Microsoft Outlook is receiving a revamped calendar view, the first major change to the tool since the integration of Sunrise and Wunderlist, starting with the Web client. The new Outlook calendar look comes with a Board view that looks quite similar to the popular workflow management tool Trello. It lets you organise multiple calendars, tasks, goals, notes, links, reminders, and more. Alongside, Microsoft has also made it easier for you to schedule meetings with the help of its scheduling assistant on Outlook for Android and iOS.
Announcing the new Board calendar view in Microsoft Outlook for the Web, Gabriel Valdez, Product Marketing Manager for Microsoft Outlook, said in a blog post, “On average, people use 6 tools to track all the things they need to get done. That is a lot of context switching, back and forth, and maybe even double tracking. Clearly, you live your life beyond the grid of your traditional calendar – Those 30-minute slots are not enough for everything you need to do, track, or achieve. There must be a better way to manage your most important and urgent things in one place, for you to organise it the way you want, in an easy to use, visual way.”
The new Outlook calendar Board view, which aims to give users a Kanban-style “free form, ever-expanding board”, will help declutter your calendar and reduce the time and effort in switching between apps. The new Outlook calendar Board view helps you add new information cards to ease organising meetings and your calendar. Files, notes, goals and reminder cards can be set according to the time and date of your choice. It will keep expanding the calendar as and when you need, centralising everything to keep your calendar clean and updated.
Shifting to Board view is simple in Outlook’s calendar
Photo Credit: Microsoft
As mentioned, the Board view calendar update will first be available for Microsoft Outlook for the Web, while commercial and educational users will get the feature eventually. There is no indication as to when the Board view will arrive on the Outlook app for Windows or Mac, or make its way to the mobile apps.
Another major update that Microsoft has planned for Outlook is its capability to assist in scheduling meetings on the mobile app for Android and iOS. From this month, once you Outlook schedule a meeting with an indicated duration and time frame, the app will suggest times to reduce conflict. “If Outlook can’t find a slot that works for everyone it will suggest times where your attendees are free, and you may be able to move or skip another event to accommodate. If you decide to schedule the meeting over another commitment, Outlook will then assist you with rescheduling your conflict,” the blog post adds.
The new Outlook for Android and iOS Scheduling Assistant feature will be available for all commercial and educational users starting the end of March.
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