Microsoft has long struggled with its legacy of having multiple email clients, all following the company tradition of having similarly sounding applications performing different and separate tasks. Back in the day there was Outlook and Outlook Express and Hotmail, which has morphed into Outlook and OWA (the Outlook Web Application), Outlook.com, and Mail for Windows, along with Outlook for Mac. As we reported back in January, however, these disparate systems could be coming closer together, in the form of an all-in-one mail client to be known apparently as just “Outlook.”
Just for your information, One Outlook (aka Project Monarch) is now simply called Outlook ???? pic.twitter.com/nr8ryxQxrs
— Aggiornamenti Lumia (@ALumia_Italia) July 4, 2021
Project Monarch, the code name for this all-in-one Outlook, could be coming to a public preview in as soon as 1-2 months, according to Zac Bowden from Windows Central, although earlier reports suggest the app, built on web technologies would be ready to replace the Windows Mail and Calendar app sometime in 2022.
It could take much longer to begin to replace the full desktop Outlook, with its many corporate users and entrenched installations, dependent on macros and 3rd party add-ins.. A new refreshed version of the Office apps is being readied for Windows 11, with previews set to arrive this week, including a newly refreshed Outlook:
With a public preview of the new Outlook / Mail web client coming soon, it’s possible we might see a new consumer client in time for the Windows 11 launch this holiday, although that’s purely speculative. Still, a more cohesive approach to mail clients is long overdue, and we’re looking forward to checking out “Outlook.”
What do you use for your Mail client? Let us know in the comments below
