One thing I try to avoid is the fairly pointless feature war between Lotus Notes and Microsoft Outlook… not because I think Notes will lose (far from it) but because it detracts from the true business value of the Notes client (collaboration, security, off-line usage, etc).

However (do you know where this is going?)… one thing sure to spark off at least fifty comments on Ed Brill’s blog is any entry that pitches Notes against Outlook. Whether it’s feature comparisons, usability, look ‘n’ feel or the fact that “everyone likes Outlook and uses it at home” the debate becomes heated.

So, with that in mind, I was interested when Ports informed me of an entry in the Microsoft Outlook Team blog. The article describes how an Outlook 2003 user could configure Outlook so that all messages, even those that were sent by the owner of the inbox, could be seen in threads in the inbox. Now, you’ll note it specifically says “Outlook 2003″ so I’d be interested to know if the same procedure is necessary in Outlook 2007 (answers here please).

The solution to this dilemma is to take all of the messages you sent and throw them back into the inbox folder. They call this the “Ultimate Inbox”. Personally I think this sounds like the ultimate nightmare. Your inbox is for incoming e-mails. Good e-mail management says that you should deal with e-mails, place them in folders, mark them for follow-up, archive them, or delete them. A clean inbox says you’re in control and can focus on your real job. An inbox with hundreds of e-mail means it’s out of control. Why the hell would you want to add more e-mails to your inbox?

Okay, perhaps I’m spoilt with Notes 8. The message threads in Notes 8 will draw the e-mails together regardless of where they are, whether they’re ones I’ve sent or ones I’ve received and placed in a folder. And it doesn’t matter where you look at the thread – you could start in a sub-folder or the ‘all documents’ view.

Finally, consider the fact that many people say Outlook is easier to use. Then take note of part of the instructions from the Outlook Team’s article:

“This rule makes copies of outgoing messages so you’ll end up with two copies, one in your Inbox and another in your Sent-Items folder. If you have a small mailbox quota you should prevent Outlook from keeping a copy of outgoing messages in the Sent-Items folder, clear Save copies of messages in Sent Items folder in the dialog below (screenshot omitted). Now you have the Ultimate Inbox!”.

The Ultimate Inbox which is potentially storing two copies of every e-mail. Personally I think Notes 8 offers the ultimate inbox. And we haven’t even started on the subject of searching yet.