What Microsoft needs to include in Outlook 2016

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	TOP STORY What Microsoft needs to include in Outlook 2016
	By Tony Bradley More than a few Windows XP users are willing to pay Microsoft for more updates to the now effectively obsolete OS. In theory, doing so could produce billions in revenue for Microsoft. Here’s why it’s not going to happen.

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The full text of this column is posted at windowssecrets.com/top-story/what-microsoft-needs-to-include-in-outlook-2016/ (paid content, opens in a new window/tab).

Columnists typically cannot reply to comments here, but do incorporate the best tips into future columns.[/td]

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two things that I want… the ability to open a .pst file as read-only so that we can genuinely archive old email safely… and following on from your inbox discussion, we need to be able to write a rule that processes incoming mail based on the email address that the email was sent to – not the account, the email address. Particularly important in a corporate environment where one mailbox may have a dozen valid email addresses associated with it. And it needs to work with email received as a bcc too!

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Themes…..recently tried out Office 2013 and ended up uninstalling it as I couldn’t bear to look at the Outlook window which was flat, lacked contrast, extremely white and hurt my eyes. When I eventually found the ‘themes’ that came with the programme it was a choice of white, light grey or dark grey. All of which were pretty grim. It’s all very well having an improved Office suite but all the bells and whistles aren’t much use if you can’t use the programme without getting eye strain and a headache. Lots of complaints from users online about it and little or no response from Microsoft that I’m aware of.

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Or how about good old fashioned syncing between your phone and desktop? That’s still my most wanted inclusion. Remember the days (pre WP7) when you could connect your phone to your PC by a cable and ActiveSync or WMDC would launch and everything would sync. And before a raft of loungers point out that you can sync using Outlook Exchange let me point out that I’m not in a corporate environment. And, yes I have tried using the Windows Live workaround and that’s way too clunky.
Thanks everyone & happy lounging

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Hi,
Regarding: “Recently, Microsoft launched a new version of Acompli — rebranded as Outlook. It’s available for both iOS and Android, and it’s marvelous. I can now configure all my email accounts in a single mobile Outlook mobile app, under one inbox.”

What is your view on the concerns of this blogger?
https://blog.winkelmeyer.com/2015/01/warning-microsofts-outlook-app-for-ios-breaks-your-company-security/

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Or how about good old fashioned syncing between your phone and desktop? That’s still my most wanted inclusion.

To Tony Bradley-
A close correlation is I wish Outlook (2010 & earlier, didn’t like 2013 and decided to forego) would treat IMAP accounts like POP accounts and allow you to put everything in ONE .pst file. I can also easily put the POP file wherever I want on my system to better manage drive space and backups, but IMAP accounts are not easily moved.

Having said that- I don’t use a folder view. Rather I create shortcuts which I can name whatever I like (that is, something other than “Inbox”), and I use Rules to move messages upon receipt where I want them – within the .pst file where they are received (again, IMAP, Grrrr…).

To Cliveo-
I don’t like to store my messages in the cloud. I see way too many instances where “friends'” free accounts are hacked and MY email address mined by spammers. I like to keep my messages stored locally (yet another reason I don’t like IMAP). The last really good option in my opinion for synchronizing my non-message Outlook items between devices was Palm’s USB based Hotsync (R.I.P.) It was FAST and it was reliable and accurate. These days I use DejaOffice on my Android phone with CompanionLink Sync on my Windows PC. It is in my opinion a clunky alternative to Hotsyn, but I haven’t found anything better that doesn’t involve going through a cloud based service.

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To Cliveo-
I don’t like to store my messages in the cloud. I see way too many instances where “friends'” free accounts are hacked and MY email address mined by spammers. I like to keep my messages stored locally (yet another reason I don’t like IMAP). The last really good option in my opinion for synchronizing my non-message Outlook items between devices was Palm’s USB based Hotsync (R.I.P.) It was FAST and it was reliable and accurate. These days I use DejaOffice on my Android phone with CompanionLink Sync on my Windows PC. It is in my opinion a clunky alternative to Hotsyn, but I haven’t found anything better that doesn’t involve going through a cloud based service.

