Despite a 2025 retirement, Classic Outlook is getting this amazing new feature

While classic Outlook is set to be retired permanently sometime around 2025, according to Microsoft managers, the platform is still receiving new updates now and then.

Recently, the Redmond-based tech giant announced Copilot will be coming to classic Outlook, and the users of this version of the platform will get to enjoy some useful AI capabilities.

But this is not all, though. According to the Microsoft 365 Roadmap, classic Outlook is set to get the new OneDrive integration, already announced for the new Outlook, as well. The integration will be released in a preview which is going to be available in February 2024.

Then, a month later, in March 2024, all classic Outlook users will be able to quickly and easily access OneDrive on the emailing platform.

For those of you who don’t know, the integration is quite useful. Microsoft says Outlook users will be able to access OneDrive on Outlook on the same page, without having to leave Outlook, at all. The integration is especially useful for those who work with a lot of data, emails, and documents, as it will greatly improve workflow all around.

Which makes us wonder: is Microsoft intending to end classic Outlook?

Will Classic Outlook for Windows be deprecated?

Why are we asking this? Well, because Microsoft doesn’t seem too keen on stopping when it comes to adding new features to the classic version of the Outlook platform.

Classic Outlook is getting Copilot, and with it, AI capabilities, such as summarization and editing. The platform is also getting a new feature, called conditional formatting, this month, and back in 2023, it also got a video streaming capability that allowed users to stream videos directly in the email.

All of these features, and the ones to come, because there will be new features added to classic Outlook make us wonder if Microsoft is truly intending to deprecate this version of the app.

The features will need constant updating, and maintenance, in case of any bugs, so it’s not going to be easy for the Redmond-based tech giant to maintain two versions of the same platform.

While we don’t know the exact number of users, it was reported that back in 2019, Outlook had over 400 million users and that number increased in the following years, so most likely Outlook has over half a billion users now.

Only Outlook Lite, the light version of the Outlook for Mobile app, surpassed 5 million users back at the end of 2023, so it’s safe to say Outlook is quite popular.

Microsoft might change the trajectory of the classic Outlook. For example, due to a high number of Windows 10 users, Microsoft will extend its end-of-support deadline by 3 years, for a price, with a yearly subscription. This way, users will be able to enjoy Windows 10 until 2028.

Classic Outlook could get the same treatment.

What do you think?