New Outlook.com Out of Preview With App Integration, More

Microsoft has spent much of the a year ago updating Outlook.com into a better Gmail competitor, but much of those features have only been available for users who’ve signed up for preview access.

Microsoft is now testing a premium version of its Outlook.com email service. These users won’t have to do anything but wait.

– New email features including more syncing capability between your Outlook desktop app and your Outlook.com account, including the ability to create and set automatic replies, sync ip email categories, inbox rules and email message drafts. While existing Outlook.com custom-domain holders were able to retain existing custom email addresses, Microsoft stopped accepting new registrations for the service and no longer allowed those with custom email addresses to add or remove addresses. Microsoft often pushes some of its new features online before it migrates them to its dedicated apps.

Instead of having to exit your inbox to make changes or notes on a file, Outlook.com users can open an email attachment and see it side-by-side with their email.

The launch also sees Outlook.com adding a number of partners add-ins to the inbox experience, including a newly launched Giphy integration, which complements the Yelp, Wunderlist, Uber, PayPal, Evernote and Boomerang add-ins which were previously announced.

Mentions now flag your email to whoever you choose.

– The ability to prioritize and manage specific email messages with “Pins”.

As you write an email, Outlook now supports emoji and can also make any embedded pictures pop a bit more with some image creation tools.

If you’re a new Uber user, you can get $20 off your first ride when using the Uber Outlook add-in. Outlook.com has the flawless solution! Perhaps your mother sends you an email, and you need to respond now; Outlook.com can trigger Skype calls and chats right in your browser. A visual selection of matching emojis will be presented for you to select. “Today’s milestone with Outlook.com is one more key step in that journey, and you can expect to see more improvements and enhancements over the coming months”. Now, when you add someone new, you get a prompt asking if you want to re-attach the most recent photo/other file to the conversation.