I hate Outlook 2007. I don't like using it. Unfortunately, like many other public servants, I have little choice in the matter until I get home and open my macbook pro.

There are two big issues with it that I can't stand. The first is the rubbish RSS support that it has. I mean, RSS is pretty standard these days, right? So why, if you are subscribed to a few RSS feeds in Outlook, does it freeze the whole program every second or two? Because it's crap (well, actually because it's constantly synchronising with Internet Explorer). The only way to get around it is to turn off RSS. Not a good option for me - I follow many blogs that I take no shame in plugging, including Paul Ramsey, James Fee, Ray Camden and SlashGeo. I don't want to run a separate RSS reader because I like that it's integrated with my email, so I put up with it.

Second, I can't stand emails that are of a simple, textual nature, yet sent in HTML. Even if you have Outlook set up to compose in plain text, if someone sends you a HTML email and you hit reply, you will be composing in HTML. I'm an active member of a number of mailing lists, and find that HTML really clutters them up. It's much easier to keep track of a conversation if the entire thread is in plain text.

Outlook QuoteFix was a great solution with Outlook 2000, but unfortunately it doesn't work with Outlook 2007. However QuoteFix Macro does. I recommend it. To use it you have to turn on the option to view all messages you receive in plain text (which I like). But never fear, if you do get an email that is supposed to be viewed as HTML you can on a per-email basis by clicking on "This message was converted to plain text" at the top of the message, and choosing "View as HTML".