Author Topic: The Outlook is disappointing (Read 13800 times)

MilesAhead · « **on:** August 31, 2016, 07:21 AM »

For as long as possible I out- maneuvered the attempts by Hotmail to draw me into the Outlook interface. But alas, I had to log in through a link. There was no way around it. Now every time I open my mail instead of the inbox just being there I have to watch this progress bar for some unknown interval. Just like my google mail. Arrrgghhhhh!!

The guy who named it a "progress bar" was being ironic I suspect.

wraith808 · « **Reply #1 on:** August 31, 2016, 08:02 AM »

progress bar? What are you referring to? I've never seen such.

MilesAhead · « **Reply #2 on:** August 31, 2016, 08:09 AM »

progress bar? What are you referring to? I've never seen such.
-wraith808 (August 31, 2016, 08:02 AM)

When I log in there is a splash screen with Outlook in huge letters, a progress bar, with text below that says "opening your mailbox." Perhaps if you signed in months ago you are still with that interface? Most likely that is it. Because I have another account I use as a spam catcher and it got sucked into Outlook months ago. It doesn't do what this other login does.

Here's a screen shot

The Outlook is disappointing

MilesAhead · « **Reply #3 on:** August 31, 2016, 08:51 AM »

I can't figure it out. If I use Opera 12.14 x64 then put hotmail.com and log in, it goes right to the inbox. If I do the same thing in firefox or slimjet, I get the splash screen. Really weird.

There is obviously no need for the screen except to make you wait.

wraith808 · « **Reply #4 on:** August 31, 2016, 09:53 AM »

I don't get that. Could it be because you have so much spam? It does process the messages, and when I'd not been using my account for a while, it did that when I first logged in again. Currently, however, mine goes to a login portal, then directly into my inbox in less than a couple of seconds.

MilesAhead · « **Reply #5 on:** August 31, 2016, 11:08 AM »

I don't get that. Could it be because you have so much spam? It does process the messages, and when I'd not been using my account for a while, it did that when I first logged in again. Currently, however, mine goes to a login portal, then directly into my inbox in less than a couple of seconds.
-wraith808 (August 31, 2016, 09:53 AM)

Opera never goes to the splash screen. SlimJet, Firefox and k-meleon do. The amount of mail is not the issue. If it gets real bad I'll have to bring up Opera but I would rather just use a tab in the browser that is already open. No big deal. But it seems like MS has programmers sitting around devising things to waste your time. Maybe it is one of those marketing things like never having clocks on the wall in supermarkets or department stores.

wraith808 · « **Reply #6 on:** August 31, 2016, 04:02 PM »

I guess what I'm saying is that if it does not happen on all platforms, I doubt it's intentional, but there's something behind it. I just tried on Firefox, and no splash screen.

* wraith808 shrugs

MilesAhead · « **Reply #7 on:** August 31, 2016, 04:19 PM »

I guess what I'm saying is that if it does not happen on all platforms, I doubt it's intentional, but there's something behind it. I just tried on Firefox, and no splash screen.

* wraith808 shrugs
-wraith808 (August 31, 2016, 04:02 PM)

What happens is once you log in using the outlook page rather than hotmail, from then on you end up in the new interface no matter where you come from. But it surprises me that Opera doesn't go there. Maybe it relies on some feature or capability that did not exist when Opera 12 was coded. I'm just guessing. MS definitely wants you to go through the new portal. Otherwise there would be an Opt Out mechanism in the mailbox display settings. It probably has to do with hitting you with targeted advertising.

wraith808 · « **Reply #8 on:** August 31, 2016, 04:43 PM »

I guess what I'm saying is that if it does not happen on all platforms, I doubt it's intentional, but there's something behind it. I just tried on Firefox, and no splash screen.

* wraith808 shrugs
-wraith808 (August 31, 2016, 04:02 PM)

What happens is once you log in using the outlook page rather than hotmail, from then on you end up in the new interface no matter where you come from. But it surprises me that Opera doesn't go there. Maybe it relies on some feature or capability that did not exist when Opera 12 was coded. I'm just guessing. MS definitely wants you to go through the new portal. Otherwise there would be an Opt Out mechanism in the mailbox display settings. It probably has to do with hitting you with targeted advertising.

-MilesAhead (August 31, 2016, 04:19 PM)

I log in from the outlook page. I don't get it. I've never seen that page that you screenshot other than in your screenshot. I even tried an account that I'd not accessed in a long time that had never used the new UI. I ended up in the new UI, but never got that loading screen. If it is targeted advertising, it's a pretty bad job of it.

MilesAhead · « **Reply #9 on:** August 31, 2016, 05:34 PM »

I guess what I'm saying is that if it does not happen on all platforms, I doubt it's intentional, but there's something behind it. I just tried on Firefox, and no splash screen.

