There have been plenty of rumors about the upcoming retirement of the version of Outlook that most professionals use daily, and a lot of concern from those same professionals about the “new” Outlook, which is very different from “classic” Outlook. The terminology of “classic” versus “new” is actually the official terminology from Microsoft, and “new” Outlook debuted back in August 2024. Much like the famous soft drink who also tried this approach, “new” Outlook has had a frosty reception, and while none of my clients would classify themselves as “fans” of classic Outlook, they definitely prefer it over the new one.
How long do we have together?
Part of the confusion about the impending “death” of classic Outlook comes from the retirement of certain Windows apps that have been a part of of the operating system for over 30 years. Windows Mail first appeared in 1991 on multiple operating systems including Windows 1.0 Microsoft officially discontinued Mail, People and Calendars apps at the end of 2024, and Microsoft has stopped including the apps in Windows 11 as of version 24H2. While most professionals don’t use Windows Mail for their work email, it’s typically the app of choice for everyone’s personal free-mail accounts like Yahoo, Gmail, Hotmail, etc. especially since Outlook installations on home computers were non-existent and only became more commonplace thanks to the pandemic and WFH initiatives.
On top of this, Microsoft is no longer installing classic Outlook in Windows 11 as part of the pre-installed Office 365 suite, and getting the “classic” installer is not immediately obvious, even to the veteran Office 365 user. This may lead many folks to believe that classic’s demise is imminent, but according to Microsoft, they plan to continue supporting classic Outlook through 2029. Will they make it any easier to get that version installed on your new Windows 11 PC? Probably not, but at least we have a few more years with our “beloved” mail reader.
Next post we will look at why “new” Outlook isn’t as popular as Microsoft would have hoped.