I’m like you and can’t stand IMAP or leaving my messages in the cloud. I’m a POP user, and will be until they force me to stop.
That being said, the only way I’ve found to keep my Gmail and Outlook in “Synch” without clunky 3rd party apps is to set my Outlook to Manual Send/receive, manage my email on my phone (Delete what I don’t want, leave what I do), then do a send and receive and let Outlook pull it down to my PST file. (Then delete that from my phone’s inbox.)

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One thing they really, really, need to fix is shared folders in Outlook. Let me explain – I have a number of Exchange accounts as I work for different organisations. Some of these have shared folders e.g. “support”. But these appear at the top level in Outlook, as do any PST files I keep locally for archiving email off.

There is no way (that I have found) to be able to tag or mark these – just making the account names a different colour would help. Bizarrely, if you drill down into the accounts when you want to move an email or folder, there are different icons for some folders showing different statuses. So in some rudimentary form, there is an ability to do something like this.

The latest Android email client uses the first letter of the mailbox name, but this is not very helpful because the left hand part of each email address is usually the same (Tony in my case).

The simple thing in my view would be to add an alias field – if empty, use the email address for the mailbox name, and if not, use the alias; and allow the name to be set to a different colour. This way the shared folders under an account can at least be given less prominence.

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I’m not clear about the problem with multiple accounts. I’ve been using Outlook (currently 2013) with a local .pst at my home office for the best part of 20 years, and (certainly for the last 10) it happily allows me to define multiple accounts (primary ISP, Google, MSN (that dates me!)) and they all appear in my Inbox. Is it just an issue for those using Exchange?

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Yes, Outlook 2013 allows multiple accounts. But many other email clients e.g. on Android phones, let you have a combined view i.e. a virtual inbox which is like the “unread email” in Outlook, but spans ALL your accounts, so instead of having to dig down separately into each account to see new emails, they are all in one folder. This is especially useful for people who work across several companies e.g. consultants, IT support etc. For these people it saves time, and time is money.

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Yes, Outlook 2013 allows multiple accounts. But many other email clients e.g. on Android phones, let you have a combined view i.e. a virtual inbox which is like the “unread email” in Outlook, but spans ALL your accounts, so instead of having to dig down separately into each account to see new emails, they are all in one folder. This is especially useful for people who work across several companies e.g. consultants, IT support etc. For these people it saves time, and time is money.

See, I find a unified mailbox confusing and a waste of time for the same reasons you find is useful. I prefer the separation, especially when it comes to mailboxes for the different companies I contract for.

Then again, I sort my M&M’s by color before I eat them!

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“A unified inbox is very nearly universal”…

Tony did not mention in the article whether he is using Microsoft exchange (OST) or a PST file. Like Tony, I rely almost exclusively on Outlook but I only have one “account” that has four separate email accounts feeding this one PST file. So unlike Tony, I only have one inbox in my left hand panel and messages from all four accounts feed this one inbox. The trick is when setting up a new email account, which Outlook allows many, is to specifiy to use the existing PST; otherwise, outlook will default to using a new PST file for each new email account which then will result in multiple inboxes on the left hand panel.

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Tony opened the door at the end of his article by saying that some users want to keep personal and business email separate. I’m a college instructor and I am definitely one of them. I recently added my work email to my android phone and was distressed to find the unified inbox. The previous time I did that, it was separate apps. So I removed it. Besides, having to change the email password in the phone frequently is a pain and if you let it go too long, the account gets locked for too many unsuccessful attempts. So, no, at this stage in my life, I do not want a unified inbox. But later I might, e.g. if I had more than one personal email account. So I would prefer the option to set it up either way.

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I understand your preference, Tony, but I respectfully disagree. I want separate Inboxes, and would not use an E-mail client that lumped them together.

The only way Microsoft can satisfy both you and me is to offer a unified single Inbox as an option, not as the only option. And I think a unified Inbox should not be the default setting, as it changes the way Outlook has worked until now.

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The ability to cc/bcc without attachments. So many scenarios where I need to send something to someone while letting someone else (that has no need or want for the attachment) know I sent it.

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Thanks for the opportunity to ask for features Tony. I would like to see Desktop Search back for Outlook. We lost desktop search when our company upgraded to Office 2013. How MS could remove something so useful is beyond me. Can they at least provide IT administrators the ability to enable it via group policy or similar?

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Synchronize Signatures across devices.

