Will we ever see Outlook on the RT?

[csiguy1]

Will we ever see Outlook on the RT?

 

[stephen_az]

Probably not. Leaving aside the fact that they are intentionally distinguishing Pro from RT consumer tablets, last I checked there were bona fide technical reasons why it is not available. When Outlook is running, even in the background, it is always on and always draining the battery and when the device is asleep it does not have the capability just run a minimal function to collect email. Essentially, it is either on or off and nothing in between. It doesn't have anything akin to a connected standby function and still shows its heritage as an actual office based program. On that front, it is about classic an x86 desktop application and you can find. As far as I read in the past, it was decided pretty early on that it is not really an ARM friendly application.

My bet is that unless they decide to completely redesign it from the ground up, which runs the risk of alienating part of the corporate sector, it is not going to happen. Even if they did decide to pursue, it also would probably not be until the next major release. Keep in mind it took a complete release cycle to get the "Outlook Connector" add on incorporated as a native Outlook function and that was already half there to start. Outlook has always been the most conservative of the Office applications in terms of redesign and it is probably not going to change.

 

[NickA]

Outlook RT may be a possibility:

Microsoft said to be testing an Outlook client for Windows RT | ZDNet

What I don't get is why they would not give this to RT devices if it's available. I get what @stephen_az said above, but it appears that RT has all this functionality but it's not being put to use. Doesn't make sense to me. Why cripple a device instead of unleashing it's full potential?

At any rate, maybe they will call it something else and replace the existing stock Mail app. But at this point no one is even sure if Outlook RT is a Modern or Desktop app.

 

[inteller]

All Office apps are being converted to Windows 8 UI versions so eventually it will be there, you'll just have to pay dearly for it. The only way we may luck out is if the next version of Office is included in a Surface OS upgrade, say at Windows 9 or something.

 

[Laura Knotek]

All Office apps are being converted to Windows 8 UI versions so eventually it will be there, you'll just have to pay dearly for it. The only way we may luck out is if the next version of Office is included in a Surface OS upgrade, say at Windows 9 or something.

I doubt if Microsoft will give away Outlook or anything else found in Office versions other than Home & Student.

 

[inteller]

that's nice.

 

[slowboy920]

There's an article that Microsoft is testing Outlook on Surface RT

 

[RTGent]

I absolutely need it on my WP phones as well. I've been patient, still carrying a laptop, in large part because of this. I may have to move back to BB to get Outlook syncing, which is pathetic.

 

[NickA]

I absolutely need it on my WP phones as well. I've been patient, still carrying a laptop, in large part because of this. I may have to move back to BB to get Outlook syncing, which is pathetic.

I'm going to try out BB 10 regardless. Looks pretty awesome from what I see so far.

 

[rdubmu]

I absolutely need it on my WP phones as well. I've been patient, still carrying a laptop, in large part because of this. I may have to move back to BB to get Outlook syncing, which is pathetic.

set up an exchange account
Sent from my RM-820_nam_att_100 using Board Express

 

[johninsj]

I absolutely need it on my WP phones as well. I've been patient, still carrying a laptop, in large part because of this. I may have to move back to BB to get Outlook syncing, which is pathetic.

I don't get this comment. WP8 connects with exchange. As does the Store mail client, or if you want a fuller exchange experience OWA in the browser on RT works well.

Or did you mean you want to go back to the days when you synced email downloaded to one outlook PST file to another device? Yeah, those were the days.

 

[RTGent]

I'm going to try out BB 10 regardless. Looks pretty awesome from what I see so far.

I agree, but I'll continue to hold out some, because I do enjoy the integration I have with my phones, computers, Zune HDs, and Skydrive. But if BB10 is made available to my Playbook 64, and it is Microsoft-friendly, this may tilt my position. In any event, I will need a compelling tablet solution to bridge, and -between you and I- the downside to BB is that SAR ratings for BB phones have been too high for me. Ultimately, the Surface design is my current all-time favorite, ranking just ahead of my Zune HDs and DBest bluetooth speakers.

 

[johninsj]

There's an article that Microsoft is testing Outlook on Surface RT

Yep, that rumor by Mary Jo Foley is interesting.

It would be trivial to recompile outlook for arm (that's the "port") but making it a good touch experience might not be as simple as recompiling it. Still, a lot of enterprise types would love to see it happen.

 

[RTGent]

I don't get this comment. WP8 connects with exchange. As does the Store mail client, or if you want a fuller exchange experience OWA in the browser on RT works well.

Or did you mean you want to go back to the days when you synced email downloaded to one outlook PST file to another device? Yeah, those were the days.

Yes, I don't use/have Exchange, and "those days" for me means 2011, when I moved to WP7. I'd welcome leads on a non-exchange Outlook-sync solution for WP 7 or 8 -and I don't mean outlook.com .

 

[johninsj]

Yes, I don't use/have Exchange, and "those days" for me means 2011, when I moved to WP7. I'd welcome leads on a non-exchange Outlook-sync solution for WP 7 or 8 -and I don't mean outlook.com .

Why are you downloading mail from a centralized server and then syncing it to multiple devices? It's already in a central location (your mail server...)

 

[RTGent]

Because I don't want my mail and responses to reside on Comcast or anyone's server. Prior to 2011, all my Comcast mail resided only on my computers and devices -I did not leave copies on the server. I have been self-employed and managed my own security for many years. My Toshiba Portege is still my primary mobile communicator ; my phone is for personal (hot)mail only --and I will now stop my hijacking of this thread which is specifically on our RTs.

 

[realwarder]

If they added it, it would be another reason for corporate users to buy RT. Currently this is considered a show stopper to some.

And that's a bunch of people who might otherwise be using an iPad who might have a good reason to get a Surface (over the fact it already has Word/Excel)

 

[Laura Knotek]

If they added it, it would be another reason for corporate users to buy RT. Currently this is considered a show stopper to some.

And that's a bunch of people who might otherwise be using an iPad who might have a good reason to get a Surface (over the fact it already has Word/Excel)

Surface Pro is aimed toward corporate users.

 

[kashk5]

To be honest, I'd really prefer Microsoft add some basic features to the stock Mail app. Just give it feature parity with the Windows Phone mail app and I'd be happy. I personally have no problem with the stock Calendar app and I don't need all the fancy features that Outlook offers (at least not on a tablet, that's for my desktop and work computer).

 

[realwarder]

Surface Pro is aimed toward corporate users.

If it was, the battery life would be more than 4 hours.