Continuing the news that Outlook.com will be integrated into
Office 365 platform, Microsoft has now begun releasing Outlook.com updates which
bring many new features that will be released gradually.
Outlook.com inbox is now complemented by a feature called
Clutter. As the name suggests, Clutter is in charge of sorting emails that are
likely will be ignored by users, put them in a separate folder so that you can
focus on the emails that are more important.
Actually, a similar feature has been offered through the
Microsoft Outlook application on iOS and Android, but with the term ‘Focused
Inbox’. The Outlook.com engine can be 'taught' by placing emails into Clutter
folder manually, so that it can refine the algorithm over the time.
The search results will now be displayed directly as you
type. The relevant content will be highlighted, and you can refine the search
results based on sender name, folder, time and attachment.
The Compose function in Outlook.com also gets improvements.
You can now copy the image, and then paste the image directly on the body of
the email without an attachment. It also applies with the link where
Outlook.com will display the content preview of the link automatically.
At the same time, Outlook.com now also brings Add-ins
feature, where a variety of online services will be integrated so that you can
gather information more easily. As you can see in the picture below, when you
point the mouse cursor to the address of a person listed in the email body, a
small window will appear and display the location on Bing Maps.
In the Build 2015 event, Microsoft has also announced that
they have established cooperation with a variety of third-party services such
as Uber, Boomerang and PayPal to enrich the Add-ins features. Going forward,
Microsoft also plans to hold other partners.
The integration of Microsoft's other services to Outlook.com
is also getting richer. Skype can now be accessed directly through Outlook.com,
allowing you to change the conversation via email or Skype quickly.
File sharing method in large measure is also getting easier.
Previously, you could indeed include links to files stored in your OneDrive
account, but Outlook.com now provides a dedicated button that can turn the
attachment into OneDrive link.
Outlook.com now allows you to open documents in Word, Excel
or PowerPoint that are stored in attachments directly, in the same browser tab.
Outlook.com display will be 'split' into two, where the contents of the
attachment will be displayed next to the compose window.
This feature is very interesting, because basically you can
edit the document directly and send it back without having to download it
first: edit, save and then re-attach the revised document.
Calendar on Outlook.com, and also the mobile version display
also get improvements in the field of visual and navigation. Outlook.com mobile
version now supports Add-ins, and can be navigated with a swipe gesture.
As mentioned in the beginning, this update will be released
periodically, and to this day it's still a preview. But in the next few weeks,
Microsoft plans to offer an opt-in program to get more users.