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I’m not clear about the problem with multiple accounts. I’ve been using Outlook (currently 2013) with a local .pst at my home office for the best part of 20 years, and (certainly for the last 10) it happily allows me to define multiple accounts (primary ISP, Google, MSN (that dates me!)) and they all appear in my Inbox. Is it just an issue for those using Exchange?

Likewise, I have many accounts, some hosted plus gmail and emails are directed into one inbox. Some people also want the inboxes separate, so they don’t have to remember which email address they are sending from!

I suspect the issue could be with IMAP as when I have set up an account using IMAP rather than POP, I have got separate inboxes.

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I’m not clear about the problem with multiple accounts. I’ve been using Outlook (currently 2013) with a local .pst at my home office for the best part of 20 years, and (certainly for the last 10) it happily allows me to define multiple accounts (primary ISP, Google, MSN (that dates me!)) and they all appear in my Inbox. Is it just an issue for those using Exchange?

I suspect you’re using POP, not IMAP. I was first mystified by this article, because I POP my mail too, but I don’t think it’s possible to switch the delivery folder for accounts set up with IMAP.

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As for my wish list for Outlook 2016, if they do put in a Unified mailbox, I wish for an option to TURN IT OFF. I’m in the camp that I like to keep my different mail accounts ISOLATED. I don’t want my work email mixed in with my personal email on my phone (We don’t use company provided phones). Like wise, I have multiple work accounts (My mailbox and a shared, helpdesk mailbox) that I have to keep separate.

In outlook, I keep it in folder view, on the left pane I see each mailbox to itself and that’s how I prefer it.

I find a unified mailbox confusing, messy and it generally causes me lost time.

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I don’t understand the unified inbox comment as I have been using Outlook for years with multiple inboxes and have all mail deposited into one mailbox via the e-mail tab on account settings! Am I misunderstanding your comment??

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Why o why is Outlook the only Windows application that does not have a CANCEL button option when you click on the X or to close the application? The only choice you have is to empty the Deleted items folder.

There are many times when that upper right X gets clicked on in error or you are typing in something & the program focus gets moved to Outlook and your keyboard sequence may just be what it takes to close the program.

That simple option has been missing from every version of Outlook. So much for having a consistant UI across the Office applications. That’s my only wish list item

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You can have a unified Outlook mailbox by using an existing Outlook Data file in the manual settings. I have 8 different varying email accounts all in one inbox.

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I manage a dozen e-mail accounts (Mostly POP3, several IMAP) in my Outlook 2010 with ease. Separate PST files for each account, and use Rules to move messages into an appropriate folder under a single “View” or apparent InBox

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I am a moderately effective user of Windows and Office and an iPhone 5. I am not in an office nor do I have any business functions ongoing. All I do is just plain communicate with friends and keep up-to-date via various newsletters. It is not possible to easily sync Outlook Contacts and Calendars with the iPhone. We have installed a DejaOffice app and in conjunction with Companion Suite, we can accomplish syncing. But this is external to the Contacts folder and Calendar on the iPhone. We just want an easy way to sync without becoming involved with iCloud (whose Outlook Control Panel takes over your Outlook which needs to left alone to sync with Android, etc.).

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Supposedly Office 365 and Office 2013 act the same, in Office 2013 all my accounts are saved to one inbox, you just have to change the folder where you want them saved. The default is separate folders.

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whilst I agree that it should not be necessary to have an add in NEO pro covers these problems see http://www.emailorganizer.com/ it works with Outlook 2010 and 2013

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I would like to be able to add formatting to the subject line. Seems like it would be a no-brainer. The Novell “Groupwise” mail platform had this feature over ten years ago!

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For years, now, folks have been pleading with M$ to stop using up so much screen real estate with meaningless duplication of information or empty space. On this topic alone, there are 22 pages of comment that go back to November 2012 at http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/office/forum/office_2013_release-outlook/remove-the-message-header-in-the-reading-pane/e3ce2ddf-6463-45ae-b8bb-ff8ff38aa2ff?page=22&msgId=35caceeb-d531-4c5c-a454-61351c9c5b10

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In spite of what you said about Outlook and a unified inbox, Outlook 2013 does display a single unified inbox for multiple different email accounts.

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“In my opinion, there’s one feature that absolutely must be included: a unified inbox for Outlook.”

