Microsoft Announces Outlook for Mac is Now Free to Use

[eltoslightfoot]

As an update to this, even though I have Office365, I just switched to using Thunderbird on Windows 11.

For work, of course, I am forced to use Outlook with Exchange. But that is on them LOL.

 

[dburkhanaev]

What makes you say that it is not a React Native app? It’s definitely different than the outlook.com web site though there is a family resemblance.

I said it’s not a progressive web app. It’s made with React Native. That’s not the same tech that makes PWAs work.

But React Native isn’t a native application either. It has a native bridge that has API hooks in the OS for things like notifications, file handling, etc.

It’s certainly Outlook.com. The MacOS version has a more vivid color pallet and doesn’t allow the juvenile version of the expanded ribbon. But if you go to live.outlook.com or mail.office365.com and turn off the ribbon, you’ll see it.

There are more non-web interface assets in the Mac version as well. That could be down to the understanding that Mac users might be inclined to mail their vomit in bags, back to Redmond if they went all in like they are doing for Windows users.

But make no bones about it. This is web masquerading as real software so that Microsoft can save time with development and deployment. All while charging you the same licensing fee for the all new “hot garbage “.

 

[dburkhanaev]

I can see how maybe they would want that e-mail content to train their junk mail filters, and why they are asking for permission to use that. What I'm less clear about is whether we're giving Microsoft permission to download and access ALL of our e-mails, simply by using Outlook. I would tend to think not, since that's a heckuva lot of data to store for every single user of Outlook out there. Still, I wouldn't put it past them. Data harvesting to improve system and software functionality is a real sore spot these days. I realize that it has to be done automatically and algorithmically by necessity, but it still pays to read the fine print (which I, like many people, seldom find the time to do when it comes to software).

I could be wrong but it also might be related to the fact that because New Outlook isn’t a real client, it has to pull down the data from your third party email providers and then process it and display it in the app.

The same way that webmail does. Not the way a client does where you enter the server, username, password, etc and the client fetches or pushes the date. But where you provide the info and Microsoft’s server goes and pulls the data to populate into the app. I might be wrong. But it’s just a hunch I have.

I’m also sure it has to do with them wanting to mine your data for their profit and to use with their upcoming integrated AI “copilot”. They will need to profile you somehow so when you ask copilot to email someone and it happens in your “voice”, the model has to come from somewhere.

 

[eltoslightfoot]

I could be wrong but it also might be related to the fact that because New Outlook isn’t a real client, it has to pull down the data from your third party email providers and then process it and display it in the app.

The same way that webmail does. Not the way a client does where you enter the server, username, password, etc and the client fetches or pushes the date. But where you provide the info and Microsoft’s server goes and pulls the data to populate into the app. I might be wrong. But it’s just a hunch I have.

I’m also sure it has to do with them wanting to mine your data for their profit and to use with their upcoming integrated AI “copilot”. They will need to profile you somehow so when you ask copilot to email someone and it happens in your “voice”, the model has to come from somewhere.

This sounds right to me. And why I am avoiding Outlook like the plague--even though I pay for Office 365.

 

[dburkhanaev]

This sounds right to me. And why I am avoiding Outlook like the plague--even though I pay for Office 365.

You can still access the native Outlook client for now. I still use it. I will not use New Outlook even if they paid me to.