New Outlook vs. Outlook in Microsoft 365

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The free outlook for windows is ad-supported

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Only if you don't have a subscription to Office 365 and don't have that outlook.com account set as primary in the app.

If you use gmail.com etc as the Microsoft account address, you need to add an outlook.com alias and set it as primary so you can add it to new outlook and avoid ads. If you don't have a subscription, using focused inbox makes it less annoying - the ads will only be on the other tab.

Ads in New Outlook

Microsoft wants to maintain only 1 source code for the whole outlook family of apps (mac, windows, mobile and web).

The free outlook for windows is ad-supported

When you sign in with your microsoft 365 account, the outlook for windows app will kill the ads because you are using the paid version.

They are slowly migrating Enterprise customers to this app by 2029.

https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/blog/outlook/new-outlook-for-windows-a-guide-to-product-availability/4078895

Many thanks for taking the trouble to provide a full explanation, Diane.

First - for many Outlook registry keys, you need to restart Outlook for it to take effect. When the key path includes Policies or HKLM (local machine) restarting Outlook is required. Keys in the regular office path are maybe/maybe not as to whether restarting Outlook is needed. Sometimes you just need to switch between calendar and mail a couple of times to trigger it.

But because this specific key changes the interface, restarting is required.

Whether you need to back up the registry depends on the keys you are touching. Adding Outlook (or any office-related) key, the worst it will do is cause the app not to work - windows will boot and you can delete the key you added. If you are deleting or changing a value, then you might want to back it up, unless the value is being switched from 0 to 1 or something easy to remember. (When I'm deleting keys, I often just rename it - with a dash at the beginning or end of the name - the software won't use it, and I can change the name back if needed.)

I tried the non-Registry adjustment (D-word change), to be on the safe side. The Command Line informed me the procedure had been successfully completed:

But the invitation remains there (Top-right). Why? Do I have to close Outlook 365 (Paid)/Classic and it will then vanish? (Further comment added).

Answer: Yes, it did (delight). Thank you, Diane.

I am now curious about one thing. Like many, I am always highly cautious about adjusting the Registry and understand that backing up avoids catastrophe. Since in this case the alteration was conducted without applying your first Reg-change/Regedit solution, does this 'hack' apply to other/more Registry changes? In short, is it safer than the conventional Regedit backup-and-save method, as the worst that can happen is a mis-type, as I found when I initially omitted 'reg add', being unsure it was part of the intended Path?