Microsoft outs Outlook.com, does more than email

The Redmond search giant has recently unveiled the preview version of the Microsoft Outlook for consumers to try. The familiar app gets a major Metro-inspired overhaul and has now outfitted with other nifty features that is sure to give you more than just the usual email management.

It is clear that the UI of outlook.com is tailored to fit in perfectly with Microsoft’s upcoming OS. From the icons to the font, the new minimalistic interface feels very Metro-ish, in a good way.

The added features of the Outlook.com are categorized in three sections, Clean, Connect and Collaborate. The first section doesn’t really offer much of a “new change” that we haven’t seen on other email services as compared to the two latter categories. Changes that are in the “Clean section include having the capability to categorize your email, Schedule cleanup and Filter your email.

Changes under the “Connect” section allow the integration of various services like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn to your Outlook.com account. By doing so, users can now see Tweets and Status updates from people on their contact list. Users can also interact with their friends without having to toggle windows because Outlook.com supports FB chat. To top it all off, the email service also automatically updates your address book based on your friends’ information on FB and Twitter so your contacts are up to date every time.

The last section enables users to be more productive with the integration of Office Web Apps (Word, Excel and PowerPoint) and SkyDrive. With Office Web Apps, users can work on their files even without having a Microsoft Office suite installed on their PC. Users can also collaborate with their colleagues straight from their Inbox.

The integration of SkyDrive allows users to not only save their files but also send links instead of the actual file to their recipient. This way the sender won’t have to worry about email attachment file size restriction and readers (assuming that they’re also using outlook.com) can view the file even if there’s no Office installed on the device.
To find out more about Outlook.com you can visit their official website here.