Windows 11 says goodbye to two apps and joins them in the new Outlook for Windows
Next year, Microsoft will replace the default Mail and Calendar applications of its Windows operating system with the new Outlook for Windows application.
Mail and Calendar were default applications when Microsoft launched Windows 10 in 2015 and they have been essential apps for many users ever since. When Microsoft launched Windows 11 in late 2021, Mail and Calendar were part of the default application bundle as well.
Work on a new Outlook app for Windows began several years ago. Microsoft started to test the new Outlook for Windows application in May 2022, when it released it to Microsoft 365 Insiders.
Then in April 2023, Microsoft added a toggle to the then-default Outlook app for Windows that allowed users to try out the new Outlook app. Microsoft did not pressure users into using the new Outlook application.
Windows users may download the Outlook for Windows application from the Microsoft Store.
A new message on the Microsoft 365 Message Center, reposted on the M365 Admin website, informs Microsoft 365 administrators about Microsoft's plans regarding the new Outlook app for Windows.
According to the message, Microsoft plans to discontinue the Mail and Calendar apps of Windows. Starting September 2024, both applications will no longer be available for download or use. In the meantime, Mail and Calendar apps users may see tips that inform them about the upcoming changes to their applications.
Microsoft notes further that the new Outlook for Windows application will be usable by Microsoft 365 or Office 365 subscribers, as well as users who use personal email accounts. The latter may use the new Outlook app without a subscription to Microsoft 365 or Office 365.
Several changes were introduced to Outlook in 2023 already. Microsoft made the Outlook app for Mac devices free for all users and has introduced two-factor authentication capabilities into the mobile Outlook applications.
The discontinuation of Mail and Calendar is a major change. While the number of affected users is unclear, as Microsoft has never released public information about Mail and Calendar usage on Windows, it is certain that the change will affect more users than most previous removals of default applications on Windows.
Mail and Calendar users have more than a year to prepare for the day that will inevitably come.
Now You: do you use the Mail or Calendar app? (via Neowin)
Yeah new app is slow, and running through that garbage edge browser. Just waiting for that new thunder bird in July and I’m switching
It works wonderful. Very happy to have this rolled out. Moved all my various emails into it perfectly and seamlessly. I don’t see any advertising at all and can easily open attachments. This is truly a great step forward. It got all my various calenders set up properly as well. I don’t know if any of these negative comments are real, as so far everything they have produced with Windiws 11 has been stunning. No wonder their stock is flying through the roof. Just blown away by all this massive progress. I’ve yet to encounter anything that has failed. CPU processes are at 6-12 percent and never higher. I haven’t heard my fan go off in ages. Wow, what a great improvement over the past iterations.
It’s a joke, isn’t it? :S
@Anonymous maybe started writing for MS Customer Relations.
HAVE JUST TURNED OFF “AUTO REBUY” IN OFFICE 365.
TOO EXPENSIVE JUST TO HAVE OUTLOOK.
TIME TO GET A NEW EMAIL CLIENT, OR JUST STOP USING EMAIL ALLTOGETHER.
Please don’t scream.
Easy enough to place a Google Calendar shortcut on the Desktop or pin to the Taskbar.
Set up dates on the calendar and schedule email reminders, share, make public, [integrate with Windows, but no thanks].
Why would I want to further contaminate my private life with yet another entity having access to my personal information?
Near all here are blame Chrome privacy and now Google Calendar should be pinned.
The me outlook app is not functional. You cannot open an attachment in its native program and are limited to the outlook preview which is a staggering oversight on MS part. It’s clunky and not responsive.
Hopefully, someone will find a way to keep them running on 10 and 11.
Simple to use programs for people with basic needs.
Sincerely, would do you trust an app by Microsoft to open your Yahoo, Gmail or any other e-mail services? Sure? The better way to use those e-mail services is using the browser, don’t let him to know your own e-mails! It’s like the typosquatting option of Edge, the best way to let Microsoft the websites you are visiting on a daily basis telemetry so forth. It’s a very useful option, however they don’t say that the sent information is completely anonymous. The absence of truth is a way to lie.
Always good news from MS. We have a perfect working calendar and mail app, but the user benefits from it, not we, so let’s bake it in that browser thing Edge, riddled with privacy obliterating rings and things nobody ever asked for.
Goodness, surfing with Alta Vista on XP with Opera back then, the latter with a fully functioning email application, was too good, too simple.
I hope Sordum or Softmaker and the like will take their chance.
THis site is dead.
I wanted to try out windows mail.
I was unable to add my defaut email adress ending in @hotmail.com because I use a local account to login into my pc.
I signed up for the personal basic 365 gives me ad free outlook which I do like. It mostly replaced the ads free outlook web mail. Never liked the mail/calendar app at all. Hopefully the Outlook app will be better because Microsoft has completely failed lately with a baked in Windows mail app.
