Why is the "New" Outlook for Windows client so awful...deliberately???

Anonymous
2024-02-26T17:21:00+00:00

While I believe I understand some of the reasoning behind the marginally improved "New" Outlook while lamenting the overall deprecated experience - namely, an effort to normalize the look and feel across the desktop, mobile and web versions - the path taken is regressive in nature, at least for those of us who've long relied upon the desktop variant to manage much of their eMail, task and scheduling affairs.

I've been comfortable with the working knowledge that detailed work associated with eMail, tasks and scheduling has been the province of the desktop client, while the mobile and web versions offered very functional and not as detailed abilities.

Now, after having lived with the "new" Outlook desktop client for months now, I can conclude that the 'improvements' to this client when compared to its current and soon former versions is far less capable and far more mobile/web like in function - overall, a deprecated experience.

One notable issue is the mere fact that one can seemingly no longer remove attachments directly from an eMail. While this may seem trivial to some, having attachments to eMail AND the ability to download same simply increases the already arduous task of managing one's documents, while increasing the overall storage footprint (since these could now be stored in at least two places), which could represent increased subscription costs over time.

Microsoft, PLEASE revisit this intended direction for the desktop client, and instead consider introducing some of the long-favored desktop client functions into the mobile and web variants, in turn genuinely introducing "new" functionality all around.

Outlook | Windows | New Outlook for Windows | For home

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  1. Anonymous
    2024-12-16T21:41:38+00:00

    It's a terrible product almost a full year after this post. There's a laundry list of missing features. IF you use Outlook for business, do not use New Outlook, IT IS TERRIBLE.

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  2. Anonymous
    2024-12-19T07:31:47+00:00

    I got a subscription. My usual outlook is still working fine. Do I need to update this?

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  3. Anonymous
    2024-12-19T08:53:19+00:00

    Don't go anywhere near it - even for a look. Just stay as you are.

    It's the worst-ever Microsoft software release, and Microsoft pay no attention to the comments being made.

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  4. Anonymous
    2025-01-17T01:43:51+00:00

    New outlook is a disaster! Please get ready of it.

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  5. Anonymous
    2025-01-23T15:12:34+00:00

    I stepped away to make a cup of tea last night, and came back 5 minutes later to find that my Outlook window had been forced to the new version. Ugh!

    Here are 2 gripes that I don't think have made the list.

    1. If I multi-select messages, there's no option (that I can find) to 'forward as attachment'. Not in the menu that appears in the Reading Pane, not if I right click, not even on the button bar. In fact, even the regular forward button is disabled when more than 1 message is selected. My only option now is to create a new email and then drag and drop the selected emails to it. ANNOYING!
    2. I'm often having to go through hundreds of alert emails. To do this efficiently, I would click on 1 message, hold down shift, and then use the arrow key to go up the email records 1 by 1. The reading pane would show me the content of the newly selected message so I could quickly review it before keying up to the next message. By doing this, I could hit delete 1 time for each batch of 20-50 messages. With the new Outlook, as soon as I select a second message the reading pane shows a menu rather than the email message. I have no choice but to select each message and delete 1 by 1, which takes forever! And, adding insult to injury, the animation on the pop-up to confirm the deletion is killing me! Do you have any idea how long it will take me to get through 100 emails 1 by 1 and deleting them 1 by 1?!

    I lied. 1 more thing I hate...

    1. What terrible use of 'real estate'! I hate the app buttons on the left column, and there's no option to move them. #&!@%

    (editing to add more stupidity)

    1. In old Outlook, after using the search bar I could click on the X on the right side of the bar to clear the search term. An X button would also appear on the ribbon so I could clear my search. In new Outlook, I see no means of clearing my search term other than manually deleting the term. I know this sounds insignificant, but all these extra clicks add up!

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