The new Outlook for Mac has numerous new features and enhanced capabilities to experience. Here are some highlights of what to expect when you try it out: Improved s ync – Built on top of Microsoft sync technology, which also powers Outlook Mobile, the new Outlook for Mac syncs your messages with improved sp e ed and reliability. Outlook for Mac does not support Apple iCloud calendar (CalDAV) and contact (CardDAV) synchronization. Outlook for Mac does support iCloud Mail. For steps on how to configure your iCloud email account in Outlook for Mac, go to the More Information section of this article. The Outlook for Mac experience, now available for preview in Insider Fast, has been updated to enhance performance and elevate productivity. The new Outlook for Mac is powered by the Microsoft Cloud and connects using Microsoft sync technology. It brings updates across Mail, Search, and Calendar exp. Microsoft launched a huge update for Outlook for Mac, with a raft of new features and improvements coming to the Mac email client.The update comes as part of Microsoft’s Ignite event and is. Microsoft is launching a new version of Outlook for Mac in October. The email app has been completely redesigned, with some new features that should speed up mail sync, search, and more.
Microsoft has plugged some key gaps in its 'new Outlook' for macOS, currently in preview and given a fresh update just a few days ago, but the product still has puzzling omissions that drive users back to the old version.
The revised Mac Outlook was first revealed at the Ignite event in late 2019. It appears to be a complete rebuild of the Mac email client, geared towards Office 365, but the question administrators will be pondering is whether important features in the existing Outlook will ever appear in the new one.
The history of Outlook on the Mac is inglorious. Microsoft and Mac go back a long way. Excel, for example, was a Mac application two years before it appeared on Windows. When it came to Outlook though, Mac users lost out. Outlook on Windows goes back to 1997, but the first full Mac version did not appear until Outlook 2011, and even that was not very good, slower than the Windows version and missing some features, such as Visual Basic for Applications (VBA).
VBA has never come to Outlook on the Mac, but a 2014 release was much improved, as Microsoft began to push the idea of Office 365 everywhere rather than keeping users hooked on Windows.
The new Outlook for the Mac in its first preview (click to enlarge)
Fast-forward to today, and there is not that much missing in Outlook 365 for Mac versus Windows, VBA aside.
All that is set to change with the latest new Outlook Mac as the pendulum swings away from making the Mac Outlook close to the Windows one, and towards giving Mac users a more distinct experience. It is also a matter of protocols. The existing Outlook Mac uses Exchange Web Services (EWS) which is being phased out.
Outlook on Windows generally uses MAPI over HTTP, perhaps the nearest thing to a native Exchange protocol. Microsoft is not happy with either and for its 'modern' mail client in Windows 8 and Windows 10 it developed a new sync protocol. In the past this was sometimes called Hx but it seems now to go by the name Microsoft Sync.
When Microsoft acquired Accompli in 2014, whose product became Outlook Mobile, it used its own protocol but that too now uses Microsoft Sync. According to presentations at Ignite 2019, this new sync protocol is designed specifically for mail-related data and makes the best even of poor connections, prioritising recent data.
The move from EWS to Microsoft Sync enables new features and improved performance, and no longer downloads the entire mailbox to the local machine. System requirements are for macOS 10.14 Mojave and Office 365, Outlook.com or Gmail email accounts.
The snag with a rebuilt Outlook for Mac is that having nearly caught up with Windows Outlook, it is now far behind in terms of features. It is in preview and some will reappear, but it is unlikely to be the full set. It hardly qualifies as a mail client in its current incarnation, with no support for standard protocols like POP3 and IMAP, nor any way of connecting to on-premises Exchange.
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READ MORE'We don't support on-prem yet but it's going to come soon,' said Microsoft in November 2019; six months on it is not there yet. On the plus side, it not only looks pretty, with full support for the Mac's Dark Mode on Catalina, but also performs well, with a fluidity that frankly feels unusual in a Mac Outlook product.
Features of the new Outlook for Mac include a new unified inbox view that avoids clicking between accounts, if you have several configured. You can now reply to emails inline ('nested compose'), a convenience feature that has been in Windows Outlook for some time. There is a new 'ignore conversation' option. Creating meetings uses a new simplified dialogue that you can expand as needed.
As for the new features added in the June update, these include add-in support (a big deal), sensitivity labels for classifying confidential data, a People view for managing contacts, an option to create an event directly from an email, read receipts, and a 'coming soon' promise of the ability to open shared calendars and to encrypt emails with S/MIME.
The actual preview release did not quite live up to the promise. In particular, the People view is not yet enabled, thanks to some last-minute bug that was discovered. One gets the new Outlook by signing up to the Office 'Insider Fast' channel, and after the new version downloads and installs, one can switch back and forth by toggling a 'New Outlook' switch. If the user attempts to use a feature such as the People view, a message pops up inviting the user to switch back, wrecking the fluid experience but that is what one gets for trying a preview.
