Microsoft Clears the Deck to Permit the New Outlook for Windows to Move to GA

Message center notification MC803006 (last updated 20 June 2024) is an indication that Microsoft is getting close to announcing the General Availability (GA) for the new Outlook for Windows (aka the “Monarch” client). In March, Microsoft indicated that they were approaching GA. This step takes them a tad closer.

MC803006 says that Microsoft will formally rename the Outlook (Win32) app to be Outlook (classic) from July 2024 “to differentiate it from the new Outlook for Windows.” The change is active in Office version 2407 or later.

The classic moniker has been in use for months. The difference is that Microsoft is changing the app name, icons, and listing in the Start menu. Normal users who haven’t been aware of Microsoft’s determination to deliver a new Outlook for Windows will see the name change, and this could prompt questions.

Outlook (Classic) Still Retains Support Until 2029

Microsoft emphasizes that the name change does not affect the status of Outlook (classic) or their previous commitment to support the product until at least 2029. They also point out that they’ve started to use the new naming convention in support documentation.

I’m sure that those who pay attention to naming conventions will distinguish the importance of the change. Regular users will probably still be confused how a slightly better OWA that still isn’t nearly as functional as Outlook (classic) is now the lead Outlook for Windows. However, users can safely ignore naming games because the reason for the change is to allow Microsoft to proceed make the new Outlook for Windows generally available for customers who want to use the client (Figure 1).

Anyone who uses OWA, for instance, will find the new Outlook for Windows to be a better client, especially when Microsoft delivers some of the promised features needed to close the gap with Outlook (classic), like offline mode and support for PST files. Microsoft has an adoption site to document its reasons why organizations should embrace the new Outlook for Windows. Like most similar sites, it includes a mixture of valuable information mixed in with propaganda.

Offline Capabilities for the New Outlook for Windows

According to MC798674 (4 June 2024), support for what Microsoft terms “the first set of offline capabilities” for the new Outlook for Windows is coming in late June 2024 when mail, calendar events, and contacts will be saved on local devices and available for offline working. Users will be able to create, send, and save emails and perform management actions like moving or deleting items. Offline access is not available as of today, but there’s still some time left in June.

Teams 2.1 Loses Its New Label

Meanwhile, MC803890 (21 June 2024) reminds tenant administrators about another forthcoming app rename. This time the new Teams (2.1) client loses its “new” label because the Teams classic client reaches the end of support on July 1, 2024. It’s one way of showing that Teams 2.1 is now the only game in town, unless you’re a VDI or government cloud customer as the Teams classic client continues in support for these environments.

Reaching the end of support doesn’t mean that the Teams classic client stops working. However, anyone running the client will be nagged through dismissible in-app messages to remind them that their software is unsupported.

Starting on October 23, 2024, the Teams classic app will cease working on Windows 7/8 and MacOS Sierra (10.12) desktops. Users of these platforms will have to use the Teams browser client. Starting on July 1, 2025, the Teams classic client reaches the end of the road for everyone and will be formally consigned to the great byte wastebasket for obsolete software products.

Lots of change to deal with!

So much change, all the time. It’s a challenge to stay abreast of all the updates Microsoft makes across the Microsoft 365 ecosystem. Subscribe to the Office 365 for IT Pros eBook to receive monthly insights into what happens, why it happens, and what new features and capabilities mean for your tenant.

The New Outlook for Windows Won’t Replace Outlook Classic for Another Five Years

A March 7 Technical Community post laid out Microsoft’s plan to bring the new Outlook for Windows client (aka, Outlook Monarch, Figure 1) from its current state to general availability for commercial customers and eventually to replace the Outlook Classic (Win32) client.

The bottom line is that there’s lots of twists and turns to play out before the replacement of Outlook classic. Microsoft says that they will “continue to honor published support timelines for existing version of classic Outlook for Windows until at least 2029.” Whether Microsoft means January 2029 or December 2029 is immaterial at this point. The exact timeframe will be determined based on development progress between now and then.

Monarch Used by Consumer Clients

Monarch is already in use by consumer users where it replaces the old Windows Mail and Calendar clients. Although Monarch is a superior client, its introduction has been marked by a great deal of adverse comments about the way Microsoft uploads email data to its servers (here’s one example).

The problem is that Outlook supports connects to servers via obsolete email protocols like IMAP4 and POP3 but wants to deliver advanced features that aren’t available in the old protocols. The solution is to synchronize email from the servers to Microsoft’s cloud environment to process the email data to support functionality like the focused inbox. Outlook mobile uses the same mechanism, but Monarch’s usage seems to be considered different. It’s odd, but there you are.

Bringing the New Outlook for Windows to Commercial Customers

Commercial customers are different. They tend to send and receive higher volumes of email and use different features than consumers do. For instance, consumers don’t use the Teams Meeting add-in to schedule online meetings, nor do they protect email with sensitivity labels or keep messages in archive mailboxes, including expandable archives. And customer organizations and ISVs have created a bunch of add-ins for Outlook over the years, many of which are still in active use.

In their article, Microsoft points to the transition of Outlook for Mac users to the new version of that client and say that they plan to take the same approach with the new Outlook for Windows. The only problem is that the user base for Outlook Classic is much larger and more diverse in terms of add-ons than Outlook for Mac is. The complexities involved in moving users off Outlook Classic might just be more difficult than implied by Microsoft’s confident stance.

In any case, Microsoft’s plan unfolds over three phases (Figure 2):

• Opt-in. We’re currently in this phase. General availability for the new Outlook will happen during the phase.
• Opt-out. The new Outlook client becomes the default and users must opt-out to continue using Outlook Classic.
• Cutover. New deployments will only use the new Outlook and the ability to switch back to Outlook Classic disappears. Eventually, Microsoft will cease support for Outlook Classic and might block connections at this point.

Monarch Still Lacks Features

During the development process, Microsoft has added many features to satisfy customers such as support for personal email accounts. However, some major pieces of functionality that are important to corporate customers are still missing, the most notable being the lack of support for PST files and the ability to work offline (a true strength of Outlook Classic since the introduce of drizzle-mode synchronization in Outlook 2003).

Without these features, Monarch resembles a slightly prettier and better client than the standard OWA for Exchange Online. And if people have chosen to use Outlook Classic instead of OWA, they’re not going to be tempted to use the new client until it supports all the features that they’ve come to depend on in Outlook Classic. Further difficulties arise in the need to convert COM or VSTO-based add-ins, which aren’t supported by the new client, to the new add-in model.

The Need for Balance

It’s good that Microsoft has laid out the availability timeline for Outlook over the next five years. It’s in Microsoft’s interests to get to the new Outlook (reduced engineering expenses and less complexity in the Outlook client family) but they can’t make customers (or rather, too many customers) unhappy through the transition. Achieving their goal will force Microsoft to walk a tightrope. Let’s hope that they don’t inconvenience too many people along the way. I think Outlook Classic will make it past 2029. The only question is “how long?”

So much change, all the time. It’s a challenge to stay abreast of all the updates Microsoft makes across the Microsoft 365 ecosystem. Subscribe to the Office 365 for IT Pros eBook to receive monthly insights into what happens, why it happens, and what new features and capabilities mean for your tenant.