Microsoft Entourage 2004 Service Pack 2
Microsoft released Entourage 2004 Service Pack 2 (SP2) in September 2005. Although it is part of the larger Microsoft Office 2004 SP2 update, the update to Entourage is probably the most significant of all, and shows the most changes from its SP1 predecessor.
Note: ITS urges all customers using Microsoft Entourage 2004 on Mac OS X to apply the Microsoft Entourage 2004 version 11.2.1 update before February 21, 2006. After this date, regular system maintenance conducted by ITS-which had been suspended temporarily-may trigger the conditions for the rare but possible data loss, and we would obviously like to prevent that. Those conditions are described in Microsoft Knowledge Base article 915056.
If you have experienced data loss which you suspect is due to Entourage 11.2 (before you have updated to version 11.2.1), please contact us immediately. Restoration of Exchange data can take approximately one week.
Update to Entourage 2004 SP2
The Service Pack 2 update is part of the Microsoft Office 2004 SP2 installation. You can obtain this via:
- the Microsoft AutoUpdate application (normally found in /Applications) for any valid installation of Microsoft Office 2004
- a separate download on the Microsoft MacTopia Web site.
We also expect the full install media for Microsoft Office SP2 to be available through Dell, our Microsoft Campus provider. When we have additional confirmation of that, we will update this page.
System administrators who wish to deploy this update should be aware that it modifies the user databases for Entourage. Once the installation is performed and the user database is updated, you cannot revert to an earlier version of Entourage 2004.
No Microsoft Office 2004 applications can be running at the time of the update. This includes background applications, such as the "Microsoft AU Daemon" and the "Database Daemon." The update installer automatically manages this for you. However, if you are updating computers through other means than the installer, you should take care to quit the Office 2004 applications and background processes beforehand.
Once Entourage has been updated, it will reflect the version number 11.2. Due to a rare but possible data loss condition between Entourage and Exchange, you must immediately apply the Microsoft Entourage 2004 version 11.2.1 update before connecting to your RIT Exchange messaging account.
Changes in this version
Synchronization improvements
Entourage now synchronizes your account data much more quickly than in SP1. The initial synchronization for accounts with lots of data could sometimes take hours under SP1; we find that SP2 is often ready to go in minutes.
You can also use inbox, calendar, and address book sharing through RIT's front end Exchange servers (at mymail.rit.edu). You can both set up sharing and make use of others' shared folders. (See Share folders with Microsoft Entourage 2004 and Open a shared folder with Microsoft Entourage 2004.) This means sharing is easier to set up initially, works over a secure SSL connection, and works the same whether you are on- or off-campus (without requiring a VPN connection, as SP1 needed for delegation).
Delegation is also improved in Entourage 2004 SP2, but requires access to RIT's back end Exchange servers. This means that it will only work on campus or through the RIT Virtual Private Network service.
Improved calendaring
Many Entourage calendar-related problems that we saw, including duplication of calendar events, are now resolved. We had several reports of these problems throughout RIT - and as perhaps the first site to report them to Microsoft, we assisted the Entourage developers in tracking down these issues so that they could be fixed.
The calendar now supports the "Private" flag on events, so you can now enter events you that don't want others - even your delegates - to see. After all, we only have 24 hours in a day, and you may not want to have to keep a separate calendar for work and home if it's not necessary. If you have to keep an electronic calendar, it may as well be your only calendar. The "Private" flag lets you keep some events to yourself, while still gaining the benefits of electronic, networked calendaring and synchronization with other devices.
Quota support
Entourage now offers a way to see the quota space used by the data in your Exchange mailbox, including your mail, contacts, calendar, and more.
You can see the total data usage for your account, and examine it on a folder-by-folder basis. This can help you track down problem areas, that are causing you to exceed your allocated quota - like those times you must clear out your "Sent Items" folder because its contents have grown too large. Entourage 2004 SP2 is the first and only native Mac OS X client to allow you to view your quota usage. (See Check your quota with Microsoft Entourage 2004.)
Global Address List
You can now browse RIT's Global Address List (GAL) directly from the Entourage Address Book. While you can still search the GAL, sometimes you just need to see a list of people.
The same Address Lists you can see in Microsoft Outlook are now visible within Entourage, to help provide a more segmented view of the GAL for specific purposes.