Ah…

Are you using Outlook 2010 or higher?

I am fairly certain that you are saying that you want all your email to come to one outlook inbox folder right? because if you are then you are not setting up your outlook right.

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This is my Inbox. One Inbox. I have a few email accounts coming to this one inbox. Outlook 2013.

When you set up an account you have to tell it to direct the emails to the same outlook PST that you used for the previous one.

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This is what it looks like when you set it up right.

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This is where you “Unify” your emails. When you are adding a second+ account you need to tell it to go to the existing outlook PST file.

As far as what Outlook 2016 should be? It should stop making me have so many things to organize. I don’t need task, appointments, journal and notes.

Notes can be made in on an email by editing it, even the ones that come to me from someone else. Open an email and choose actions, edit message on the ribbon. Notes should be in OneNote. OneNote is a much better place to keep notes.

A Journal should be a windows function. It should keep track of what files I use when and journal them so I can easily see what I have been doing. And it should work with Outlook to also track my emails. Although that could be taken care of by Outlook in an entirely better way.

Any task I receive is usually also written about in an email from the one who wants me to do the task. I have a rule that always flags every incoming email. I have a search folder that looks for unread and flagged email. When I have read it Outlook automatically makes it unread. That means I have touched it. When I have completed the task the email asks of me I unflag it and it falls out of the search folder. I haven’t moved it or filed it. I don’t need to, it is no longer visible in my search folder, which is also my starting folder. However if I need to go back to an email I can use a search on 1 folder, my inbox, to find it again. This is my version of tasks in Outlook. If I need to delegate to someone or I am waiting on someone this is where my email system fails a bit because Microsoft is dumb and they made it so I have to create a second item to be able to do those things. I need to have that functionality on my email, not in a second item that I have to manage separately. Tasks double the workload necessary to do them.

I also don’t need Appointments. Tasks and Appointments are similar and they both start with emails anyways. An email needs the ability to be put on the calendar and tracked like an appointment is but it also should keep the chain of the conversation and show them, each email and reply on the calendar on the date and time they were received or sent. When a meeting is called it should be “inside” the email as part of the “properties” of the email and not ANOTHER item that I have to manage. Appointments cause a third thing I have to manage and something that doesn’t work the way that it should. Tracking “time” against a task or appointment to be able to report how long it took to do something cannot be done in Outlook. The way appointments work now triples the workload to do the thing that I was asked to do by an email and that the sender also created a task for and delegated to me.

Outlook segregates things that shouldn’t be separated. An email thread is always part of a process of doing something. Outlook needs a paradigm shift into something more manageable and efficient. Something that doesn’t triple the amount of things you need to do to stay organized and doing what is important. It needs to look at item handling differently.

Sorry for the novel, but I have both hated and relied on outlook for a long while and needed to put this out there to get it off my chest. /rant off…

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While I agree, WHITE is Terrible, BUT Only one IN-Box, is required, I accept mail from 9 different accounts, I reply only using my MAIN account, to anyone who deserves an answer (by request or requirement), but at that point it’s MY choice. and Office 365 Home is my Office of Choice (although my laptop 2010 Pro, This subject was an upgrade show stopper…). Low and behold, Office 365 supports the single mailbox, JUST NOT by default, as noted elsewhere. You need to “manually setup the accounts” 365 / 2013 defaults to imap and individual inBox’es… Again I’m ready to continue…

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A color scheme other than white, light grey or medium grey to include the backgrounds. These need to include pastel easy colors (for me shades of light blue). And for those who need it, light letters on dark backgrounds. My daughter gets headaches from bright or light backgrounds.

I find that for ease of visualizing what I see being able to put colors for Title bars, ribbons and the various sections of the application make it easier to find and focus on the email contents. Further when looking for the various areas to select that button I need, having them delineated out makes it much faster.

I will put my input for each mailbox needs its own content. If you want a combined view then go for that and create your own view in Outlook. I find combined views a problem. I also dislike “conversation” views and switch to them rarely when I have a huge thread that hasn’t gone to its own folder.

Then again I am a little OCD and tend to dislike any scheme that attempts to force me into a specific method.

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Additional format options would be nice such as being able to change items on the context-sensitive pop-up. Office 2010 had items that I used that disappeared in 2013 with no way to modify that I can find.

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