The current preview is not fully usable, but fortunately switching back is quick
The problem of Outlook on Windows being different from Outlook on Mac will get worse
Microsoft has not specified a release date for the new Outlook Mac but a few things are clear. First, it will be the best Outlook yet, perhaps on any platform, in terms of appearance and design. This is not a high bar: Outlook on Windows is a mess from a user interface perspective, and has dialogues buried within that have not changed for decades. Performance also looks promising.
Second, Outlook Mac will be focused on cloud, especially Office 365, though it also already has good support for Google mail. Teams integration will also be strong and Microsoft has demonstrated features like converting an event to a Teams meeting, handy in times of lockdown.
Lastly, the problem of Outlook on Windows being different from Outlook on Mac will get worse. What if Microsoft replaces the Windows version with a similarly rebuilt product? Perhaps it will; but the difficulty is that Outlook is baked into the Windows ecosystem and forms part of workflows, some automated with COM technology, that will break if Microsoft replaces it. Custom add-ins, VBA projects, ancient APIs that remain for legacy reasons, all mean this will be a tricky application to replace.
Creating a meeting in the new Outlook Mac: just drag in the calendar and this simple dialog pops up
Outlook on Windows is perhaps the most annoying of Microsoft's Office products, yet the job it does is a critical one, bringing together email, calendar and tasks, and providing collaboration features like shared calendars and contacts. Some legacy features, like Exchange public folders, made their way into Office 365 where they have become something of a burden to Microsoft.
The new Outlook for Mac, when it comes out of preview, will represent Microsoft's current thinking on how Outlook should look and behave in the cloud era, but it will be some time before that can apply in Windows as well. ®
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© Provided by TechRepublic Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto Most business professionals recognize Outlook for Mac as a standard corporate email client, but many may not be aware Microsoft has a free program called Office Insider that provides early access to new releases. Microsoft office for mac training. In early November 2019, Microsoft introduced the new Outlook for Mac features for those who had joined the Office Insider program. Photoshop for mac computer.
While new features are often eye candy offering an updated user interface (UI), Microsoft's November Outlook for Mac updates showed significant performance improvements and important new features--the goal is improved performance and productivity. When announcing the new Outlook version, Microsoft Tech Community author Jessica Wilczek noted the new version 'brings updates across Mail, Search, and Calendar experiences that are designed for simplicity, reliability, and customization.'
© Getty Images/iStockphoto Work with email on the tablet concept design. SEE: Microsoft HoloLens 2: An insider's guide (TechRepublic download)
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Here are five things to remember when working with the 'new' Outlook for Mac app.
1. Performance is improved.
The speed of mail and appointment synchronization is faster in the new Outlook for Mac program. Microsoft developers brought the macOS email client the same Microsoft cloud-based sync engine that powers the company's Outlook for iOS and Windows Mail platforms; as a result, users--whether executives, managers, or front-line staff--will notice that messages, appointments, and related information sync and display quicker.
2. Microsoft Search is baked into the app.
Searches within the new Outlook for Mac app use the cloud sync technology, and because Microsoft Search is integrated within the new email client, searches return more relevant results quicker. New advanced search filters, such as selecting specific date ranges, are another benefit. The Search bar found at the top of the screen now pulls up recent search strings and people. Anyone who has searched for email attachments or messages will appreciate these improvements on productivity.
3. The My Day view assists daily planning.
Microsoft's My Day feature, which users may recognize from using Microsoft To-Do, appears in Outlook for Mac with the new release (Figure A).
© Provided by TechRepublic The new Office Insider version of Outlook for Mac presents a fresh UI and improved performance, enhanced searching, and a new My Day view. Image: Microsoft My Day integration within the primary mail view ensures that users' messages, agenda, tasks, and calendar highlights are visible with a single glance--allowing for improved productivity. In my personal experience, the new Outlook for Mac screen is less cluttered, and the features and information that are not often used are hidden, thereby simplifying the view with fewer distractions.
4. Messages are collected within a single view.
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Conversations--the practice of collecting all the messages related to a single email thread within a segmented view--became popular several years ago. I initially resisted the default setting showing the conversation view since I was accustomed to reading mail in the order it was received. But I've learned that collecting email by conversation saves time and allows for better organization within the inbox.
Microsoft's developers clearly understand, as messages in the new Office Insider version of Outlook for Mac are collated into a single view regardless of where the message is located. The first few messages of a thread can be moved into different folders, but can still be viewed and located quickly within the thread. Think about the email threads in which someone responds days or even weeks afterwards; the collation is convenient in locating related messages.
Outlook Email App For Mac
5. Groups are supported within the Calendar.
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Rar extension mac. Many corporate users will be familiar with Groups, which permits collections of multiple Office 365 members. With the new Outlook for Mac, users can create and manage Group events within Outlook for personal and work calendars.
Although some components--Contacts, Tasks, Notes, Out of Office functions, and Rules--are not yet supported in the new version, other new features justify giving the new Office Insider release a try. If you need access to one of the missing features, click the radio button to switch to the previous version. My 2017 MacBook Pro takes only six or seven seconds to switch.