More kinds of lookups work without the need to use RIT"s Global Catalog server, main-gc.rit.edu. This means that some lookup functions will work off campus, even when you are not using the RIT Virtual Private Network service.
Permissions
A much improved sharing and delegation interface means it is easier than ever to keep track of what your colleagues are doing. (See Open a shared folder with Microsoft Entourage 2004.)
You have live access to changes in any folders that others have given you permission to view. (By default, all RIT Exchange accounts are set up so that only the account holder has access.)
You can share your calendar with other people, setting those permissions from within Entourage. The permissions closely match those seen in Microsoft Outlook on the Microsoft Windows operating system. Best of all, you no longer need to use Outlook to set these permissions! (See Share folders with Microsoft Entourage 2004.)
You can view others' information much more directly, and Entourage now works with the permissions settings that most Outlook users are familiar with. Entourage 2004 previously required extra steps to be taken by others who shared out some or all of their mailboxes.
Public Folders
The Public Folder interface of Entourage was revamped so that you can access Public Folders almost immediately, with little or no syncrhonization time. You don't need to wait for the entire list of RIT's Public Folders to be updated first.
You can post items, such as messages and calendar events, directly into Public Folders. This can help you if you want to, for example, have a department-wide vacation calendar on-line.
Known issues
There are still improvements to be made to Entourage. The list below should help you understand the way Entourage 2004 SP2 works, and how you can best make use of it.
- As a byproduct of the changes to support multiple calendars and delegation, the Entourage Export > Archive feature is no longer capable of backing up data in your Exchange mailbox. The Archive feature exports your data to a .rge file. This lack of backup capability could be a serious issue, especially if you want to make a backup before making changes or synchronizing with another device. If you need to make a backup of your server-side data, it must all be copied to one of your local Entourage folders. It is still possible to make a copy of your local Entourage Identity files (your Entourage database, found in ~/Documents/Microosft User Data/Main Identity/), which serve much the same purpose.
- The Service Pack 2 update does not provide integration with iSync or Apple's Sync Services in Mac OS X Tiger, even though this has been announced.
- This edition of Entourage does not yet provide Spotlight search capabilities under Mac OS X Tiger, because Spotlight is designed to search for files and not within databases like the one Entourage uses. You can search the Entourage database directly from within the program, and Entourage has had features like Apple Mail's new "Smart Mailboxes" for years - Entourage calls them "Custom Views." Custom Views are available for mail, calendars, contacts, and notes in Entourage. In the meantime, Spotlight does already work with Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents.
- Entourage still does not synchronize tasks and notes (journal entries) into your Exchange account. Tasks and notes cannot be sent to or received from others.
- Your current quota limit is not visible in Entourage; you can only view the amount of data usage in your entire mailbox or individual folders.
- There is no option, as yet, for "team view" calendars, so that you can see a calendar view for multiple people at the same time. We found this to be a popular feature in our previous Oracle Calendar (aka CorporateTime) calendaring system.
- Contact lists or groups that you create in your own Exchange account do not synchronize with Entourage. You also cannot search for groups you have already created with another client, such as Microsoft Outlook, in your Entourage Address Book. You can search for mail-enabled security or distribution groups in the Exchange GAL, however.
- Similarly, mailing list groups that you create in Entourage do not synchronize to your Exchange account. They remain local to Entourage - but you can search for these local groups in your Entourage address book.
- You cannot see the membership of any mail-enabled Exchange security or distribution groups that are added to a message or an event invitation. This tends to have the most impact on event invitations, where you may wish to see the free/busy status of the individual people in a group. The workaround is to add the relevant people individually to your message or event invitation. If you don't know the membership of the group ahead of time, Entourage will unfortunately not help you find it.
- Many of the delegation features in Entourage 2004 SP2 continue to require access to an Exchange back end server. This is only possible on-campus, or through an RIT Virtual Private Network connection. The new folder sharing features do not require access to a back end server, and can work over SSL with RIT"s front end servers at mymail.rit.edu.
Kudos
We'd like to thank everyone at Microsoft's Macintosh Business Unit (they run Microsoft MacTopia) for this release of Microsoft Entourage, which we believe will make a tremendous difference to the Macintosh community at RIT. We'd also like to thank Microsoft's MacBU for the opportunity to work so closely with them, providing our feedback to improve their products.
We'd like to thank our customers at RIT for their problem reports and requests about Entourage, which have helped us provide valuable feedback to Microsoft.
