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Is it a dream, or a nightmare? Well, if my one major con of switching actually took place, it could be a nightmare, but for now, over a month into it, it’s a dream among dreams. It’s Heaven…

Ok, this is the one month report, and there are some brilliant tidbits in here…Basically, it’s changed the way I do business, and perhaps, even the way I travel. While there are negatives, as I will point out, this is the wave of the future. It’s technology working the way that it should - something windows and Microsoft could never actually accomplish.

Typically, I would start with all the "Good" things, but since the list of "Cons" is so short, I’ll start there. If you’re new to this article of how I moved from Oultook to Google…start with the two prior posts, Moving Outlook to Gmail, and then A Gmailer’s Reflection on Outlook.  I should probably title this, How Google took over my world….

Preface - I am not a huge Google fan, just relaying my results.

CONS:

I have put all my faith in Google!  They handle my Mail, Documents, Calendar, Newsreader, and … Advertising, Analytics, oh lord, we won’t even cover that here! If anything were to fail over there (and it will someday, quite likely), I’m in a heap of trouble!  It’s way too much faith in a single company. You’d have to be crazy to do it … or perhaps, simply crazy not to?  Really, it’s what you’ve trusted Microsoft to do for years, that has never worked, and led to endless dilemma and heartache, and wasted work. Agreed?

Secondly, there’s not enough easy offline access to your mail/files/etc… Google Gears needs a lot of work! I can’t access a lot of this stuff when I am not online. That’s a big problem!

Um, that’s about it. Sure, there are tons of features that are missing (like simply beaing able to move to the next message when deleting or archiving the current one), that make you CRY in agony against Gmai, but the plain, inescapable fact is…

PROS:

It works.

It’s Fast. Instant search, Instant Messages.

It’s Intuitive.

It’s Time Saving. Threaded Messages and Labels!

It’s all on the web (no more switching between computer…you always have access).

As hard as it is to admit, none of those things happened for me with Microsoft products. It was slow, rarely worked, I’d constantly lose things, have constant freezes, and rarely get work done.  So, what have I actually learned, and what can you learn from my switching my Outlook to Gmail:

Lesson #1: I wish I had tried it earlier!

If it doesn’t work, try alternatives. Give it a shot, and see if it works for you. Honestly. I’ve saved time, headaches, and no longer have to worry aobut searching my email, or finding things. All answers and emails are a second away. It used to take me 20 minutes to check my email via outlook in the mornign (30+ accounts), now it’s seconds (or immediate). Major difference!

It makes me envy the people whom switched before me, and how much more productive they’ve been, whilve I’ve hassled with lost mail, endless start times, and unretrievable messages!

Lesson #2: Integration Works…

I didn’t plan to have my calendar using Google Apps, but it happened. It’s easy, and while it lacks functionality I’d like (cel phone alerts, etc…), it’s a s imple way to share my day with my assistants. I now have 3 assistants, and the calendare is very helpful. Along with the Newsreader (and taking care of my 100+ feeds), it’s a great way to stay on top of things. The newsreader in Outlook 2007 was a mess for me, but I never planned on switching, but it was just so easy. Now, after the fact, and years of other products, all the Google stuff appears seamless and easy…

Lesson #3: I can travel. Did you hear that? I can travel, without a laptop!

This one I’m still getting my head around! I can, for the first time in 10 years, travel without a laptop if I desire, and still be up to date. My email, docs, calendar, reader, etc… are all online, and instantly accessible from anywhere. Oh my god! The ramifications of this are huge. I leave to Prague in one week, and the thought of not taking my computer never even entered my mind. Now I have to think, what do I need my computer for? Am I going to write so much that I need it with me?  My main needs for comptuer and travel were… email. Skype is a close second as is web surfing and site maintenance. However, my main reason has always been email.  Can I actually travel without one? With just my Blackberry? I don’t know! But it’s got me thinking, let me tell you.

And now, my blackberry works better too, only checking one email account - but we’ll leave that topic for a later post.

Now that Gmail has IMAP, you can import all your mail. It’s easy, but incredibly time consuming. 5 gigs took about…3 days or so.

Anyway, don’t want to ramble. Hope my experience help you as well!