Connecting it to internet is not the issue. The issue is that there are features on the phone that have been artificially rendered unusable without syncing with Google.

Just for example, you cannot create a new entry in Google's Calendar app without adding a Google account for syncing.

It further seems that Google has even restricted the APIs beneath so the third-party developers cannot populate the calendar app using data from Outlook. You must have a Google account added to the Calendar app.

Because of this limitation, developers have to build their own app for calendar to support Outlook sync without Google account.

Likewise, I have found it often difficult to add apps to Android without using Android Market (which requires signing into Google Account). ADB works fine, but then it is generally hard to find APK file to begin with.