New Outlook vs Old Outlook

What is the good things in new Outlook?

For new outlook, do you have any info on why there should be (microsoft help pages, forum posts, youtube) a button during setup of an account to "sync directly with server", but at least for me in Sweden there is none, so you have to sync everything with Microsoft?

The best way I can think of to answer your question is to explain the core differences between Classic Outlook and the New Outlook.

Classic Outlook is an installed email client that runs on your computer.

(This is the same traditional program we’ve called Outlook for years, just with a new name in order to better differentiate it with the New Outlook)

New Outlook is a front end to Microsoft cloud services, primarily Microsoft 365.

Even though both are installed on your computer, the New Outlook is essentially just a web browser with some additional bells and whistles. For instance, when connected to. Microsoft 365 email account and it sees its running via the New Outlook (and not just in a regular web browser) the Microsoft 365 cloud service is able to use those bells and whistles to add features you wouldn’t be able to normally get from just a web app. For instance, importing of PSTs, offline email, etc.

But the important thing to remember is that regardless, it is not an email client that exists on your computer in that traditional sense. It is a cloud service provided by Microsoft that happens to have an icon on your computer along side your other installed applications.

This is a gross oversimplification, btw.

The “bells and whistles” part of the web browser that is “New Outlook” are getting more and more advanced with each update…. So much so that the line is getting blurred between what part of New Outlook is a cloud service, and what part is fully running locally on your computer.

More and more of it is running locally on your computer, which makes it become closer to what you or I would deem a traditional email client. But no matter how close it gets to being a traditional email client, at its core, it will always be just bells and whistles on top of a Microsoft cloud service.

I don’t know if this answers your question or not, but hopefully it does :)

Thanks Justin, finally I understood why I could not understand if I had a very limited version of outlook or not. The simplified ribbon tricked me into thinking all advances features where missing.

I will go back to classic outlook to see if I will be happy with that version. What is the good things in new Outlook?

For new outlook, do you have any info on why there should be (microsoft help pages, forum posts, youtube) a button during setup of an account to "sync directly with server", but at least for me in Sweden there is none, so you have to sync everything with Microsoft?

That appears to be the full Desktop app to me based on your screenshot. Signatures and Send Later should definitely be there, as those features are in both the Classic Outlook as well as the New Outlook for that matter.

Microsoft does however make changes to the interface of the Classic Outlook on a regular basis, so it could simply be that what you’re looking for is in a different place.

For instance, now by default they show a simplified ribbon in Classic Outlook that hides most of the more advanced features by default. The full ribbon interface is still available however. I’d just do a quick YouTube search for disabling the simplified ribbon in Microsoft outlook to find some step by step instructions.

As for the date the Classic Outlook is supposed to be discontinued, supposedly that won’t happen until 2029 so you should still have at least 5 more years with it - it won’t be going away right away :)

Justin, now I managed to start some kind of classic outlook. The revert button in "new outlook" did not work, "file not found". On windows start menu I found Outlook(classic) tried that. I still have a feeling that this is a very limited version compared to what I had before, things like signatures, send later etc. seems to just not be there.

Version number etc is seen in screenshot.

Thanks Justin, I will try it once more, but so far when I pressed the button "revert to classic outlook" (or whatever it is named) I seems to get an equally limited email client, with the same look and feel as the new outlook.

Microsoft seems to refer to another email client that is included "for free" and here the new Outlook should be an improvment. So I am thinking that when I revert to classic I get that free limited email client. Am I correct? In same context they refer to the apps "E-mail" and "Kontakter" (Contacts), and that new Outlook should handle both. Again showing that there is a very basic email client and the full desktop client.

I will get back with results from my reverting to classic.

Another issue is that they write that the classic outlook will stop working during 2024.