Microsoft says Google tool breaks Outlook

June 17, 2009 | Paul Boutin | Comments | |

googSilicon Valley rivalries between tech firms are serious. But they rarely break out into fistfights. Those of us who long for a rumble are forced to settle for cranky late-night blog spats.

At 1:56 am this morning, we got one.  Outlook product manager Dev Balasubramanian posted a  bold-font-laden  bug report about Google’s Apps Sync plugin for Outlook, which allows Outlook to interoperate with Google’s email and other hosted services. He writes up the problem dryly, but the bold fonts let you hear his indignant, extra-loud typing:

“The installation of the Google Apps Sync plugin disables Outlook’s ability to search any and all of your Outlook data. When a Google Apps user installs the sync plugin for Outlook, the plugin modifies a registry key which disables Windows Desktop Search from indexing and providing search functionality for all Outlook data, not just the Outlook data being synchronized from GMail. Because Outlook search relies upon the indexing performed by Windows Desktop Search, Outlook search functions are broken as a result. It is also important to note that uninstalling the plugin may not fix the issue.”

I’m sure it’s hard for some to believe that Google would ship, of all things, a buggy search tool. But messing around with the Windows registry is always risky, even for programmers familiar with the arcane structure and naming of registry entries. Still, someone at Google definitely goofed. Balasubramanian’s post is classic Microsoft: “We have brought these issues to Google’s attention, and have offered to work with them to find a resolution for our mutual customers.” Microsoft people are great at saying all  the right things, while still managing to convey the message you idiot.

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About the Author, Paul Boutin

Paul (paul@venturebeat.com) covers Apple & the iPhone, social networks & social media, digital music & video, and any crazy Internet story. Paul wrote and edited for Valleywag from 2006-2008, after several years with Wired magazine and Slate. He writes regularly for The New York Times' technology section and sometimes for Wired and The Wall Street Journal. He studied computer science at MIT in the early 1980s, and worked as a software developer and network administrator for 15 years before becoming a professional writer. Follow him on Twitter at @paulboutin, and follow VentureBeat on Twitter at @venturebeat.

  • joshjacobson
    Hi Paul,

    One thing is for sure - integrating closely with Outlook takes a lot of work, but when done well it can pay off for everyone involved.

    One Outlook search alternative that does work today is Xobni ( http://www.xobni.com ). Xobni is fully compatible with the current release of Google Apps Sync and will index all of the Google Apps mail that is retrieved through Outlook.

    I hope this helps eager Google Apps users who can't give up Outlook.
  • Haggie
    Xobni is great (at hogging system resources).

    I installed it, never used it, and noticed a substantial performance boost when I got rid of it.
  • You should really try Xobni again Haggie. Xobni launched their first product quickly, before all the bugs were fixed - it was in beta until only 4 months ago, so it is understandable that there were some issues. However, the new version is incredibly fast, and it is easily the best way to search outlook
  • Joe S
    Har Har Har. The Registry is one of the worst ideas in all of Computerdom. Microsoft deserves it for putting out such a garbage design.