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Google drops Gmail Outlook sync support, Microsoft "surprised"
After some Winter cleaning, Google announced the immediate discontinuation of Google Sync and Google Calendar Sync. These applications were designed to synchronize Gmail accounts with Outlook, various devices and other software via Microsoft's Exchange ActiveSync (EAS) protocol.
Popular alternatives to Exchange ActiveSync, like IMAP and POP, give users access to email but do not provide the same rich synchronicity that EAS affords. The technology also allows users and devices to syncs contacts, notes and calendars under a single protocol.
In addition to removing its EAS connector utilities, Google will be restricting EAS access exclusively to paid Google Apps accounts -- if you want to connect via the Exchange protocol, you'll need to pay up for a premium account. This means Google Apps business, education and government customers will be unaffected by this change -- an area where exchange support remains vital. The changes only apply to personal Gmail accounts and free Google Apps accounts.
Incidentally, this news follows Google's evisceration of the freebie version of Google Apps, also announced earlier this month.
The search giant says it's dropping EAS in favor of open protocols, namely CardDAV (contacts sync) and CalDAV (calendar sync). Since these protocols are independent of popular e-mail protocols (IMAP, POP), Google suggests Gmailers interested in keeping their contact and calendars synchronized will need to turn to third-party solutions which support those technologies.
While it is no surprise Outlook users will be affected, any Gmail users who employ EAS to sync their smartphones, tablets or rely on third-party services or software which utilize EAS will also feel the effects.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Microsoft has taken this opportunity to push its Outlook web-based email service (formerly known as Hotmail) which, of course, supports Exchange ActiveSync. Microsoft claims it was "very surprised" by Google's maneuver and took its blog swinging, touting the supposed advantages of EAS over IMAP and POP. "Really want to do some winter cleaning? Switch to Outlook.com for the best email experience across all your devices" the post says.
User Comments: 33
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Unf***ingbelievable.
I've been using Outlook + Google calendar for quite a few years, and now I just can't do it because I've reinstalled my system. And not even a word of notification from Google.
gmail is of no use for me anymore - there is no chance I'm gonna stop using Outlook.
Microsoft Banzai, Google must die
XDXD
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Ying Dai said:
Yesterday, I exported my mails from Outlook as a single .pst file and was going to import them to Gmail using outlookmigration. I have done this before without any problems. But this time I got a message: Email Migration API Not Enabled. Google even did not update its help page. Some page still says Email Migration API is on by default for free google account!
I guess this is because Google hate Microsoft who charges EAS patent fee for Android devices.
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MS charges them on 'FRAND' basis (considering there are multiple patents involved); so the amount isn't too exaggerated compared to what Google tried to do with Motorola patents and lost, I'd say things between these two aren't what they might once have been.
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Pretty ticked off with google turning off outlook sync and especially with removing free google domain hosting. they were the best game in town and the integration with google mail & calendar was incredibly useful. google's turning its back on customers and I'll remember this.
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After using Gmail for over a decade, I never thought I'd have to have a new email address again. I never thought I'd ever think of Microsoft as an alternative. Yet here I am - Outlook is a requirement at work, I can't sync, I double book myself - Frustrating, frustrating, frustrating. What a terrible move. Oh Google, I guess this is goodbye. :'(
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TommyWillB said:
Google has also made real SSL certificates a requirement by requiring "strict SSL" on 12/12This was done without as much as any advance notice AFAIK. Not a very good thing considering the planning time required to purchase and implement valid SSL certificates on large websites...
[link]
Dude, they've been talking about this for YEARS!!!
[link]
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Staff
@TommyWillB Uhh yea, supporting HTTPS for webmail access vs requiring SSL for accessing external mail servers via known trusted certificates vs self-signed certificates is quite the difference
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Pretty ticked off with google turning off outlook sync and especially with removing free google domain hosting. they were the best game in town and the integration with google mail & calendar was incredibly useful. google's turning its back on customers and I'll remember this.Here's the thing. If you're not paying for something, you're technically not a "customer". At least not in the commonly accepted usage of the term.
What Google did here, is foist off all its freeloaders onto Microsoft. Which is really rude, and yet at once, really shrew.
The kicker here is the 50 free accounts down to one. This is behavior that rivals your average heroine dealer's business model. Smack is free until you're hooked, then you start signing over your food stamps and social security check.
I really have little time for Google, its antics,or its pursuit of world domination, and have every intention of folding their business model back at them. If a Google service isn't free, then I won't use it. And in spite of the fact that Google Chrome IS free, I wouldn't touch that with YOUR ten foot pole.
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