I've had this problem with Outlook since the 2000 version. I don't think it's just version 12 that suffers from unexpected, sudden CPU usage spikes.

I hate Outlook

Sending email looked good ever since Apple released Mac OS X back in 2001...

It has taken them 5 years so far to copy - something tells me it will end up being more than 6.

Yes, I also experience this. It's pretty frustrating. It spikes for minutes at a time...

If Mac was that much better all these years (in so many aspects) it would be the number 1 corporate software producer. I admit, Graphic Design and Animation, etc Mac is the best, but lets face it, for office software, productivity, enterprise suites, etc, MS has the best. Let the flames begin....

Mine is spiking after i send mail. have to close it everytime and reoopen. what do i need to do, someone?

darn it! :o)

I'm gettting the same 50% CPU spike. No idea what is going on. Brand new Dell, set up by the office tech guy -should be working! Major pain!

I have the same issue - except it's not "for minutes at a time", it's whenever I have Outlook open, and active. It takes up to 10 seconds to response to a click.

I've just got a brand new Dell, set up by them (although I installed theh Office 2007 app). It all went wrong when I imported my previous (Outlook 2000) mail box, which was only 60Mb or so in size. I've downloaded the patch (KB933493) but hasn't helped.