Microsoft introduced the Outlook.com beta last year in order to provide faster, smarter, and more personalized inboxes. After gathering valuable feedback over the last six months, Microsoft has decided to wrap the first phase of the beta up and introduce the new Mail experience. They will also launch new beta experiences in Calendar and People.
Apart from the fresh new look, the Mail experience will now contain speedier performance, improved Skype integration, and new ways to access the favorite add-ins like Boomerang, Evernote, and PayPal. The emails can now be categorized and filtered in an improved manner. This new Mail experience is expected to reach all Outlook.com users over the next few weeks.
Updated Skype integration -With improved Skype integration, it’s easier than ever to chat in real-time right from your Outlook inbox and see all your contacts. Start an instant message or a free video call and participate in multiple chats at once. Select the person you want to talk to, and your conversation appears in its chat window.
The Quick settings offer one-click access to the popular features. The tasks like saving an email directly to the notebook, translating emails on the fly, paying friends, or sending gifts -can now be accomplished way faster.
Extra add-ins can be installed directly from the Office Store simply by opening an email, clicking the drop-down menu, and selecting Get Add-ins. The installed add-ins will be shown up in the drop-down menu. The frequently used add-ins can be pinned as well.
The new beta experience in the Calendar promises a more responsive interface. Adding a new event is just a matter of a few clicks. There are new icons to help to identify the events easily.
The beta experience in the People section looks quite interesting. It, of course, includes a new look. It is expected to make the process of accessing the favorite people much easier and quicker. The method of viewing, editing, and creating contacts is also improved.
The new profile card makes it much quicker to access the contacts’ information. The users can now add extra pieces of information like birthdays and personal notes to the contacts. Photos can be assigned to contacts by using the new photo control.
We hope you enjoy these new experiences we’ve brought to Outlook.com. There is more to come, and we need your help as we work to make Outlook.com better and better. Your feedback so far has been amazing, and we love reading and implementing it, so please keep writing to us in our UserVoice channel with your suggestions and ideas. – Outlook team
Emails can be sent or chats can be started directly from the People view. The contacts added to the favorites in People can be seen in Mail and vice versa.
