Tag Archives: NewsGator

Back to Microsoft Office Outlook and NewsGator

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Posted by Alisha on Wednesday, April 23rd, 2008 – 8:11 pm
Filed under Software

Outlook

Over a couple weekends ago I decided to switch back to Outlook because I missed the features like the calendar and tasks. I know, I can have all that with other programs, but why? I like having just one program open that does almost everything!

Outlook 2007

Another reason I switched is because I hate Thunderbird. Even though it’s the only e-mail client that works perfectly with Gmail IMAP when I have other e-mails forwarded to my Gmail account, I just don’t like Thunderbird. Never have. This could be because I have used Outlook for years. Using Thunderbird felt like I was downgrading.

Outlook isn’t too bad with Gmail IMAP, except that I have to manually select which e-mail address I want to use to send for my other e-mail accounts that are forwarded to my Gmail account. Outlook doesn’t automatically detect this like Thunderbird did when using identities.

I still use Outlook as I used Thunderbird with Gmail IMAP. I just wish I could use the delete button to delete e-mails, instead of always having to drag e-mails into the Gmail Trash folder. Oh well, eventually it will become habit or Microsoft will wake up and let me customize where I want my deleted e-mails to go!

NewsGator

When I had first started using Google Reader, I fell in love with it! I just liked how it worked. But, I just keep forgetting to check my feeds! It would be nice if there was some e-mail notification telling me when I have new feeds every so often. I know I get new feeds daily, but I just need some kind of reminder and notification telling me there is something new to read.

Before Google Reader, I had used NewsGator. During that time the NewsGator plugin wasn’t free to use. But now it is. I thought I would try it again. Because Google Reader doesn’t allow synchronizing, NewsGator sounds even better.

There are new features with the NewsGator plugin for Outlook, such as marking so many feeds as read depending on the age of new posts. This is something that Google Reader is missing and is needed when staring at 1000 new posts that I haven’t checked since a couple weeks ago!

The best part of the NewsGator plugin is that it is used inside of Outlook. This makes life much easier because I only need Outlook open, which I would have open 24/7 anyway, because I always check my e-mail and when I’m working, I use both the calendar and tasks for recording hours.

NewsGator Inbox

The only disadvantage when using an offline RSS reader is that it downloads to your hard drive and doesn’t go away unless you delete!

Anyone else prefer Outlook over Thunderbird and/or NewsGator over Google Reader?

Desktop Applications or Web Applications?

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Posted by Alisha on Sunday, November 11th, 2007 – 3:45 pm
Filed under Software

My Uninstalled Life

This past month I have been trying to use more web applications, because it’s convenient when I’m switching between computers. I have my desktop computer and my laptop. What if they were to both fail, for whatever reason?

I recently read at Jeffro2pt0 about My Uninstalled Life. It is about someone’s journey to replacing desktop applications with web applications.

The disadvantages to storing everything online are few, but could cause problems for some.

  • Internet access is required
  • Site availability
  • Privacy and security

I can’t completely move away from desktop applications. For example, with Gmail, every so often I open up my e-mail client and allow it to download e-mails as a backup. I never know if Google will disappear one day and take my e-mail with it! Okay, maybe I’m paranoid. Actually, if I don’t have Internet access when I need to check a saved e-mail, it’s nice to know I can read it whenever I need to.

With Gmail IMAP, checking e-mail on multiple computers is much easier. Unfortunately, Gmail is also missing a much needed feature: multiple signatures for the accounts that I have set to send e-mail as. I need this because my work account requires me to have a signature. So, I need to use a desktop application for e-mail.

I used to use Outlook with NewsGator’s plugin to check feeds. I had stopped using it and started using NewsGator’s online version. I have always loved NewsGator, but I felt overwhelmed with the amount of feeds I had to read daily. Google Reader makes this much easier. I don’t think I will use a desktop client again for this. This also saves hard drive space.

Goowy

For people who don’t have their own computer, but have access to Internet cafes or libraries can use web desktops. This allows you to have access to a set of applications and files on your own personal desktop from inside a browser. No need to visit several sites to access everything. Goowy and YouOS both offer this.

I prefer accessing my desktop computer from my laptop via Remote Desktop Connection. If I wasn’t home, I would want to access it via a Virtual Private Network. I like feeling like I’m at home on the computer.

I like that I can access what I want online, anywhere I want. But, I also want to be able to download that information so I can access it offline as well. This means I still need a desktop application to do it. So, even though I have started to use more web applications, I haven’t really uninstalled anything. I’ve only made it easier to access information and files from anywhere.

Is there a reason why you prefer desktop applications over web applications or vice versa?