Outlook on the Web (Preview) Thread

[Ian S.]

Outlook on the web Preview

I realize many have not gotten a chance to get a hands on with the new UI update for Outlook.com. This is kinda a first-look, hands-on, mini-review.

New Features:

• Whole new UI matching Office 265
• Outlook.com is now Outlook Mail 
• Expanded App switcher with Bing, MSN, and Tasks
• New Tasks web app
• Selecting Calendar, People, or Tasks no longer opens a new tab, it now switches the URL without reloading the page, this is because they are all under outlook.live.com/owa
• Mail, Calendar, People, and Tasks now exist under the Outlook branding (much better than the separate apps IMO
• New themes (shown below)
• Addins in Outlook Mail on the web
  • Clicking Addins shifts the left side over (showing the folders), opening a pane on the right of the compose section
• Composing a message no longer hides the folders (it seems more cluttered though)
• There is now a loading screen
• Many settings are now panes that overlay on the right side
• Flags no longer keep messages at the top (pins do)

Themes:

 

Until rolled over, the checkboxes and the pin icons are not visible.

Compose comparison

 

[Ian S.]

Loading Screen

Old (left) vs new (right) Mail

Old (left) vs new (right) People

Old (left) vs new (right) People - Creating a Contact

URL Comparison and headers

Old (left) vs new (right) Calendar

App switcher Old (left) vs new (right)

Dropdown

Skype sidebar (right) Help sidebar (left) Themes sidebar (bottom)

 

New Mail app

New Tasks App

Settings

Addins

Display Settings pane

 

[siah1214]

I want it...now

[Roger H. Veteran]

I can dig it.  

That does look better for sure  

[Draggendrop Veteran]

Looks nice but I have a hard time reading lighter shades of text with light backgrounds....hopefully it can be customized....Cheers....

[Ian S.]

Looks nice but I have a hard time reading lighter shades of text with light backgrounds....hopefully it can be customized....Cheers....

You should post your ideas here: 

http://outlook.uservoice.com/forums/284136-outlook-com

I really can't believe all the hate towards this, I mean on the UserVoice it says "give me back my hotmail NOW"

[Son_Of_Dad]

Looks good but I need the ability to link accounts that's why I use Mail and Calendar apps in Windows 8 over web even though Mail isn't a true linked inbox switching between accounts is the best they offer.

When does this actually role?

[Ian S.]

Looks good but I need the ability to link accounts that's why I use Mail and Calendar apps in Windows 8 over web even though Mail isn't a true linked inbox switching between accounts is the best they offer.

When does this actually role?

Do any web emails link accounts? 
It is currently in limited testing, and it will role out soon, although I believe it was delayed due to some negative feedback.

BTW, Outlook on the web now has offline access.

EDIT: It supports connected accounts to import mail and manage in one place (not just switching inboxes)

 

[Son_Of_Dad]

Do any web emails link accounts?

Outlook.com or Livemail did, I can't keep track given how often they change systems :? The capture above makes it appear better to use than flicking back and forth in the Windows 10 Mail app.

[Ian S.]

New Features:

• Notifications Panel
• Clutter is now operational

[margrave]

Until I can use it to connect to an exchange account I have no use for this at all.

[Ian S.]

Until I can use it to connect to an exchange account I have no use for this at all.

If you mean add an Outlook.com email to an Activesync email client:
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/outlook/send-receive-from-app

If you mean use Outlook.com as an activesync client, that would not be necessary.
First of all, Outlook on the web now uses the O365 Backend and supports POP3, IMAP, and SMTP. Next, O365 is a suitable replacement for Exchange and, I haven't heard of an online exchange client.

[Yusuf M. Veteran]

I like it a lot. What's the expected release date?

[QuietStorm21A]

Have they added ability to assign contact photo when creating a new contact entry in Outlook Mail?

[siah1214]

Until I can use it to connect to an exchange account I have no use for this at all.

Do you know what you're talking about? 

