Outlook 2016 with dark theme reduces power consumption

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Outlook emails stuck outbox

Besides the revelations and announcements that took place at the Ignite press events, those who attended the event could hear some new details right from the project managers. One of the sessions dealt with the immediate and future changes that will be made to the Outlook series of products.

The Office 365 Outlook version for desktop lets you choose between various colors such as White, Black, Dark Grey and Colorful. The Black theme uses white text, obviously, while the rest of the themes are based on black text on a light background. If you don’t know what we’re talking about here, you might want to Google some screenshots to get familiar with it.

Outlook-2016-black-theme

Everybody knows that the number of UWP apps keeps growing. And as this happens, more and more developers started adding dark theme features in their products. Many people actually prefer to choose a dark theme, whether it is permanent or just temporary. There are three simple reasons as to why users go for darker themes:

  • It reduces power consumption. Light themes usually take up more power.
  • It is better for the eyes. White writing on a black screen can make you dizzy, while a darker background reduces the strain on your eyes.
  • It looks cool. Most people still use the light themes, so switching to a darker one will make you stand out of the crowd.

However, it still remains to be seen whether Microsoft will give in to the trend or even respond to the feedback offered by users. In the current black theme, if you check out the email preview mode you can see that it’s still white, which is a bit challenging for your eyes. However, it seems that the company has already fixed that, so we have to wait for other changes to soon come.

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