OT - Alternative to Outlook.com

rolf_f

Anyone able to help? Microrubbish have just 'updated' Outlook.com which I used to access personal emails on my Blackberry. As of a few weeks back, it stopped working presumably when the upgrade happened. Today I get more upgrading crap popping up on the computer - so I waste more time on it and it still doesn't work. Normal Office Outlook works fine so how MS can manage to make .com not work is beyond me. Are there any alternatives I can use that aren't a total pain in the backside and are easy to set up because life is too short. I just want something that synchs to my normal email and takes about 3 button presses to set up.
Solutions much appreciated.........

dhope

Yeah, Gmail will work too, though I'm surprised Outlook doesn't, MS are pretty inclusive these days

itboffin

Rolf F wrote:

Anyone able to help? Microrubbish have just 'updated' Outlook.com which I used to access personal emails on my Blackberry. As of a few weeks back, it stopped working presumably when the upgrade happened. Today I get more upgrading crap popping up on the computer - so I waste more time on it and it still doesn't work. Normal Office Outlook works fine so how MS can manage to make .com not work is beyond me. Are there any alternatives I can use that aren't a total pain in the backside and are easy to set up because life is too short. I just want something that synchs to my normal email and takes about 3 button presses to set up.
Solutions much appreciated.........

use the webmail version OWA its actually better even on a phone or tablet

itboffin

dhope wrote:

Yeah, Gmail will work too, though I'm surprised Outlook doesn't, MS are pretty inclusive these days

I've been using MS since almost the beginning of mainstream corp adoption of computers and even i'm starting to think they'll totally lost the plot with windows updates, my two work laptops are insanely spec'd bits of kit and on multiple occassions windows updates have frozen them out for hours then failed rebooted and started the whole process again and again.

I'm far from alone on this front, just insane. Thank god I also use macs, chromebooks and all my company and customers internet services are UNIX based, real software.

dhope

You're UNIX based

itboffin

I'm the I

perfectmark

What kind of Blackberry do you have? If it is a Priv you will be OK, but if you have one of the older ones like the Bold, you will find it hard to get any modern email service to work with it.

kingstongraham

There might be some people with time on their hands who have experience in setting up mail servers to work with old style blackberry devices. Just try admin@clintonemail.com

rolf_f

perfectmark wrote:

What kind of Blackberry do you have? If it is a Priv you will be OK, but if you have one of the older ones like the Bold, you will find it hard to get any modern email service to work with it.

Nothing ancient - a Classic. As I said, it was fine before MS started meddling. I can send from outlook.com on my computer and receive the message in my normal outlook account but not vice versa.

I'll probably try Gmail - I think I may have had a Gmail account forced on me already. ITB - I looked at OWA and gave up on the first MS page as it wasn't even clear what it was!

bompington

itboffin wrote:

my two work laptops are insanely spec'd bits of kit and on multiple occassions windows updates have frozen them out for hours then failed rebooted and started the whole process again and again.

Works fine on my 8-year old Dell...

rolf_f

OK, update. Finally got round to trying to fix this.

1) Outlook.com. Now claims to have synchronised with Outlook. Only it hasn't. I can send and receive to Outlook.com address but the normal email address isn't picked up.
2) Gmail. I do have an account but every time I log in it wants a new email address. I've used up all the normal ones I would use and can't get them back. I'm not changing addresses each time I log in so Gmail is out on the grounds of it being idiotic. Besides, it is Google and Google is crap.
3) Yahoo - seems well reviewed. Unfortunately I get stuck on a weird security window which won't go away no matter how often I ok it.
4) Mail and GMX(? - something like that). These appear to be the same judging by the account forms. Both finish with a message saying that your account can't be created right now with no reason given. An internet search shows you can be waiting months for this to work.

So does anyone know of any of any webmails that actually work and which you can actually create an account for. None of the above give any confidence and I'm getting bored filling forms in only to fail to get anywhere!

surrey_commuter

Rolf F wrote:

OK, update. Finally got round to trying to fix this.

1) Outlook.com. Now claims to have synchronised with Outlook. Only it hasn't. I can send and receive to Outlook.com address but the normal email address isn't picked up.
2) Gmail. I do have an account but every time I log in it wants a new email address. I've used up all the normal ones I would use and can't get them back. I'm not changing addresses each time I log in so Gmail is out on the grounds of it being idiotic. Besides, it is Google and Google is crap.
3) Yahoo - seems well reviewed. Unfortunately I get stuck on a weird security window which won't go away no matter how often I ok it.
4) Mail and GMX(? - something like that). These appear to be the same judging by the account forms. Both finish with a message saying that your account can't be created right now with no reason given. An internet search shows you can be waiting months for this to work.

So does anyone know of any of any webmails that actually work and which you can actually create an account for. None of the above give any confidence and I'm getting bored filling forms in only to fail to get anywhere!

Have you considered the possibility of user error?

rolf_f

I always consider the possibility of user error - infact, it's the first thing I consider! But I work on the theory that if Google searches show it isn't just me then I can fairly blame the other. And if it is anything to do with Microsoft, I can probably fairly blame them.

rolf_f

OK, still struggling. Eventually decided to give Gmail another go. All seemed to work successfully - ie emails arrived in both gmail and outlook via both email addresses though it seemed, irritatingly, that Gmail had decided that it was the primary account.
However, today I discovered that it only actually forwards emails to my normal email address when my desktop is switched on! Despite the forwarding being set up correctly as far as I can tell - if the desktop is switched off I don't get emails in my normal account. And since I can't even easily forward the gmail emails back to my home account, nor temporarily disable gmail, I have been forced to delete the account entirely as I don't want a random split in where my emails go. So, someone must have an idea of a simple way to do this. Tempted to try a completely new Outlook.com account.
Help gratefully appreciated....Rolf