impression that you actually creating rules on the server. But don’t be fooled, just above the folder there is the ominous “On My Computer” header which literally squashes all your hopes and Inbox Zero dreams. q
Why are exchange rules so important: Smartphones…
You see, when you create rules on your computer instead of using the Exchange rules, the rules will only be applied if you leave your computer and even then emails will still get sent to your device for some amount of time before the phone gets re-sync’d. THIS is a HUGE pain in ASS! There is a good reason why most of us use GMail for our personal mail simply so we can have some good mail filtering. I’m still waiting patiently for Merlin Mann‘s new Inbox Zero email book, but the short of it is that filtering your mail effectively is by far the best way to manage your inbox.
So what I essentially have to do now is fire up the Dell e6400, remote desktop into it and rebuild and boat load of rules… JOY!
