Question about Outlook Express

As many have said, Outlook 2011 for Mac runs like a dog after updating to OSX Mountain Lion. After powering up the macbook and launching Outlook, it sets up my identity for fifteen minutes. Then everything runs slow for another half hour or so. It's made Outlook nearly unusable. No solution I have read/tried works. Apple points at Microsoft. Microsoft points at Apple. That's of no use to the user, guys. We're stuck in the middle with no source of help. Microsoft - you guys really need to address this - even if it means talking to Apple. Together you need to find a solution and put it out there for us immediately.