To answer some questions and state some opinions:
a) Microsoft Office 2010 (including Outlook) was made available to anyone who wanted to try it as a free beta, starting in November 2009. This is not something Microsoft was hiding from RIM or anyone else.
b) On an unknown date, Microsoft posted information for authors of programs, like Desktop Manager, that explained that some rewrite of such programs would be needed to work with the new version of Office. Here are the details:
Building MAPI Applications on 32-Bit and 64-Bit Platforms
Because there are many, many applications designed independently of Microsoft to work with Office (and other MS programs), it is the responsibility of those developers, in this case RIM, to keep abreast of the changes to programs they design to work with Office. Clearly, Outlook is a program relied upon by many, if not most RIM customers and to which they wish to sync. (I am neither an employee or even really a fan of Microsoft.)
c) In a post on this BB on May 3, 2010 (message #9), a poster stated, “Outlook 2010 is no longer in beta, yet there is no support from RIM! Outlook was in beta long enough for Blackberry to have a Beta connector as well. To say that "Outlook is beta therefore don't expect support" is ridiculous as we all know that it will eventually release. Now we are left in a position where we cannot sync to Outlook anymore.”
d) In a direct reply from RIM Tech Support on this BB on May 4, 2010 (message #10), RIM Tech Support stated, “Office 2010 will be supported once when is available for consumers. That will be in June.” (This has clearly proven false.)
e) After some rather substantial frustration expressed here and elsewhere, and perhaps thousands of hours wasted by RIM customers, trying fruitlessly to sync and trying various workarounds, RIM posted a technical bulletin (dated July 9, 2010) entitled, “Support for Microsoft Outlook 2010 64-bit version,” stating that, “Currently, BlackBerry Desktop Manager 5.0.1 does not support Microsoft Outlook 2010 64-bit version for mailbox connectivity and synchronization of organizer data such as Calendar, Contacts, Tasks, and Memos.” This further stated that, “When the next release of the BlackBerry Desktop Manager is available (targeted for August 2010), it will only have support for the 32-bit version of Microsoft Outlook 2010. The 64-bit version of Microsoft Outlook 2010 is not supported.”
Summary opinions:
1) RIM knew or should have known that a new version of Outlook was being issued and that RIM customers would likely upgrade to this version and wish to maintain sync ability.
2) RIM did not modify Desktop Manager during the six months plus of beta availability of the program.
3) RIM posted bogus information on this BB stating that the program would be modified in June 2010.
4) RIM did not widely disseminate information to its customers to help them avoid the frustrations and wasted time of trying to sync their new installations of Outlook, when this was not possible. Many customers likely wasted thousands of hours in total.
5) It is likely that most customers have installed the 32 bit version of Office 2010, as this is the one recommended by MS. It appears that support for those customers is coming sometime soon. Some customers will have installed the 64 bit version of Office 2010, considering that it is available at no extra cost and is likely the future default. Those customers are essentially being ignored by RIM and told that support may come sometime in 2011. Their only recourse is to uninstall the 64 bit version of Office and reinstall the 32 bit version, again wasting vast amounts of time. (There is no provision in Office to simply downgrade to 32 bit.)
6) What kind of company, generating the revenues and presumably desiring the loyalty of customers, treats them thus?