Some Initial Impressions of Outlook 2013 Consumer Preview

And in a few minutes, you are greeted with the email home page.  It will look very familiar to users of Outlook 2010, minus the Aero look and feel.

Setting up additional accounts is easy: click on File and then Add Account, and fill out the information in the installer screens.  If the automatic installation fails, you’ll need to specify settings manually, just like in Outlook 2010.

Here is the Calendar view.

Overall Impressions

This version of Outlook is fast and responsive.  It does everything that I expect Outlook to do, and does it quickly.  Sometimes, Outlook 2010 bogs down in Windows 7.  I have been impressed with the speed and responsiveness of Outlook 2013 in Windows 8.

However, I do miss the Aero look and feel.  The new Office apps look a bit washed out and boring compared to their older versions.  I guess that I’ll have to adjust to the new styling, and I’m sure that I’ll get used to it, but still I prefer the appearance of the older Outlook version.

In addition, I was surprised to see that Outlook can’t update a live tile on the Metro desktop.  I have come to depend on the Mail app’s live tile update and will miss that if I primarily use Outlook 2013 in Windows 8.  I  know that legacy apps can’t update live tiles, but I don’t like it!

Honestly, bouncing back and forth between the Metro and Legacy desktops is distracting.  In fact, it was downright jarring when I first loaded up Windows 8.  It is something that you adjust to fairly quickly, but you will have a period of adjustment to your workflow.  Non-technical users will require some handholding.

Overall, the functionality that I depend on in Outlook is here, and it is fast.  I think I can get used to the new look and feel and look forward to using Outlook 2013 in Windows 8 for a long time to come!