The world may be cloud-crazy, but Outlook for Mac is stuck on Earth

Store your data in the cloud and have it accessible to you from any computer, anywhere. That’s the pitch we hear more and more from companies like Apple, Google and Microsoft. So how is it that all of these companies allow Outlook for Mac 2011 to remain absurdly earthbound?

I’m a long-time Outlook user on Windows, now working with Outlook full-time on the Mac. Even though Gmail is my email provider (the Google Apps version of it), I find Outlook a better way to interact with Gmail than using Gmail directly through the web.

No, I’m not crazy (but if you love Gmail’s web interface, more power to you). In a future column, I’ll explain exactly why Outlook (either for Windows or Mac) is a perfect paring with Gmail, especially for its excellent offline support and the easy ability to open and manage multiple email windows.

That’s a story for another time. For now, the point is that when it comes to syncing email, Outlook loves the cloud. When it comes to syncing other data that users create and store in Outlook, the program falls short on the Mac-side. Painfully short.

Microsoft charges tablet OEMs $80 or more for Windows RT?

Windows RT could become the platform that helps Microsoft gain tablet market share. But before that can happen, vendors are going to have to pay a hefty sum just to get their hands on it, according to a new report.

Tech site VR-Zone reported yesterday that it recently spoke with several tablet vendors at last week’s Computex trade show in Taiwan. And in those discussions, it found that Microsoft is charging between $80 and $95 for Windows RT, the company’s ARM-ready operating system. The majority of those vendors said that they were quoted $85.

Microsoft is facing an uphill battle in the tablet market. Apple’s iPad holds a dominant share, and an increasing number of vendors are choosing Android for their slates. What’s worse, those vendors can get their hands on Android for free. If Microsoft is indeed charging $80 or more for Windows RT, tablets running its software might have trouble keeping pace on price.

Microsoft expects to launch Windows 8 later this year. At Computex, Asus was the only company showing off a Windows RT-based tablet. Acer said that it plans to launch its own Windows RT devices in early 2013.

CNET has contacted Microsoft for comment on the Windows 8 RT pricing. We will update this story when we have more information.