Avoid 2007 at all costs. They've ruined a good product.
Strengths:Full featured, but buggy. Act! peaked as a powerful tool with Version 6, but you're better off sticking with 6 or 2006.
Weaknesses:Bloated, difficult to install, has terrible Outlook integration, doesn't recognize smartphones.
Posted Jan 10, 2007 - Avoid this monster at all costs. I've used Act! for a full decade, but this version -- and the nightmare of trying to get tech support -- have caused me to abandon Act! altogether. It wouldn't synch correctly with Outlook (improved Outlook integration was one of the major "new features!") I had four calls to tech support, lasting (by the actual clock) 55 to 80 minutes, and none of the problems was ever solved. And don't even think of trying to make it talk directly to your PDA, because ActLink doesn't recognize Smartphones (a reality that they reveal only at the end of the installation process).
The installation process itself is endless, partly due to the move to SQL. But once it's installed, it takes forever to load. Email capabilities, which were slow and buggy in 2006, are no better in 2007. Along the way there were bizarre roadblocks, such as refusing to continue installation until I gave a password for the previous database that wasn't even password protected (Because of this, I had to export from Act 2006 to a comma-delimited file and start from scratch.) Another "say what?" example: When installing ActLink, it makes you first uninstall "other synching programs." So naturally, I had to uninstall ActiveSync. Then, next attempt to install, ActLink announces that it can't continue without ActiveSync! Aaargh!
The first time I called for the free startup support (which has been reduced from 60 to 30 days), it took 19 minutes before the person quit trying to sell me add-ons and paid support and actually transferred me to tech support. It was another 30 minutes before they answered the phone.
Keep in mind, all this was for a "power user" of previous versions of Act! I've recommended it for years and used it for very sophisticated tasks involving multiple databases. Those days are over, however.
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