* wraith808 shrugs
-wraith808 (August 31, 2016, 04:02 PM)

What happens is once you log in using the outlook page rather than hotmail, from then on you end up in the new interface no matter where you come from. But it surprises me that Opera doesn't go there. Maybe it relies on some feature or capability that did not exist when Opera 12 was coded. I'm just guessing. MS definitely wants you to go through the new portal. Otherwise there would be an Opt Out mechanism in the mailbox display settings. It probably has to do with hitting you with targeted advertising.

-MilesAhead (August 31, 2016, 04:19 PM)

I log in from the outlook page. I don't get it. I've never seen that page that you screenshot other than in your screenshot. I even tried an account that I'd not accessed in a long time that had never used the new UI. I ended up in the new UI, but never got that loading screen. If it is targeted advertising, it's a pretty bad job of it.

-wraith808 (August 31, 2016, 04:43 PM)

Quite curious indeed.

I have a hotkey that opens Opera to my outlook mail. It turns out with Turbo Mode enabled, even if SlimJet is already open, it is faster to hit the hotkey and let Opera open on top and enter my inbox than to open another SlimJet tab to Outlook. It snaps right open. I am not really that fond of using Opera. But since it seems to leap onto the screen I may have to use it more often for some things. It certainly is fast.

oblivion · « **Reply #10 on:** September 01, 2016, 01:37 AM »

My webmail solution of choice, for quite a few years now, has been Fastmail. Their interface / design / ergonomics are lightweight, responsive, efficient and -- in my view -- Just Work. (They were owned by Opera for a while, largely I think because of their massive levels of expertise in making mail fast, simple and efficient, but are independent again now.)

So my various email addresses -- gmail, yahoo, outlook, so forth -- are all fetched from their providers into Fastmail (which also allows me to set aliases to the addresses I own so I don't have to interact with anything I don't enjoy interacting with!)

The downside: although there IS a free offering, you'll probably want one or other of their paid accounts.

The web end is good, they support several forms of 2FA if that's your thing (I have a yubico key but they have several other alternatives) there are mobile apps too... I don't evangelise them as much as I should but I've tried a lot of webmail solutions over the years and nothing else comes close.

And does it matter which browser you use? Apparently not. Fastmail lives up to its name, generally.

dr_andus · « **Reply #11 on:** September 01, 2016, 05:08 AM »

Here's a screen shot
-MilesAhead (August 31, 2016, 08:09 AM)

Your URL says "outlook.live.com." Could that be the problem? I go in via a Chrome bookmark that has "mail.live.com" as the link and I don't get your problem. Perhaps try changing your link to "mail.live.com" and see what happens (though you might need to log out and clear some cookies--unless the problem is that somewhere within Outlook you have unwittingly opted for that interface? But then there should be an option in Outlook's settings to get out of that).

dr_andus · « **Reply #12 on:** September 01, 2016, 05:15 AM »

P.S. Although I also see in your URL that you're using "owa" (Outlook Web App), which might be another reason you're defaulting to that view.

I also need to use OWA for my work email but I make sure to click "light version" when logging in, as I hate the full version (I found it painfully slow, a terrible drain on productivity).

So if you can't get away from OWA, I suggest you log out, clear your relevant cookies, and then tick the "light version" box.

But OWA is a completely different thing from the live.mail.com (post-Hotmail) interface, AFAIK.

MilesAhead · « **Reply #13 on:** September 01, 2016, 09:03 AM »

@dr_andus the url in the address bar is after redirection. I never opted for the Outlook interface. I kept it to hotmail.com as long as possible. I had to go through a link to restore my password and that was what got me. The link went through the outlook page. I had no choice.

For some reason Opera 12.14 can go to hotmail.com and be redirected. This is the url I end up with in Opera: outlook.live.com/owa/#wa=wsignin1.0

Except is has the https prefix. Anyway, Opera goes there and I am in my inbox. No splash. No delay.

MilesAhead · « **Reply #14 on:** September 01, 2016, 09:22 AM »

Hmm, perhaps it is a case that the older browser has become "Lite" by today's standards? I remember sticking with Netscape 6.x because 7.x was so "bloated." Then years later I tried Netscape 7 I had hanging around and it totally snapped onto the desktop on launch.

I set Opera to open with the Speed Dial. When I run my hotkey to open Opera in hotmail it snaps open and both the SpeedDial and Inbox are loaded in tabs. These other browsers, with all the delays and lags, still do not load the tab until you activate it. What's up with that?

Maybe you guys who don't leave the browsers open all the time would want to give Opera x64 12.14 a shot? Turn on Turbo Mode and watch your head spin!

Heh! Get this! The setup exe for the 64 bit version is only 10 MB!

wraith808 · « **Reply #15 on:** September 01, 2016, 10:17 AM »

I tried in my experiment to go to hotmail.com and open the account that I'd not been in for a while from there. Redirects, sure. But a loading screen? No.

dr_andus · « **Reply #16 on:** September 01, 2016, 11:24 AM »

I was curious so I did a search and it turns out that MS still hasn't migrated all accounts to the new interface, so one can have different experiences (and URLs) with different Hotmail/Outlook/Microsoft accounts:

Outlook.com Migration Status

Yes, the migration is still on, but with some 400 million accounts to move, it will continue well into 2017. (...)

