Microsoft no longer requires a subscription fee to use Outlook for Mac, which features a streamlined design introduced in 2020.
Last Tuesday, Microsoft did something kind of amazing. It made its Outlook email app for Apple’s Mac computers free. Yes, there are some caveats, but for the most part, this is a fully functional email client and one of the best you can use on a Mac.
Of course, there are going to be hardcore Mac partisans who are going to think the previous sentence is ludicrous, maybe even heretical. When I posted with glee about Microsoft’s move on various social media channels, I was met with predictable derision. One example:
“I don’t know any Mac user who WANTS to use Outlook,” huffed one follower on Mastodon. “Not a single one.”
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“You do now,” I replied.
Several lectured me on the awfulness of Outlook for Mac’s design, though when queried they admitted they’d not used it in a while (it had a streamlining redo in 2020). Others insisted that, just because it’s from Microsoft, it can’t be good.
Sigh.
While I’m a happy dweller in Apple’s ecosystem, I’m also a cross-platform kinda guy, and willing to consider different software from different sources — including Microsoft — for use on my Macs, iPhone and iPad. I’m always looking for the right tool for the job, and I don’t have much patience for knee-jerk haters.
I’ve been missing Outlook since I retired for the second time from a corporate journalism job and lost my access to Microsoft’s Office productivity suite. As a newbie freelancer, I wasn’t interested in buying a subscription to Microsoft 365, the productivity software service previously known as Office 365.
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Yeah, you can buy standalone copies of Office apps that don’t require a subscription, but they’re pricey (and the cheap “lifetime” Office deals you see offered on some tech sites are sketchy at best, according to Windows expert Ed Bott).
I’ve been using a free email app called Spark and have been very happy with it. I gave a harsh review to version 3 in October (see houstonchronicle.com/spark3), but fortunately version 2 is still around and getting regular updates. And while it’s Outlook-ish, it’s not Outlook.
Die-hard Apple fans may ask: What’s wrong with Apple’s own Mail app on macOS?
Reader, let me count the ways.
Those who complain about Outlook’s interface should take a good look at the Mail app’s design, which is fussy and busy. Its filters routinely misidentify good email as spam. It can bog down under a heavy load, and its mail database can be fragile. I could go on, but my space and your time are limited.
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As I mentioned, the Mac version of Outlook got a facelift three years ago. Gone was the classic ribbon, complete with its notoriously cluttered design, replaced with a simplified layout that put the most-used features front-and-center.
However, not all of Outlook’s business-focused features were available in the reworking, so for a while Mac users could quickly toggle between the new look and the old. But last year Microsoft locked in the redesign as Outlook’s default, though the old version was still there for the change-averse.
But that’s no longer the case in the free Outlook for Mac. When you install it, you get the simpler interface, and that’s it. You can bring back the classic design via commands in the Mac Terminal app, but the legacy layout requires a Microsoft 365 subscription, so it’s not free.
As always, Outlook integrates contacts, calendar and mail. It will work with multiple email services, including Microsoft 365, Outlook.com, Gmail, iCloud and Yahoo, as well as any service that uses IMAP or POP accounts. I’ve got a dozen email addresses, and so far Outlook for Mac is handling them quite nicely.
The simplified layout puts the actions you’re most apt to use along the top of the app — Delete, Archive, Report (spam), Move, Flag, Mark unread — and you can customize this toolbar with many more. You can use a unified inbox for all your accounts, or set up separate inboxes in Favorites.
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You’ve also got control over whether the headers column and the associated reading pane are stacked vertically or horizontally. And there’s an optional My Day sidebar that slides open to show your appointments at a glance.
There are some things Mac users will need to keep in mind. Not every menu and keyboard command follows strict macOS conventions. If you’re expecting a Microsoft clone of Mail, this is not it.
In addition, for some email services — most notably Gmail — Outlook for Mac offers fast syncing, so what you do on your phone or other email clients is reflected almost immediately here. To do that, Microsoft syncs through its own servers, so if you’re uncomfortable with that, Outlook may not be for you. But Microsoft handles a lot of email services and accounts, and this is a routine approach.
One other thing to note: This free version of Outlook is ad-supported. A Microsoft spokesperson said ads appear in the inbox, but so far I have not seen any. If they’re not intrusive, I can live with that. We’ll see how this plays out.
Finally, be aware that the Outlook for Mac you see today is not necessarily the Outlook for Mac you’ll see in the future. Microsoft says it is working on yet another overhaul of this app, as well as a redesign of the Windows version — and the two will not look the same. The company also is expected to incorporate ChatGPT, the artificial intelligence-based chatbot, into all its products, and Outlook for Mac will likely be among them.
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The free version of Outlook for Mac can be downloaded from the Mac App Store and runs on macOS 11.0 (Big Sur) or later. It works on either Intel- or Apple Silicon-based Macs.
I’ll continue using Outlook for Mac, and at this point it looks like it will replace Spark. If so, it will be the second Microsoft title that I use for a major app on my Mac. The other is Edge, Microsoft’s browser based on the same Chromium platform as Google’s Chrome. As I’ve written in the past, I love it for its vertical tabs, which is a blessing for those of us with dozens of web pages open at any given time.
Who’s afraid of Microsoft on Mac? Not me, and neither should you.
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mastodon.com/@dsilverman
Dwight Silverman worked for the Houston Chronicle in a variety of roles for more than 30 years, serving as a technology reporter and columnist; manager of HoustonChronicle.com; social media manager; online news editor; and assistant State Desk Editor.
He has returned as a freelancer to continue his long-running technology column. You can email him at [email protected] and follow him on Mastodon at mastodon.social/@dsilverman.
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