Microsoft clearly wants Windows 8 users to know the Mail app that"s included with Windows 8.1 will be a huge improvement over the current version. Microsoft has offered some information on the new Mail app in the past few months, and today the Windows Experience blog offers up some additional info on how the app will work with an Outlook.com account.
The blog states that 68 percent of Outlook.com users access their email on a mobile device and that more people have been using Outlook.com in that fashion than from accessing it from a web browser. Because of the substantial mobile usage, the Mail app in Windows 8.1 has been optimized for touchscreen use. Microsoft states:
There are easier ways to select one or more messages by using checkboxes in the message list. You can also drag-and-drop messages into folders—one of the most common requests we’ve had from consumers. You’ll also notice that the app bar now has a visible preview, which makes it easier to access with either mouse or touch. And the app bar is now organized more logically so you can more quickly access new features.
The app has also been designed to make it easy to switch from work email accounts to personal email messages. The new mail app allows users to change the return address of an email if a previous message was sent to the wrong email account (and we have all done that at one time or another).
The Mail app in Windows 8.1 is supposed to figure out which email accounts you communicate with the most, placing those accounts in the "Favorites" menu, as shown above. It"s supposed to adapt over time so people who are labeled as Favorites now might disappear if you don"t email them as much as time goes on.
The app will also incorporate many of the features in Outlook.com including moving newsletters and social networking update messages to their own separate folders. Again, the new Mail app will be included when the final version of Windows 8.1 is released on Oct. 18.
Source: Microsoft | Image via Microsoft