How do you know if the account was moved to the new server? Log into the account at outlook.com and look at the banner above the Inbox. If it says "Outlook Mail", it's on the new server. Accounts still on the old server say "Outlook.com".

I've still got an "Outlook.com" banner, so that's why I'm still on the old "mail.live.com" domain. Though I'm not sure if this is impacting your situation, Miles. But it might explain the differences between your two accounts.

wraith808 · « **Reply #17 on:** September 01, 2016, 11:46 AM »

Interesting! Both of my accounts say Outlook.com. Even more interesting, as I'm paying for O365 on my new account.

MilesAhead · « **Reply #18 on:** September 01, 2016, 02:22 PM »

I updated Opera x64 to v. 12.18. So far the main drawback I have found to using it is non acceptance of some sites when going to https yadda yadda such as when logging in. On the humorous side Opera keeps popping up a notification that I really do not need to have Turbo Mode enabled since I am on a fast network and TM only helps with slow networks such as dial-up. The WiFi here has download bandwidth anywhere from 12 to 35 Mbs and I still notice the difference with TM on. So I am leaving it on. heh heh heh

MilesAhead · « **Reply #19 on:** September 01, 2016, 02:29 PM »

I was curious so I did a search and it turns out that MS still hasn't migrated all accounts to the new interface, so one can have different experiences (and URLs) with different Hotmail/Outlook/Microsoft accounts:
-dr_andus (September 01, 2016, 11:24 AM)

That may be the reason why Opera goes straight to the inbox. I have never logged in to either of my hotmail accounts from the Outlook page using Opera. It seems like once they suck you in they won't let you off. Like the cat has hold of the mouse. Game over.

dr_andus · « **Reply #20 on:** September 28, 2016, 04:29 AM »

So, I've just been upgraded to the new "Outlook Email" server and got an annoying "It looks like you're using an adblocker" message in a pane on the right, using up valuable space especially on small screens, trying to sell me Ad-free Outlook for $19.95 USD a year. Fortunately I came across this fabulous Stylish CSS that removes the whole pane!

Better Outlook Mail (Remove ad and other details) - Themes and Skins for Live - userstyles.org

MilesAhead · « **Reply #21 on:** September 28, 2016, 06:47 AM »

So, I've just been upgraded to the new "Outlook Email" server and got an annoying "It looks like you're using an adblocker" message in a pane on the right, using up valuable space especially on small screens, trying to sell me Ad-free Outlook for $19.95 USD a year. Fortunately I came across this fabulous Stylish CSS that removes the whole pane!

Better Outlook Mail (Remove ad and other details) - Themes and Skins for Live - userstyles.org
-dr_andus (September 28, 2016, 04:29 AM)

The last time I tried Stylish weird things must have happened because I took it off before long. I don't remember exactly what the issue was. But it must have been some instability or something.

It is not so bad if the progress bar on these mail accounts proceeds while another tab is active. But some browsers only want to run the active tab even if you have that setting disabled it seems. When the progress bar is not there the inbox loads right away. So it seems to be a wait for the sake of waiting. All this computing power and it seems like stuff happens slower than when I had 56k dial-up. Except for downloads of course.

dr_andus · « **Reply #22 on:** September 29, 2016, 03:04 PM »

The last time I tried Stylish weird things must have happened because I took it off before long. I don't remember exactly what the issue was. But it must have been some instability or something.
-MilesAhead (September 28, 2016, 06:47 AM)

Since Stylish styles are just CSS overlays, I don't think they can do too much harm. You can turn them on and off (or uninstall) with one click in the extension icon of the browser (Chrome or Firefox). The one I linked to above is definitely a keeper, it's nice to get rid of the ad pane in Outlook.

Incidentally, Frank Degenaar, author of the WorkFlowy book, has just made available his chapter on how to use Stylish, if anyone is interested:

If you’re a complete newbie, here’s a complimentary download of the entire chapter from my book.

Stylish can be used with any website of course, not just WorkFlowy or Outlook Email, though more popular sites and services are more likely to have CSS styles on there.

MilesAhead · « **Reply #23 on:** September 29, 2016, 03:49 PM »

Since Stylish styles are just CSS overlays, I don't think they can do too much harm.
-dr_andus (September 29, 2016, 03:04 PM)

I suppose I could give it a shot. The last time I tried Stylish must be at least four years ago now. Sometime this weekend may be a possibility.

n8wachT · « **Reply #24 on:** September 29, 2016, 10:05 PM »

That may be the reason why Opera goes straight to the inbox.
-MilesAhead (September 01, 2016, 02:29 PM)

Some kind of reversed singularity: the humanoids dont take it any longer that all progress bars are dissappearing. It is all going to fast this way, straight in to the inbox... the guts!

*BEEP*