****Update a month later from original post.... I have switched back to Outlook 2016. The new version was making me spend more time doing the same tasks I used to when managing and responding to email. Huge blunder removing the ability to customize columns.****
Same issues... I use the category column to quickly assign or change categories of action items....and especially like being able to one-click the category to assign the default category...
I also rely on the TO column to be able to quickly ascertain if an email is sent just to me or if it's been sent to multiple people.
I'm trying not to just switch back to my old Outlook, but am afraid I may need to. This new version seems to me to be dumbed down when it should be getting smarter....and "smarter" doesn't mean (in typical Microsoft fashion) that it takes your choices away and does things for you instead because it "knows best" ....