Microsoft shares the new Outlook for Windows app's future

(Image credit: Future)

What you need to know

In a 37-minute video, Microsoft shares its plans for the new Outlook regarding features, updates, and rollout.
Microsoft envisions the platform as a hub connecting users to Microsoft 365, thus prompting effective communication.
The company also indicated that incorporating AI capabilities into the platform will enhance productivity ten times.
According to Microsoft, One Outlook addresses client fragmentation and provides users a unified experience.
Microsoft is rolling out the new experience in waves and will give users a year's notice before making the transition permanent.

Microsoft's Group Product Manager on the Outlook team, Margie Clinton, and Partner Engineering Manager for Outlook for Windows, Robert Novitskey, recently got together to share more insight regarding upcoming features and updates for the new Outlook for Windows (which we broke the story of back in January 2021).

Things have been relatively quiet since April, when Microsoft shipped many features to the platform, including third-party account support and more.

The 37-minute video (seen below) squeezes in much information, including plans for the new Outlook for Windows app. Microsoft envisions the app as a hub (Outlook as a Hub for me) where users can work efficiently and effectively.

The company paints a vivid picture of how Outlook can be a connector to the Microsoft 365 suite since it's considered the starting point for communication. As such, this will help boost productivity. Microsoft also intends to incorporate AI capabilities into the platform, which it boasts will boost productivity ten times more.

Microsoft also promises agility and code-sharing with the new Outlook for Windows app, where it can address issues within a timespan of hours and days, rather than the previous approach, which took weeks and months.

The new app also addresses client fragmentation, where users experience up to six clients across different platforms. As such, Microsoft aims to provide users with a unified experience across the board. One Outlook will provide a consistent user experience across multiple platforms.

We want to be able to apply all our Engineering energy on Windows to a single, fast, agile codebase.
Microsoft

Notably, the new Outlook for Windows app will ship with almost all the features across the Mail and Calendar apps, the web, and the Classic Outlook client. The new app combines the agility of a web codebase with the experience of a native client.

Microsoft also highlighted a range of customization options available on the platform, from ribbon customization layout options to visual customizations that span from free to super-commercial users.

It's worth noting that the app already ships with key features such as schedule send, snooze email, clear calendar when out of the office, pin important items, and more. Some features were already available on the web but not necessarily on Classic Outlook or Windows inbox apps.

Here's a glimpse of Microsoft's roadmap highlighting feature requests and their availability on the platform:

Feature requests for the new Outlook for Windows app — A screenshot of Microsoft's roadmap highlighting feature requests for the new Outlook for Windows app and their status. (Image credit: Microsoft)

Next up, Microsoft indicated it will be rolling out updates to the new app in waves. The company refers to the whole experience as "a playbook for Outlook client updates" and indicated that the first phase would be the Opt-In or preview, where early adopters get to try out the new update before Microsoft ships it to more users.

In the next phase, Opt Out, everyone is transitioned to the new experience by default but will have the option of reverting to the Classic client. However, the user must explain why they are rolling back. Microsoft states that this is crucial as the information relayed plays an important role and informs decisions.

The last phase, Cut Over, is when everyone has been transitioned to the new platform, and the option to roll back to the Classic client is scrapped. At this point, Microsoft should have refined the experience and expects everything to run seamlessly.

The timeframe within which this process is supposed to take place has not been indicated, as it varies due to several factors. However, the change will be notified via the Message center or Tenant admin (usually one year before the change).

Outlook for Windows app rollout map — Microsoft highlights how it intends to ship the new Outlook for Windows app to users in phases. (Image credit: Microsoft)

Notably, the Opt In and Opt Out timelines for Classic Outlook will differ from the Windows Mail & Calendar apps.

Microsoft added that the new app is available in preview to the Monthly Enterprise Channel. However, access will be limited to users with eligible accounts, and admins can control access to the toggle on the client via a registry value.

And while we only highlighted the key points from the briefing, there's a ton of information shared on the video that you should check out, including a detailed FAQ segment that touches on some major concerns, including admin policies and the fact that COM add-ins will not be supported in the new Outlook.

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Kevin Okemwa is a seasoned tech journalist based in Nairobi, Kenya with lots of experience covering the latest trends and developments in the industry at Windows Central. With a passion for innovation and a keen eye for detail, he has written for leading publications such as OnMSFT, MakeUseOf, and Windows Report, providing insightful analysis and breaking news on everything revolving around the Microsoft ecosystem. You'll also catch him occasionally contributing at iMore about Apple and AI. While AFK and not busy following the ever-emerging trends in tech, you can find him exploring the world or listening to music.

17 Comments Comment from the forums

Iamdumbguy

That video was embarrassing.
Reply
Cosmocronos

The so called new Outlook pale compared to the Office Outlook. Lack of functionalities, high memory usage and they even dropped the new view where you could arrange calendar tasks etc.
Reply
GraniteStateColin

Iamdumbguy said:
That video was embarrassing.

