Microsoft paralyzes Windows Mail and Calendar
In mid-July, Microsoft will begin to reduce the functions of Windows Mail and Calendar. Users should switch to the new Outlook.
(Image: dennizn / Shutterstock)
Microsoft has announced the roadmap for replacing the Windows Mail and calendar programs. These are to be replaced by the controversial new Outlook, a progressive web app that stores log-in data for IMAP accounts on Microsoft's servers as a matter of principle. Microsoft plans to make the old Windows programs unusable from mid-July.
(Image: Screenshot / dmk)
Over the weekend, the company posted an entry in the Microsoft 365 Admin Center stating that Outlook clients that are considered obsolete will be "retired" from mid-July. Users of outdated versions on Android, iOS, macOS and Windows as well as Windows Mail and Windows Calendar will be affected.
Remedy: Install new Outlook
In the details, Microsoft explains that organizations that use individual domains (so-called vanity domains) can expect limited functions in Outlook for Android before 4.2342, Outlook for iOS before 4.2411, Outlook for Mac before 16.73 as well as in Windows Mail and Calendar. As a countermeasure, the authors recommend that users switch to the new Outlook for Windows and the latest versions of Outlook for Android, iOS and Mac.
Microsoft does not specify exactly what the restrictions are in the overview. According to media reports, however, the ability to receive and send emails will be stalled. This means that old e-mails and entries can only be read. According to Microsoft's timetable, the mutilation of the software will start in mid-July and be completed by the end of September 2024.
The details come almost exactly one year after Microsoft announced the replacement of the Windows mail and calendar apps with the new Outlook. However, another Microsoft announcement, which was last updated three weeks ago, also names December 31 as the end of support for Windows Mail, Calendar and People, in contrast to the plans now published.
Old web browsers will be locked out
The entry in the Microsoft 365 Admin Center also describes that Outlook web access with outdated web browsers will display error messages instead of the desired web interface from mid-August. This affects Internet Explorer, Microsoft Edge Legacy, Microsoft Edge up to and including version 79, Google Chrome up to and including version 79, Safari up to and including version 13.1, Mozilla Firefox up to and including version 78 and Opera up to and including version 76. The activation of the warnings is also to be distributed step by step and will start in mid-August. Microsoft plans to complete this at the end of October 2024.
Around three weeks ago, Microsoft announced plans to make it more difficult to return to classic Outlook after testing the new Outlook. While the test can be triggered with a button in the title bar of the software, the function disappears in the new Outlook and can then be found again in the software menus.
(dmk)