Microsoft is preparing to discontinue support for the Windows Mail, Calendar, and People apps later this year. Over the past few months, the company has been transitioning users of these apps to the new Outlook for Windows app, and it has now officially set December 31st as the end of support date for Mail, Calendar, and People.
Once support ends, Microsoft has cautioned that users who have not switched to the new Outlook app will no longer be able to send or receive emails using the legacy Mail and Calendar apps.
The Outlook for Windows app has been gradually rolled out over the years, with its general availability phase beginning in August. This web-based version of Outlook is part of Microsoft’s broader plan to eventually replace the traditional desktop version of Outlook. To ease the transition, Microsoft intends to notify enterprise customers a full year in advance before migrating them away from the desktop version.
For now, existing installations of Outlook via perpetual or subscription licenses will continue to be supported until at least 2029. This means Microsoft will take time to fully transition all Outlook users to the new app, starting with the Mail and Calendar apps for Windows later this year. The company will then move to a phase where users can opt-out of the traditional Outlook for Windows version. You can find more details about the timeline for these changes on Microsoft’s official website.
In a separate news segment, Nilay and David discussed the latest in gadget news, reflecting on their predictions for last week’s Tesla event, which didn’t go as expected for anyone. They also covered some exciting new products, including the updated iPad Mini, the Sonos Ace Ultra soundbar, and the Analogue N64 emulator. Additionally, Amazon’s Panos Panay joined the conversation to share insights about the new Kindle releases and to discuss the future of e-readers. In the closing segment, Nilay and David breezed through a lightning round, touching on various updates from Google and a bit of political news surrounding Donald Trump.