Microsoft comes to compete with Apple Mail

Mac M1 and M2 users will now be able to download Outlook for free from the App Store, without a Microsoft 365 subscription or license. With this operation, Microsoft is adding a new competitor to Apple’s Mail application and other services email available on Mac.

In its blog post, the firm emphasizes the possibility of integrating other messaging accounts into its application:

All Mac users can easily add Outlook.com, Gmail, iCloud, Yahoo! or IMAP in Outlook and enjoy the best email application […] One of Outlook’s strengths is to help you manage multiple accounts in a single application. We support most personal email providers.

An Outlook optimized for Mac

If the free Outlook on Mac is a novelty, the application was already on iOS. Microsoft therefore now fully integrates its email and calendar service into the Apple environment. For this, Outlook has been optimized for Apple Silicon processors, with advertised snappy performance and faster sync speeds than previous versions.

Users will be able to take advantage of native notifications on Mac and view their calendar using a widget. An overview of calendar events directly in the menu bar is also announced. In addition, the messaging will soon be able to be connected to the mode concentration (Or focus in English), the time manager offered by Apple, in order to avoid unwanted notifications over a defined time and to separate personal and professional emails.

Of course, Outlook data will be synced between iOS and macOS with the function Handoff. Users will be able to switch between devices seamlessly.