Microsoft has been working on Project Monarch, the company's One Outlook app. The Redmond giant is creating a unification of its Outlook apps into a single user experience. It was widely expected the app would land in 2021, but Microsoft missed the deadline. However, Monarch is still alive and One Outlook could arrive this spring.
Project Monarch is a unified email experience through Outlook, it will gather the various versions of the services from across platforms into a single app. For example, it will replace the Win32 and UWP apps on Windows 10, Outlook Web Access, and the macOS version. It will also be hosted as Outlook for Web on browsers.
With this single version of One Outlook, Microsoft's Mail and Calendar apps will look and function the same across desktop platforms. From leaked images and information, it is thought One Outlook will heavily borrow its design and functionality from Outlook for the Web.
ZDNet reports Microsoft will officially announce One Outlook during the spring and a test version is likely to launch immediately. It will land on the Dev and Beta channels on the Windows Insider Program.
Coming This Year
Microsoft is then planning a release to the Slow Channel in the summer. It seems the company is positioning Project Monarch for a full launch in the autumn, likely alongside the first major update for Windows 11 (Windows 11 22H2 Sun Valley 2).
While the release will coincide with Windows 11 22H2, it will also be available on Windows 10 and other desktop platforms. The report points out Microsoft is unlikely to force users to migrate to the new experience, at least not this year. That will almost certainly change in the future, but at first users will have the choice between One Outlook and the legacy experience.
Last Updated on February 15, 2022 10:34 pm CET by Markus Kasanmascheff
