Microsoft has announced the beta for the new Outlook for Windows, which will make the desktop email client a lot more like the web version. While screenshots and an entire build of the app were recently leaked, Microsoft’s announcement gives us a good look at what kind of features we can expect to see coming to our inboxes.
According to Microsoft’s Tuesday post, Outlook will be getting quite a few new features in addition to an updated design. For starters, it’ll integrate with Loop, Microsoft’s system for collaborating on things like polls, task lists, and more throughout Office. There’s also a new system for attaching files. If you’ve got something stored in the cloud, you can type the “@” symbol and then the filename, and you’ll get a list of matching files ready to add to an email.
Microsoft’s also added a few calendar and to-do features. Some of them are simple, like the ability to pin emails to the top of your inbox so they’ll stay in your face until you deal with them. You’ll be able to drag emails over to a panel and set them as to-do items or as calendar events if you want to book time to respond — and after you’ve done that, you can look at the new calendar view that shows your task lists, notes, and various other customizable pieces of information alongside an actual calendar.