Microsoft new Outlook takes 10 seconds to do what Outlook Classic does instantly
Key takeaways
- Microsoft s Outlook for Windows has a notification problem that is hard to ignore.
- There is Outlook Classic, the long-running Win32 desktop app built for power users, and there is the new Outlook, which Microsoft is pushing as the future of email on Windows.
- Outlook has had a complicated reputation for years.
Microsoft s Outlook for Windows has a notification problem that is hard to ignore. Clicking a Windows 11 notification for a new email is supposed to take you straight to that message. Instead, the new Outlook makes you wait, and the numbers are embarrassing.
Windows 11 ships with two versions of Outlook. There is Outlook Classic, the long-running Win32 desktop app built for power users, and there is the new Outlook, which Microsoft is pushing as the future of email on Windows. The newer one is built on WebView2 and is, in essence, a browser window that loads Outlook.com. If you have ever used both side by side, you already know which one feels faster and which one does not.
Outlook has had a complicated reputation for years. The original Win32 app became infamous for being bloated and difficult to configure. Microsoft s answer was to ditch native code and rebuild from the web up. The result, called the new Outlook, replaced the lightweight UWP Mail and Calendar apps that some Windows users had grown used to. Windows Latest reported back in 2023 how users protested when Microsoft announced plans to retire those UWP apps in favor of a web wrapper. The company pushed ahead anyway, and by late 2024, the Mail and Calendar apps were officially shut down.