Outlook.com update brings a load of new features, including GIFs
Giphy may be the most exciting, but there are a lot of useful additions.
Microsoft teased a revamped version of Outlook.com last year, including a preview that began in May. Today, the company announced that the updated web-based email service is now open to all. In addition to a redesigned look, Outlook.com migrated over to the Office 365 platform. New users who sign up for the first time will be privy to the update immediately and existing users can expect the changes to roll out over the coming weeks.
By moving the web version over to Office 365, Microsoft allows you to do things like stay on top of that address book and automatically add flight info to calendars. Redmond also notes the move allows it to push updates and new features across all of its Outlook versions more efficiently. In terms of new features, Outlook.com will now allow you to both edit an Office document and respond to a related email message side-by-side at the same time. When you add new collaborators to the conversation, the app will ask if you want to send them any attachments that were previously included in the thread.
The biggest additions to this new version of Outlook.com are add-ins. With these extras, you can add a GIF from Giphy, search and share restaurant reviews/info from Yelp, manage your to-do list from Wunderlist and more. Yes, Giphy already plays nice with Gmail, so you don't have to be jealous anymore. If you've been keeping up, you know that Skype integration, @ mentions for adding people to conversations and Clutter's filtering know-how were all part of the preview version. Now, all of those items are ready for everyone to use on Outlook.com.
