Credit: Tero Alhonen
Microsoft is working on a single version of Outlook that will replace its current Windows 10 Mail and Calendar apps, as well as its legacy Win 32 Outlook client with a single Outlook client for Windows and Mac. The new email / calendar client, codenamed “Project Monarch”, is part of the company’s “One Outlook” plan, according to Windows Central, and will be derived from the current Outlook Web app.
It is currently possible to view Microsoft’s One Outlook Dashboard Web site by going to aka.ms/monarch. (See the built-in screenshot, courtesy of @TeroAlhonen.)
“One Outlook (or ‘Monarch’) is the new version of Outlook designed for large-screen experiences. It includes Windows Desktop (win32 and UWP; Intel and ARM), Outlook Web Access (OWA) and macOS Desktop,” according to a description on the One Outlook Dashboard. (Thank you, @WinObs.)
In the Windows 8 days, Microsoft officials insisted that the built-in Mail and Calendar apps, which are less functional than Outlook, represent the future of email at Microsoft. (At one point, there were rumors that Microsoft was considering renaming the Mail and Calendar app bundle as ‘Outlook’, which would make the confusing situation with many different products, all ‘Outlook’, even worse.)
As Microsoft moves away from Windows 8 and its original Universal Windows Platform (UWP) strategy, the company first began adding new features to Outlook on the Internet. To date, however, for some reason he still maintains the existing Mail and Calendar apps, rather than making all of his email programs based on Outlook.
Microsoft currently has different versions of Outlook for Windows, Mac, the Internet, iOS and Android devices (based on the Acompli technology it acquired), all of which its officials tend to refer to as a or Outlook.
Windows Central reports that users may see a preview of the new ‘One Outlook’ client by the end of 2021, but that it will only replace the built-in Mail and Calendar applications in 2022. WC also says Microsoft’s intention to replace the outdated Win32 Outlook client “much further out.”
I asked Microsoft for comment on the One Outlook / Monarch reports. So far no word back. update: A spokesman said the company “has nothing to share.” (First, “nothing to share” for the new year. It now feels like we’re back to work!)