Windows Mail, Calendar & People are Losing Support & Joining the Outlook Ecosystem.
Starting in 2024, Windows 11 devices will be shipped with the new Outlook for Windows as the default mailbox application – free for everyone to use. Starting in June 2023, Microsoft are beginning to migrate the existing Windows Mail, Calendar, and People users to the new Outlook for Windows.
If you have an account that supports the new Outlook for Windows, you will have noticed a “Try the New Outlook” toggle slider in the top right corner of the app. Clicking on the toggle will start downloading the new Outlook for Windows onto your device. The download may take several minutes to complete, depending on your internet speed. After the installation completes, Windows Mail and Calendar will close and the new Outlook for Windows will open, where you can sign in and choose to import your account and settings from the old apps to the new one.
This gives you an opportunity to familiarise yourself with the new outlook before we are inevitably forced to migrate next year. Don’t worry if you don’t like it, you can currently toggle back to the old version. Microsoft will ask you for feedback on why you switched back, which will be crucial in improving the new Outlook for Windows before support is ended for Windows Mail and Calendar in 2024. All feedback, especially negative will be helpful in improving the user experience for the new Outlook for Windows.
To streamline the adoption process, over the coming months, Microsoft will begin automatically downloading and installing the new Outlook for Windows onto your device when you launch Windows Mail and Calendar. You will be notified about this at launch before the download and installation begins. Microsoft will also begin to launch users directly into the new Outlook for Windows, with the option to toggle back to the old version. You will be notified about the launch before it happens.
Microsoft will provide specific end of support dates for Windows Mail and calendar in accordance with their Modern Policy for product life cycles.
The new Outlook for Windows will support various accounts.
“The new Outlook for Windows supports Microsoft 365 consumer accounts (e.g. Outlook.com, Hotmail.com, Live.com, etc.), Microsoft 365 work or school accounts, and Gmail. In the coming months we will release support for Yahoo!, iCloud and additional email providers through IMAP and POP.” – Microsoft Support
If you don’t have an account that is currently supported by the new Outlook for Windows, you will not be prompted to try the new experience. Once the new Outlook for Windows supports your account, the prompts to try the new experience will begin as per the above.
Microsoft has suggested that if you don’t like the new Outlook for Windows, you should perhaps investigate a new mail program before the new Outlook for Windows rolls out fully. “If you are not interested in trying the new Outlook for Windows, you can stop using Windows Mail and Calendar and instead manage your email and calendar through your service’s webmail application, or a different email client.” – Microsoft Support
