My Hands-On Experience with the New Outlook: Modern, Yet Incomplete

The anticipation for the new Microsoft Outlook has been high, especially for those of us who frequently rely on the classic version. While Microsoft has yet to officially roll out the revamped application to Windows 11 users, it is already possible to try it out—and I did just that. Despite its many advantages, I find myself waiting for the final version, which, once again, seems to be delayed.

Table of Contents

• My Experience Testing the New Outlook
• The Design of the New Application
• An Interface with Extensive Customization
• What I Found Missing
• The Wait for the New Outlook Continues

My Experience Testing the New Outlook

The Design of the New Application

After several days of testing, one thing is clear: this is no longer the Outlook we remember. It’s a beautifully designed application that seamlessly integrates with Microsoft’s modern Fluent Design language, visible across many Microsoft 365 tools.

Fundamentally, the new Outlook is a web application in disguise. This might explain why it looks significantly better than its conservative predecessor. Microsoft has built it using WebView2 technology, meaning that in practice, you are interacting with the outlook.com website encapsulated within a system window. This approach allows web content to be embedded directly into native applications, offering a blend of web flexibility and desktop integration.

This approach comes with both advantages and disadvantages that are hard to ignore. On one hand, it offers cross-platform consistency, rapid updates, and features deployed simultaneously to both web and desktop versions. On the other hand, the application can feel slower than classic Outlook, sometimes giving the impression of being more of a browser than a dedicated email client. However, I don’t consider this a major drawback.

An Interface with Extensive Customization

The interface is the first thing that catches your eye upon opening the application. Microsoft has opted for maximum minimalism—clean lines and a layout designed to be intuitive, even for those who have never used Outlook before. The sidebar is simplified, featuring only icons for mail, calendar, and other Microsoft 365 programs. My one minor complaint here is that shortcuts to the latter services only open their browser versions.

The inbox itself feels more “airy” and the overall aesthetic is clean and modern. This isn’t a thoughtless replication of competitor solutions; it’s evident that Microsoft aimed to create an environment that isn’t overwhelming but still provides access to advanced functions when truly needed.

The modern ribbon with options offers extensive possibilities for customizing the home screen’s appearance. For example, with a single click, you can change:

• The reading pane (e.g., from dark to light mode).
• How conversations are expanded.
• The placement of the reading pane (e.g., at the bottom of the application, which isn’t always practical).
• The message density on the main screen (with three available options).

After customizing Outlook to your preferences, the design can look dramatically different, as can be seen in various screenshots. I must commend Microsoft for keeping the number of settings manageable and intuitive, making them truly useful without introducing unnecessary clutter. Furthermore, the number of visible buttons can also be tailored in the dedicated settings.

Microsoft also offers standard customization options for background colors, including light or dark variants, and an image theme option, which I personally enjoyed using. The entire experience feels truly distinct from the old Outlook.

What I Found Missing

I was surprised to discover that the new Outlook lacks Copilot. This AI-powered assistant is present in almost all Microsoft 365 services and was heavily promoted for integration into the email program. Microsoft repeatedly promised that Copilot would be able to summarize long email threads, suggest replies, and even draft emails from just a few keywords. This tool holds immense potential, but it’s clearly not ready for prime time yet.

Additionally, for some users, the way Outlook handles external accounts might be a concern. Every message—regardless of whether it originates from Gmail, Yahoo, or any other provider—is routed through Microsoft’s servers. This also applies to login credentials. For many, this could be unacceptable, especially for corporate email or if they simply prefer their correspondence not to be processed by an additional intermediary.

It’s also worth noting the performance. The new Outlook is somewhat slower than the classic version, particularly with large inboxes and intensive search operations. Despite this, I feel Microsoft has improved this aspect over the past year (when I first tried the new Outlook a year ago, it performed significantly worse). I believe it’s only a matter of time until Microsoft perfects this area.

The Wait for the New Outlook Continues

According to several online portals, such as Windows Latest, Microsoft is slowly migrating users to the new Outlook. However, I haven’t encountered anyone in my region who has received it as an official update. Interestingly, support for the old application isn’t slated to end until 2029. Moreover, Microsoft has pushed back the mandatory migration for businesses to the new version from April 2026 to March 2027. This strongly suggests that the software is still not fully ready for a broad rollout.

This delay might also be linked to the postponement of another anticipated change: the return of the Outlook agenda to the action and notification center in Windows 11. This feature was expected in 2026, but current indications suggest it’s no longer on schedule. Nevertheless, if Microsoft refines the application and integrates Copilot, it promises to be an excellent environment for email management.

Source: Internal review. Opening photo: Gemini

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Anuj Kushwaha

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