Microsoft is “Reevaluating” its Outlook for Windows Plans

Last week, Microsoft announced its plan planning to replace the Windows 11 Mail and Calendar apps with its new web-based Outlook for Windows in September 2024. In an update that has since been posted on the Microsoft 365 Admin Center, the company is now saying that it’s “reevaluating” this plan.

“We are reevaluating the timing and implementation of this change and will provide updated information shortly. Thank you for your patience,” the company posted on June 16.

To be fair, Microsoft updates the timeline for its various announcements on the Microsoft 365 Admin Center quite regularly. It’s important not to overinterpret this update, even though the short amount of time between the initial announcement and the “reevaluation” of it can raise some eyebrows.

We did a Twitter poll earlier today and as of this writing, 60% of respondents believe the new Outlook for Windows app to be a progress. Even though Microsoft’s new Outlook for Windows app is still in beta, it’s already a pretty solid replacement for UWP Mail and Calendar apps, which haven’t been updated in ages.

#MondayPoll: Microsoft plans to replace Windows 11’s Mail and Calendar apps with the new web-based Outlook for Windows in 2024. What do you think of this change?

— Thurrott Feed (@Thurrottfeed) June 19, 2023

Being based on Outlook on the web, the new Outlook for Windows brings a consistent and familiar experience, and it will be free to use, unlike the classic Outlook for Windows app. As of today, however, the new Outlook for Windows app can’t work offline, which may be a dealbreaker for many people.

Even though there’s nothing fundamentally wrong with Microsoft building a web-based version of Outlook, it’s the frequent strategy changes that can get tiring for Windows enthusiasts. Microsoft built many free email clients over the years, but nothing probably matched the quality of the Windows Live Mail app from the Windows Vista/Windows 7 era. The new Outlook for Windows does seem to be a step in the right direction, and Microsoft still needs to add support for offline mode, IMAP accounts, and more to really convince us.