It was a fairly standard product manager's review. It didn't address an area of concern for me (rules for functions that don't currently work on the server like categorizing messages), but I didn't expect them to hit every possible concern users might have. It addressed all the important things: their goals, what specifically they're planning to do, the rough planned timeline, and how the timeline triggers will work to determine the actual schedule.
Reply
DontBeEvil10

Microsoft will replace Fast, Light, touch&pen friendly native Mail & Calendar apps with the new terrible, slow, heavy, pen&touch unfriendly web tech based Outlook app in 2024 that doesn't even work in background and use 500mb of Ram for nothing.
Reply
Iamdumbguy

GraniteStateColin said:
It was a fairly standard product manager's review. It didn't address an area of concern for me (rules for functions that don't currently work on the server like categorizing messages), but I didn't expect them to hit every possible concern users might have. It addressed all the important things: their goals, what specifically they're planning to do, the rough planned timeline, and how the timeline triggers will work to determine the actual schedule.
Lying about making the platform more agile and easier to add features while taking 4 years to stuff a web app into a Win32 shell.
Reply
iradeut

Unifying the experience across platforms is an admirable goal, but doing so requires actually taking the best of what is available in each version. On my desktop, I use the classic Outlook app and have mastered it's capabilities. On my surface, I use Windows Mail and Calendar because of its swiping capability, as Classic Outlook is difficult on a smaller touch device. But I also have to run Classic Outlook in parallel on the Surface when I need to use a mailing list I've created, since that capability is missing from Windows Mail. In other words, it's a mess that has needed fixing for a long time. I suspect Microsoft gets most of its feedback from IT folks who are much more concerned with easy implementation than actual functionality.
Reply
GraniteStateColin

Iamdumbguy said:
Lying about making the platform more agile and easier to add features while taking 4 years to stuff a web app into a Win32 shell.

"Lying"? Please don't throw such harsh insults at people without some facts and evidence to support your claims. Compared to desktop Outlook, which I actually quite like, almost anything would be "more agile and easier to add features."

I suspect you're referring not to the current Desktop Outlook, which is where MS' focus is, but to one of the other MS mail programs. Yes, they do plan to phase out those other mail MS programs too in the interest of standardization, which I think is a good thing. I also don't believe the free mail program included with Windows is particularly strong. It may be better for touch and pen then alternatives, but it's a fairly weak and useless program in terms of mail features. It's the Notepad of mail apps -- included with Windows so there's some innate way to do email included with the OS.

As much as I love using Desktop Outlook for all its features, it is also old, bloated, and slow. I don't know that I'd be willing to trade it for a more agile version, unless they included at least the majority of its power features that I use constantly, but it's nearly inconceivable that they couldn't hit the bar, in your words, of "more agile and easier to add features." So, on the contrary, rather than believe they're lying, I think that's an obviously true statement.
Reply
GraniteStateColin

iradeut said:
Unifying the experience across platforms is an admirable goal, but doing so requires actually taking the best of what is available in each version. On my desktop, I use the classic Outlook app and have mastered it's capabilities. On my surface, I use Windows Mail and Calendar because of its swiping capability, as Classic Outlook is difficult on a smaller touch device. But I also have to run Classic Outlook in parallel on the Surface when I need to use a mailing list I've created, since that capability is missing from Windows Mail. In other words, it's a mess that has needed fixing for a long time. I suspect Microsoft gets most of its feedback from IT folks who are much more concerned with easy implementation than actual functionality.

Certainly possible that they will fail here, but their stated goal is to merge the strengths of the two. Like you, I currently need Desktop Outlook for its many features not available anywhere else. But without a doubt, it is bloated and poor for pen and touch usage. IF (granted, that may be a big if) they succeed at making a lighter Outlook that still preserves at least some way to do most of what Desktop Outlook does and improving the UI for pen and touch, that would be great.
Reply
GraniteStateColin

DontBeEvil10 said:
Microsoft will replace Fast, Light, touch&pen friendly native Mail & Calendar apps with the new terrible, slow, heavy, pen&touch unfriendly web tech based Outlook app in 2024 that doesn't even work in background and use 500mb of Ram for nothing.

The native Mail & Calendar is not a serious app. It's a throw away included with Windows so the OS has some basic mail features and an alternative way to provide calendar access to their Outlook.com service. Building a new app that brings some of the power of desktop Outlook to a free version, eliminating confusing redundancy (like they never did with Teams and Skype), and conversely solving the biggest problem with desktop Outlook with code going back to Windows 3.1 of it just being too bloated for them to continue to improve is a great thing.

Now, they may fail on the execution so skepticism is warranted, but as a goal and what they claim they're doing in that video all sounds good.
Reply
Iamdumbguy

I also don't believe the free mail program included with Windows is particularly strong. It may be better for touch and pen then alternatives, but it's a fairly weak and useless program in terms of mail features. It's the Notepad of mail apps -- included with Windows so there's some innate way to do email included with the OS.
I don't think that just because they've half-assed the built-in apps for years, that half-assing a website into a Win32 shell is a solution. I think this is still the case, but the built-in apps will not sync with all IMAP providers. I remember trying Fastmail a few years ago and the calendar and contacts would not sync because Microsoft only allows certain providers.

As much as I love using Desktop Outlook for all its features, it is also old, bloated, and slow.
They could rewrite it. They could have spent the last fours years doing that instead of-I will die on this hill-stuffing a website into a Win32 shell. Outlook is decades old. Since then they've released several UI frameworks that they claim are production-ready. Why should we not demand a native WinUI solution for Windows? Why should we have less than macOS users get?
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