Outlook Desktop/365 is a mature and full-featured product. It has enough tricks and productivity tools that I use it to run my life! Not sure what I’d do without email flagging and a robust calendar.
Is the new Thunderbird now able to sync Email, Calendar and Contacts with outlook.com natively without using any extensions?
Yes, with a paid extension.
?? Microsoft do you stupids or idiots please remove all bloatware make it option how with a special package for install and download this apps and make clean and clear windows 11 how windows 7 or Windows XP era.
Use the Chris Tuts or Chris Titus Powershell scripts GUI, run them in admin mode, and between other tasks this scripts allows, is to remove, get rid for good this aberrations from MS, and never to return.
“Synchronizes” GMail and Yahoo Mail accounts with MS Cloud. It does not support POP3 accounts at all. Garbage!
So this is actually something that I’ve been dealing with here recently myself. I’ve been debating on whether to stick with Calendar and Mail or migrate to the new Outlook. I decided to stick with Mail and Calendar after trying Outlook for a couple of days, but here is why:
Upon trying the New Outlook, I don’t really like it. For one, I have two email accounts, which mail handles just fine. When I switched to the new Outlook, it only kept my Outlook email address and settings. It completely abandoned my other account, AND I DID NOT LIKE THAT! I tried to see if I could add it back to Outlook, but I wasn’t able to.
Second, I can’t seem to get the same functionally with the “signature” feature in Outlook as I can in Mail. I actually have a Jpeg image of my signature that I made, and I use as my signature on outgoing emails. In Outlook you can’t specify a Jpeg image as your signature the same way you can in Mail. You can type a signature out, but no pictures, at least not yet.
Lastly (and I don’t know why this bothers me, but it just does) Outlook isn’t a stand alone app like Mail is, at least not yet. It’s like built into MS Edge as a webmail feature and I think this ties into my experience with IMAP in the past. I’ve never been big on IMAP, I’m more of a POP3 player. This is because of the way (most) email clients display IMAP folders…sloppily, with too many duplicates! I guess I got use to how POP3 works and looks, and Microsoft can pry that from my cold dead hands! Do you hear me MS?
After reading this article, I got mad at Microsoft. They’re just so “big brother” about stuff. “Oh no, you’re going to use our new app, and if you don’t like it, we’ll just delete the alternative so you have no choice.” Classic Microsoft playbook: Shove your apps and Operating Systems down people’s throats! Oh and I can’t forget “if it ain’t broken, fix it until it is so you can create something else to shove down people’s throats!”
I mean, at least they aren’t pulling a “Google playbook” which is create an app or feature that the world comes to adore, and then just discontinue it to everyone’s malcontent with little or no reasoning, explanation, or insight, as to why.
Well, they are kind of ARE doing that here, because Mail AND Calendar have been around for a minute, and a lot of people like them. It makes me wonder why MS is willing to keep some features and apps lurking around well past their prime “for backwards compatibility” (I’m talking about you Command Prompt) and others they just Deprecate. I mean like who makes these decisions at MS? Where do they draw the line/threshold of what is so popular that they’re going to keep it/can’t get rid of it (even to save some space) vs. “oh we’re making this app disappear in a year.” I certainly don’t think consumer sentiment is even considered…By the way Microsoft, I’m still mad at you for deprecating Windows XP, and for bricking so many of my computers with your bad-updates (good updates work as intended, bad updates cause mayhem).
I tried the new outlook, its pathetic, slow and bloated with MS ads, when I view the app in Task manager, its just MS Edge disguise with full web view interface, not app itself.
MS Mail & Calendar is simple app which works just fine, guess its time to look for alternative.
Its just a web page interface using the edge browser with imbedded ads. If it was a real stand alone mail and calendar application it would be more secure and faster.
I use Microsoft email quite a bit b/c Thunderbird’s email search function is atrocious, such a basic essential function really don’t know why Mozilla won’t fix it
I have never used the email or calendar app. Mostly all the bloatware is just bloatware. That’s the meaning.
>Mostly all the bloatware is just bloatware.
This is really deep.
Because some of them are not just bloatware. They are also adware that shows you full screen ads and malware that sends your usage data to the mothership.
Five minutes after installation of windows, i run the Crhis Tuts Powershell scripts, that between other tasks, removes all inutile, nonsense, non requested applications that Micro$oft insists to add in the windows. Then this scripts prevent this damm apps to be reinstalls after updates . So for me this two apps i fact i even knew.
It’s time to start looking for alternatives. Nobody should use that bloated webview nonsense.
Bloatware is exactly what it is. It runs slower than old outlook, it looks like they ported an Android app to windows but didn’t change anything, and it is definitely bloated. The resource usage of that POS is crazy. I’m going to end up having to upgrade my work laptop just to use that junk.