Switching to Office 365's Outlook Web App

As part of an IT roll-out in the office the entire PC Pro team was moved over to Office 365 last week. For the most part it meant no change at all. After a quick call to IT the morning after the transition to get some some account details adjusted (I’d had no email since 9pm the previous day), I was able to carry on working, using my standard desktop installation of Office 2010, including Outlook, just as normal.

That’s no surprise. After all, Office 365 principally represents a change in the way businesses purchase and manage licenses for Microsoft Office software. From a user perspective, the desktop software - Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook - stays the same.

However, we have received one major upgrade - from our old, clunky webmail service to the swanky new Outlook Web App - and it could be about to change the way I work.

Now, when I log into the Dennis Publishing webmail address, I’m faced with an interface that actually looks like a proper email client, not the abomination of an interface that adorned the webmail before.

The layout is modern and fresh, but most importantly the web interface is quick – blindingly so – with keyword searches completed in a blink of an eye, faster even than my desktop Outlook client can manage.

Now I realise this may have as much to do with the way our Exchange servers were set up (and possibly because my desktop PC is running on steam) as the native speed of the Web App, but it's been a revelation, and has persuaded me to carry out an experiment.

I’m going to try and use the Outlook Web App - and only the Outlook Web App - to see if it’s a workable alternative in a busy office environment.

The first few days

So far, I’ve been using it exclusively since Friday and I’m glad to report I have few complaints. I no longer have to wait an age as Outlook slowly rouses itself out of its morning stupor. Once Chrome is launched, the Web App takes less than three seconds to appear, so I can get to work straight away.

And I’ve come across very little that I can’t do in this version of Outlook. I can see all my folders, set up meetings and see others’ free time while doing so. I can set up tasks and assign them to members of my team. I can filter search results by category and attachment.

I’m also a real fan of the way the Outlook Web App displays conversations as an expandable list in both the message list and reading pane. This can be switched off, and doing so reveals another plus: the Outlook Web App’s settings and features feel much more accessible and easier to find than on the complex and intimidating desktop app.

Flies in the ointment

There are some annoyances, though, and the main one is a lack of pop-up notifications, although since I have the interface displayed permanently on my second monitor, that’s not the issue it could be.

Another is that I can’t display all I want on the screen. I normally have a to-do list displayed in a narrow pane on the right hand side; the Outlook Web App is restricted to email or calendar or contacts or tasks, not a combination of two or more. I’m not a huge fan of the way some keyboard shortcuts I’m used to work – CTRL-R – while others do not – CTRL-N.

However, these for me are minor irritations, and I say that because I haven’t yet been tempted back to the desktop client. Time may change my opinion, of course – what seem now like quirks may turn into full-blown pet hates – but for now I’m happy with this brave new world.