Outlook, which comes bundled as both part of Office 2013, as well as 365 Home Premium, is one of the most popular desktop email clients in a shrinking market that, aside from business, is going to the web. But corporate use remains strong, and the company continues to innovate, keeping it ahead of rivals like Lotus Notes — you laugh, but I formerly worked in IT for a large company, and that was the email program of choice.
Now the software giant is unveiling its latest Office 2013 update — a new compact header. Microsoft claims this update comes from user feedback and requests about what customers most want to see. You don’t have to use it — there’s a choice now. “You can decide which view of the message header you like. Do you want to show the traditional header? Or do you want to focus on message content and get rid of excess chrome? You can switch between displays with just a click,” says Ronak Trivedi, program manager for Outlook.
There’s a bit more to it though — the new update has been designed with the customer in mind. It will adapt to the patterns you display while using it. For instance, it will truncate the display if it feels it is taking up to much space, preventing you from seeing the important information in the message. There is also an indicator that displays the list of CC recipients — sorry, but BCC is still off limits, for good reason.
“Compact message header in Outlook 2013 is available as part of last month’s updates for Office 365 subscribers as well as Office 2013 Service Pack 1,” Trivedi states. However he also promises more updates are in the works and, perhaps, just around the corner, but those we’ll need to wait a bit to learn of.
