Account settings

I'm not sure I agree that outlook.com is "better", but I do believe that these two products are becoming more "incompatible" as time goes on and users would be happier choosing one or the other for email.
So if you use Gmail, use the web interface, if you want to use Exchange then use Outlook. If you have work and personal accounts, keep them separate in their native apps.
You'll be happier in the long run.

Google is planing to stop their IMAP connectors. Plus why don't you try outlook.com? The service is beter than the one offered from Google. Besides the real value to use Outlook 201x is the integration with Exchange, SP and all other servers in the corporate network. Just for email it's too heavy.

Use Thunderbird .... setup is automatic.