Microsoft outlook has a lot going for it:

§  easy to use spam filters to sort out the junk

§  virtual folders,

§  fast message searching,

§  flagging,

§  grouping  RSS feed reader turns up news items as emails automatically.

§  Social networking, does deliver another kind of news in often helpful a manner. Once set up to work with the networks you're using.

§  Outlook 2010 goes to great lengths protecting your privacy and security. Outlook supports S/MIME message encryption, lets you display all mail in super-secure plain text and even sports a custom, more secure (albeit a tad clumsy), HTML message viewer.

§  Email editing works well with all the comfort you know from Word.

§  Comes with built in calendar, tasks and a comprehensive contacts list

 

Some of the problems are:

§  It's a pity you can't train the junk mail filters  

§  Outlook also offers no way to apply categories to messages in IMAP accounts

§  Outlook is probably as well known as a target for viruses as it as a personal assistant.

§  Flexible message templates are not included.

§  Tasks only come with date and not finish time thus limiting their usefulness