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Archived in Microsoft might have been named the UK’s most popular brand earlier this year, but it’s not going to be on many email marketers’ Christmas card list. Its decision to continue using Word to render emails in Outlook 2010 has had web developers and email marketers up in arms in recent months. Despite the best efforts of the Email Standards Project, fixoutlook.org, 100s of blog posts and 1000s of Tweets to rally support against its decision, Microsoft has refused to change its mind.
Why is using Word a problem?
Prior to Outlook 2007, Microsoft used Internet Explorer to render emails. This suited email marketers because they could create attractive newsletters in the same way as they’d create a web page. But in 2007 Microsoft decided to switch to using Word. This didn’t just put the brakes on email newsletter design but put it in reverse.
CSS is a popular coding language for creating web pages, and would be the language of choice for most newsletter developers. But the problem is that Word struggles to accurately render CSS code, leading to CSS emails appearing broken, with images ripped out, fonts changed and the layout messed up. So instead developers are forced to stick to the antiquated design methods Word allows.
Microsoft’s decision to use Word infuriated the web developer community in 2007, but many hoped Microsoft would listen to the complaints and reverse its decision for the 2010 edition. However, with the release of Outlook 2010 imminent, it looks as though email marketers are going to be stuck with Word for another five years at least.
Possible reasons
So is Microsoft’s decision to continue using Word due to laziness? To lock people into using its products? Or just pure arrogance in refusing to listen to web developers’ demands? After all, why is Microsoft going to pay attention to 16,000 complaints on Twitter when it has a subservient user base of over 300 million?
One of the reasons given by Microsoft has been security because Word won’t run the web scripts used by spammers. But Outlook has been plagued with security issues in the past and Microsoft has always been quick to praise the protection offered by Internet Explorer. So security is unlikely to be the real reason.
The most logical explanation is that Microsoft is simply trying to provide the most consistent experience for Outlook users.
Looking after its users
If Microsoft were to use Internet Explorer then when emails are first received they’ll be rendered accurately. But if the recipient then replies or forwards the email on, any changes they make will be done using Word. Using two different rendering engines in this way was leading to inconsistencies between what people created in Word and what was received.
So to ensure emails appeared consistently between Outlook users, Microsoft decided to just use Word for both rendering and creation to remove the possibility of these inconsistencies occurring.
So Microsoft might be the UK’s most popular brand. But their decision to continue using Word to render emails means there are plenty of web developers hoping Google and its new email application, Google Wave, knocks Microsoft off its perch next year.
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BDA (Buckingham Design Associates) blog – real people giving real opinions, and a complete lack of agency waffle. BDA deliver an exciting blend of design and creative marketing for the Oxford, Milton Keynes, Northampton and London region.
September 17th, 2009 at 11:10 am
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