Microsoft is building a universal Outlook client for Windows and Mac that will also replace the standard Mail and Calendar applications in Windows 10 when it is ready. This new client is codenamed Monarch and is based on the Outlook Web application already available in a browser today.
The Monarch Project is the ultimate goal of Microsoft’s “One Outlook” vision, which aims to build a single Outlook client that works on PC, Mac and Web. At the moment, Microsoft has several different Outlook clients for desktop, including Outlook Web, Outlook (Win32) for Windows, Outlook for Mac and Mail & Calendar on Windows 10.
Microsoft wants to replace existing desktop clients with an application developed with web technologies. The project will deliver Outlook as a single product, with the same user experience and code base, whether on Windows or Mac. It will also have a much smaller footprint and will be accessible to all users, whether they are free Outlook consumers or customers commercial.
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They said the app will feature native operating system integrations with support for things like offline storage, sharing targets, notifications and more. I understand that one of Microsoft’s goals is to make the new Monarch client look as native as possible to the operating system, while remaining universal across platforms, basing the application on the Outlook website.
More than a year away
Microsoft will begin previewing its new Monarch client later this year, with plans to replace Mail & Calendar applications on Windows 10 in 2022. Microsoft also wants to replace the legacy Outlook Win32 client, but that is a goal that appears to be much more far and will be a gradual process, since the legacy client is a mammoth that cannot be easily replaced.
Those who are curious about what this experience will look like can install the Outlook Web application through their web browser today. Of course, this will not provide all the integrations that Microsoft has planned for the Monarch client, but it does give a general idea of the type of experience you can expect when using it.
Mail & Calendar apps on Windows 10 are in maintenance mode until the Monarch client is ready to replace them. I’ve been informed that existing apps will receive a small UI update later this year to bring them in line with other UI updates in progress with the major Sun Valley update of Windows 10, but the apps themselves will eventually be replaced by Monarch.
It is important to note that there are still more than a year to go before these plans take effect, so things can change between now and then. In the meantime, what are your thoughts on Monarch? Let us know in the comments.
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