Microsoft Making Outlook.Com Prettier and More Useful

CommanderFrank

CommanderFrank

Cat Can't Scratch It
Joined
May 9, 2000
Messages
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If you use and like Microsoft Outlook, but feel it could use a bit of sprucing up and modernization? Microsoft has heard your feedback and has updated and upgraded Outlook.com to be more functional and pleasing to the eye. :cool:

We are pleased to announce an update to Outlook.com that lets you make the most of the moments that matter to you -- featuring a refined inbox, new ways to collaborate, an upgraded calendar and much more.
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Maybe one day it won't say live.com and theyll actually use outlook . com. That'd be a good start
 
I prefer Outlook.com to Gmail... unfortunately everything I have is intertwined with Google.
 
Sigh..sometimes I really regret clicking on these articles.

I am a hardcore Gmail user, as many people are, but I am not necessarily happy about it. Why? Google's Gmail.com user interface is horrid. Sure, it is functional, but it is outdated and hardly pleasing for the eyes. It is baffling as to why Google does not update such a popular service.
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Something tells me that your definition of "hardcore" and actual hardcore users definition of it are quite different pal. The only ones I see complaining about the gmail interface not being "pleasing to the eyes" are chicks who can barely turn the damn computer on. Actually I was rather surprised this entire article was written by a guy.

On to the outlook update..

Oh Look, it appears to be designed by the same chodes who are ate up with that horrible flat ui design that plagues win 8+. Obviously "beauty is in the eye of the beholder". I love outlook, but that just looks plain trashy. That was the kind of interfaces I was designing when I was learning how to design UI and wasn't skilled enough to make it actually look good. Apparently that's what is getting hired these days. :(
 
changine to outlook.com was the stupidest idea ever as all it lead to was consufed customers who was looking for hotmail
 
Looks a bit better. Looks like MS might be toning down the horrible tablet "I can't tell where the hell this button starts/end" look. First time I tried the new Outlook I couldn't figure out where to type in an email address to send to. It was all mushed onto one white blob of screen space. I had to click around for ~10-15 seconds just to find where the hell I could type.

I know they won't back track complete, but I do hope the trend reverse somewhat so we can get semi-usable UIs again.
 
I got forced into it as an involuntary beta tester and pulled it out and got a copy of the old one. Sucks, I have multiple mail boxes to manage: mine, a relative's, an account that I use when I know I'll be spammed. It wants to unify all the Inboxes an present them as one by default. I have not idea which email is for which account and all the spam is there too.

You can select an individual account but it default to 'all' upon just about any action.
 
"updated" and "upgraded" = less user friendly and contains less functionality
 
Thank you for the heads up. Looks good to me and is heads and tails better the GMail. Heck, the only reason I even have any google account at all is I recently wanted to thank one of the video producers I view personally. Otherwise, I do not use the google account at all.
 
DPI said:
Maybe one day it won't say live.com and theyll actually use outlook . com. That'd be a good start
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It says Outlook.com right in the top of the Window. So it does not say it in the address bar once you log in, big deal. Is that the best you can do? :D
 
Dekoth-E- said:
Sigh..sometimes I really regret clicking on these articles.



Something tells me that your definition of "hardcore" and actual hardcore users definition of it are quite different pal. The only ones I see complaining about the gmail interface not being "pleasing to the eyes" are chicks who can barely turn the damn computer on. Actually I was rather surprised this entire article was written by a guy.

On to the outlook update..

Oh Look, it appears to be designed by the same chodes who are ate up with that horrible flat ui design that plagues win 8+. Obviously "beauty is in the eye of the beholder". I love outlook, but that just looks plain trashy. That was the kind of interfaces I was designing when I was learning how to design UI and wasn't skilled enough to make it actually look good. Apparently that's what is getting hired these days. :(
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Then you must have a very limited number you know who uses GMail. I have found that when they made the changes to the interface, no one spoke well of it. The Outlook.com website is very basic right now which is fine since it does the job well.

However, having it be improved is a good thing. So, have any evidence of your great website designs? :D
 
ManofGod said:
Then you must have a very limited number you know who uses GMail. I have found that when they made the changes to the interface, no one spoke well of it. The Outlook.com website is very basic right now which is fine since it does the job well.

However, having it be improved is a good thing. So, have any evidence of your great website designs? :D
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If hundreds and all of them being people at various levels in IT is limited, then sure. However I specifically targeted the "pleasing to the eye" comment. Many if not most of us have a laundry list of problems with Gmail as google has "improved" it. None of them is "well it isn't visually pleasing". Try and deflect all you want but the "Flat UI" design style is flat out amateurish. It's exactly what websites looked like in the 90's except with a small amount more color. It is an absolutely lazy design because it is nothing more than the default UI with a color map.
 
Dekoth-E- said:
Try and deflect all you want but the "Flat UI" design style is flat out amateurish. It's exactly what websites looked like in the 90's except with a small amount more color. It is an absolutely lazy design because it is nothing more than the default UI with a color map.
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There was a thread on this forum a few weeks back I think that was about web sites on the 90's and these sites to me look nothing like modern design sites. While some will call minimalistic design "lazy" I do think that the principals behind the concept make a lot of sense. Why add lots of ornamentation to something to simply make it "look good"? That's not to say that looking good isn't important but it's also something that people will have varying opinions about.

Web sites are generally about content and focus on content should be the priority, not adornments. The more something focuses on content, i.e. images and text, the easier it is to use that content across multiple devices and screen sizes and that's a much more important consideration today than in the 90s.
 
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