The updated version of Office 2013 includes some major interface tweaks, but also removes some existing options from the venerable email platform. Which features are being eliminated?
A post on the Outlook.com blog outlines the changes that Outlook 2013 will incorporate. The most striking? Outlook emails will no longer show up as part of the default set of search results when you search your computer from the Start menu or when using Windows Explorer. I find this a welcome improvement myself — when I use search in Windows, it’s for files, not messages — and it’s in line with the Windows 8 search philosophy of sorting searches via individual apps rather than bundling them into a large unsorted group.
Outlook is also removing the option to set specific VPN and dialup settings purely for Outlook; you’ll now need to do this in general Windows settings. That’s actually a welcome improvement. Way back in the pre-broadband era, I remember spending ages troubleshooting why my dial-up connection kept failing, eventually discovering that Outlook has automatically enabled an option to hang up after syncing mail.
Another notable change is a reduction in the number of formats you can import and export in Outlook 2013: only PST and CSV files are supported, with ACT! and Outlook Express among the options getting the boot. Additional changes include changes to how offline mode works, the removal of the Contact Activities tab and dropping the option to automatically publish calendars to Office.com.
The official general release of Outlook 2013 (and other Office 2013 components) is expected early in 2013, though Microsoft hasn’t set a specific date yet.
Think these changes make sense? Going to miss one of these features? Tell us in the comments.
Outlook 2013 deprecated features and components [Outlook Blog]
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