Microsoft’s new ‘One Outlook’ email client for Windows is starting to leak out

Image: Microsoft

Microsoft's new Outlook email client for Windows, which the company has been working on for some time, appears to be almost ready for prime time. Some users have been able to download the new app, which is only for work and educational accounts, though it seems to only function for work and educational accounts right now. It's pretty much what you would expect from those who can get in.

The Outlook web app looks a lot like the future of Microsoft's mail clients, and it appears to be that. It's lighter and simpler than previous versions of Outlook for Windows and more powerful than the built-in Mail app it's also slated to replace. The app is fully hosted online as Microsoft continues to move its services to the web rather than run them exclusively as native apps. Microsoft did not respond to a request for comment.

Microsoft’s new One Outlook email client has leaked. It’s a web-based version that will eventually replace the built-in Mail app on Windows and even win32 Outlook itself. I’m expecting a public beta at Build, and full Outlook replacement in a couple of years. Image: Temmie pic.twitter.com/6c3aqxC7L9

— Tom Warren (@tomwarren) May 6, 2022

The app was supposed to be in testing in 2021, with plans to replace the other clients this year. At the end of this month, Microsoft is expected to announce a new app that will replace Mail, Calendar, and other versions of Outlook after that. How does it perform? We'll have to wait until we can get our hands on the new app, but it's safe to say that desktop apps that act as shells for web apps have a bit of a spotty history. It seems that the future is coming one way or another with Microsoft's push for Progressive Web Apps.

The transition won't be easy since many Outlook users have a long history with the way the app has worked, and an experience based on the sparser, cleaner web app will feel like a huge departure. Microsoft is likely to have multiple versions of Outlook available to users for a while. In the future, there is only One Outlook. The web is where it starts.