I receive hundreds of emails a day, from multiple POP accounts. I also archive all my email for reference. I depend on Outlook scheduling for everything, from paying bills to meetings, to manage group meetings/parties. You really need to take a class or read a good book on how to get the most from Outlook, since there are so many useful features. However, you need to archive your mail regularly to separate PST files, to keep your main PST file smaller ( for performance) and to prevent corruption from eating everything at once. Outlook has adequate spam filters that are updated regularly, good enough for moderate use. A good anti-spam add-on is needed however, for heavy email use. Outlook supports a fully programmable interface so that custom functionality can be added -either as standalone Outlook add-ons or full integration with MS Office programs such as Word, InfoPath or Excel.

I have used many email clients. I finally switched to Outlook, but I soon regretted my decision. Outlook is based on PST files. If you are like me and like to organize your email and keep the majority of your emails for reference, Outlook can bog your computer down to a snail's pace. It is too disk-drive intensive for my liking. If you receive a lot of emails, Outlook may not be the correct tool for you. Other than the online calendar, Outlook is the worst client I have used. I am switching back to Eudora ASAP. Bottom line, Outlook is a performance dog!