Microsoft is now providing Outlook for the Mac with macOS free of charge; the download can be found in the App Store. New features are also to be included in the e-mail program in the future, such as a preview of the calendar via the menu bar. Handoff in combination with Outlook for iOS is also supported.
Outlook for macOS is offered by Microsoft free of charge without further conditions, a subscription to Microsoft 365 or another license is not required . Although in-app purchases for Microsoft 365 are offered by Microsoft, they are purely optional and only necessary for the company's other Office applications.
As with other e-mail programs, Outlook can integrate a wide variety of e-mail accounts from Google, iCloud, Microsoft, Yahoo and all other IMAP accounts. In addition, the program provides a calendar and optionally integrates the user's contacts.
Native App for Apple Silicon
The new Outlook is a native app for macOS and Apple Silicon and is designed to act and sync faster than previous versions of the email program. Other optimizations for Apple's platform include the current agenda in the calendar, which can be stored as a widget, and reminders in the macOS notification center. In future, the app will also draw attention to upcoming events from the calendar via the operating system's menu bar.
Notes in the menu bar (left) (Image: Microsoft)Handoff between iOS and macOS
Support for the handoff feature between iOS and macOS, which allows users to continue an email started on one system on the other system by synchronizing via the cloud. To do this, the user must be logged in with the same Apple ID.
Handoff between iOS and macOS (image: Microsoft)In the future, Microsoft also wants the different ones Support focus profiles like “Work” or “Me time” from macOS and iOS, so that notifications only appear if they are allowed by the corresponding focus profile.
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Profiles for Outlook (Image: Microsoft)
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Daily planner and focused inbox
Outlook also offers a “focused inbox” that automatically separates important from less important e-mails at the touch of a button. E-mails can also be prioritized, pinned and put on hold until you want to edit them at a later time. E-mails can also be categorized and tagged. The app also provides a daily view for events, RSVPs and meetings.