[DeadEndAccount]

Have they changed the backend infrastructure? Primarily I'm on a Mac and unfortunately there is no ActiveSync on OS X but there is Exchange protocol support - are they going to be allowing people to connect to their outlook.com account using the Exchange protocol?

[siah1214]

Have they changed the backend infrastructure? Primarily I'm on a Mac and unfortunately there is no ActiveSync on OS X but there is Exchange protocol support - are they going to be allowing people to connect to their outlook.com account using the Exchange protocol?

They've been using Exchange for a while. 

[DeadEndAccount]

They've been using Exchange for a while. 

The problem is that I cannot connect to my outlook.com account using the Exchange protocol in either Outlook 2016 for Mac or the Mail app included with OS X.

[trek]

Looks good. In the OP you have a typo "Office 265"

Like my other 365 accounts I'm sure I'll be turning off the clutter feature in the new hotmail/live mail/outlook.com/outlook mail.

[Boo Berry]

I've had this for about two weeks now, but I haven't had the time to go through it properly.

[RJKnees]

The one thing that keeps me on gmail is the ability to have different signatures for each email address. Can the update do that? I use gmail for a couple of accounts and outlook.com for one. I want all my email in ONE web page. I know outlook.com can send email using gmail servers, but only with the single signature.

[BooBerry]

Can the themes be set to random?

If not can you let them know(the point of preview is for feed back & suggestions)

[jnt]

Thanks for all of this information.  Is Active View finally working right?  It's a silly little thing, but I can't stand how I can't easily view photos in my email consistently, and I have yet to figure out why some work (though rare) and most don't.  

Overall this looks like a great update, and it will be nice having all of it under one heading finally.

[Vitor Mikaelson]

Could you try Office Documents? It seems it can edit side-by-side with mails

[Ian S.]

:sCould you try Office Documents? It seems it can edit side-by-side with mails

I will update. I don't really have an attached Office doc right now, that's how that feature works. It doesn't work with OneDrive files because those can simply be edited online. The feature is for attached, non-OneDrive files. That would normally require a download of the file and a re-upload. I don't use offline Word docs anymore  everything is on Gdrive and OneDrive. I will have to get back to you on this.

Have they changed the backend infrastructure? Primarily I'm on a Mac and unfortunately there is no ActiveSync on OS X but there is Exchange protocol support - are they going to be allowing people to connect to their outlook.com account using the Exchange protocol?

Backend infrastructure is Office 365. Can't you just use the mail app or the Outlook for Mac app and sign-in to Outlook on the web/Outlook.com?

Thanks for all of this information.  Is Active View finally working right?  It's a silly little thing, but I can't stand how I can't easily view photos in my email consistently, and I have yet to figure out why some work (though rare) and most don't.  

Overall this looks like a great update, and it will be nice having all of it under one heading finally.

Active View seems gone because this is actually the migration to O365's infrastructure. They are going to add it back eventually. Don't know why yours is malfunction while still on Outlook.com

Can the themes be set to random?

If not can you let them know(the point of preview is for feed back & suggestions)

No, they can't be set to random there is a day/night theme I believe it's the ugly electric blue one that switches to dark during late hours. You can request on outlook.uservoice.com and I'll vote!

The one thing that keeps me on gmail is the ability to have different signatures for each email address. Can the update do that? I use gmail for a couple of accounts and outlook.com for one. I want all my email in ONE web page. I know outlook.com can send email using gmail servers, but only with the single signature.

I only have one alias tied to that account, it's actually a backup account. My main email hasn't been switch over yet. However, form the options view it looks pretty basic (only one field for a signature).

Looks good. In the OP you have a typo "Office 265"

Like my other 365 accounts I'm sure I'll be turning off the clutter feature in the new hotmail/live mail/outlook.com/outlook mail.

Sorry, I can't edit the post anymore

I like it a lot. What's the expected release date?

Unknown, it's rolling out slowly.

Have they added ability to assign contact photo when creating a new contact entry in Outlook Mail?

No, I assume you mean Outlook People right?

 

Also there is a new feature, when you get an email a notification pops up at the top right corner. Like how Windows 8's mail app did.